MPs back calls for English national anthem (UK)

[T_i_B]

Source: BBC

MPs have given initial support to the idea of England adopting an official national anthem.

God Save the Queen, the national anthem for the UK as a whole, is currently used for England during most sporting events.

However, Chesterfield MP Toby Perkins believes England needs its own anthem and presented his case in the House of Commons as a ten minute rule motion.

His English National Anthem Bill was adopted by the House. The idea will be debated again at a second reading on 4 March.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-35296296

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I nominate "You Suffer" by Napalm Death as the English national anthem!

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

1. The obvious candidate is from Flanders and Swann, "A Song of Patriotic Prejudice"

Flanders does mention "Jerusalem", which is what I fear might be a leader in the choice

[Divernan]

4. Fun lyrics/Flanders & Swann

Although this song would certainly rile up opposing teams in international football competitions.

https://www.nomorelyrics.net/king_singers-lyrics/179726-a_song_of_patriotic_prejudice-lyrics.html

The English, the English, the English are best:
I wouldn't give tuppence for all of the rest!
The rottenest bits of these islands of ours,
We've left in the hands of three unfriendly powers,
Examine the Irishman, Welshman or Scot,
you'll find he's a stinker or not.

The Scotsman is mean, as we 're all well aware,
And bony and blotchy and covered with hair,
He eats salted porridge, he works all the day,
And he hasn't got bishops to show him the way.

The English; the English, the English are best:
I wouldn't give tuppence for all of the rest!

The Irishman, now, our contempt is beneath,
He sleeps in his boots and he lies in his teeth,
He blows up policemen (or so I have heard),
And blames it on Cromwell and William the Third.

The English are noble, the English are nice,
And worth any other at double the price!

The Welshman's dishonest, he cheats when he can,
And little and dark, more like monkey than man,
He works underground with a lamp in his hat,
And he sings far too loud, far too often, and
FLA-A-A-T.

And crossing the Channel, one cannot say much,
For the French or the Spanish, the Danish or Dutch;
The Germans are German, the Russians are Red,
And the Greeks and Italians eat garlic in bed.

The English are moral, the English are good,
And clever and modest and misunderstood!

And all the world over, each nation's the same,
They've simply no notion of Playing the Game:
They argue with umpires; they cheer when they've won;
And they practise beforehand, which ruins the fun!

The English, the English, the English are best:
So up with the English, and down with the rest!

It's not that they're wicked or naturally bad ...
It's knowing they're FOREIGN that makes them so mad!
For the English are all that a nation should be,
And the flower of the English are Donald
(Michael!) and me!!

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

10. Flanders and Swann speak troof!

Full disclosure: I was born in Yorkshire.

[T_i_B]

15. So was I

Last edited Fri Jan 15, 2016, 08:32 AM - Edit history (1)

I still work in Yorkshire. Maybe we could mount a Yorkshire coup d'etat and make On Ilkley Moor Bah't 'At the national anthem?

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

21. Ah, from the North Riding?

I was once visiting my grandfather in Beverley (East Riding, keep your bloody "North Humberside&quot , and he was driving me around, showing me various places in Yorkshire. He pointed out the car window and said, "That's Ilkley Moor", to which my cousin and I both responded in chorus, "Bah't 'At".

Alas, I have been living for many years in the United States, and now call suburban Chicago my home. My Wisconsin-born wife doesn't want to live in the UK, although she has agreed that we should retire to a town in Umbria.

[T_i_B]

23. Not the North Riding

I'm from Sheffield, and live just outside Sheffield these days.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

34. The original script from Star Wars had the line

Mos Eisley spaceport. You will never find a greater hive of scum and villainy, except Sheffield.

Then they changed it as being too obvious.

[T_i_B]

35. If you're from Beverley.....

Then I'm sure you've been to Hull & back.....

Hull is regularly voted worst town in Britain.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

36. My father's definition of "boring" was to compare it to "a wet Sunday in Hull". n/t

[Art_from_Ark]

20. That second song was often used in Monty Python episodes

[MADem]

2. They learn "Jerusalem" from grammar school--it's always been the "unofficial" anthem.

It's much-loved and evocative of the best of "that green and pleasant land."

It's from a poem by Wm. Blake, and makes sense in an historical sense:

The very first line in this example (which I chose for the lyrics) is wrong, of course--it's And Did Those FEET, not 'fields'- but the rest is right or close enough~!

[T_i_B]

6. "Land Of Hope & Glory" is more of an unofficial anthem

As to "Jerusalem", I don't much like it as a patriotic song, and even less when sung as a Hymn.

Personally, I think that "God Save The Queen" is perfectly adequate for our needs. In fact I agree with pretty much every word of what Jacob Rees-Mogg had to say opposing the motion!

And on that note, agreeing with Jacob Rees-Mogg about anything means that I now have to go and have a cold shower.......

[MADem]

8. Everyone thinks of that as the "Graduation Song!"

I always liked Jerusalem--mainly because of the reactions by the crowds singing it. And where else are you going to get "satanic mills?"

That said, GSTQ does work for most applications.

[T_i_B]

14. There's a reason why I posted a Proms vid.....

Because the first thing most people think of when it comes to rah-rah patriotic British songs such as "Rule Britannia" and "Land Of Hope & Glory" is the last night of the proms.

[MADem]

17. That's why "Jerusalem" resonated with me--same reason!!! It's a big song on the last night....

[Xithras]

31. Perhaps, but Jerusalem is also a decidedly religious bit of prose.

The song is about Jesus Christ, and about building the the biblical "Jerusalem"...God's holy city that will be created after Armaggedon and after the unbelievers and sinners are scrubbed from the land...in England. Hell, it even advocates the use of violence to create that "holy city".

Modern England is a multi-ethnic, multicultural nation with a substantial non-Christian population. While the song may be POPULAR, I don't see any scenario in which that song could become the national anthem today.

[MADem]

32. It certainly is a Come to Jesus moment when they sing it at sporting events.....

Modern England makes no bones that they have a strong "Christian" strain in their history--hell, they have an Official Religion. The Church of England came about because the Pope wouldn't let Henry get rid of his first wife.

Don't make the mistake of pretending they're like us in that regard, because they aren't. Not at all. We got that "separation of church and state" stuff from FRANCE. The Queen is head of the doggone 'state church,' after all. Their attitude is that they welcome all, they tolerate all religions, but they are a "Christian nation"--make no mistake. From the link above:

The Established Church

The Church of England is the established church, meaning, amongst other things:

the Monarch is the the Supreme Governor of the church (theologically Jesus is the head),
the Church performs a number of official functions,
Church and State are linked

You don't have to adopt the religion to enjoy belting out Jerusalem. It's a superb song to fire up any crowd before a sporting event.

[Bad Dog]

3. The Glastonbury tourist board sells Christ in Glastonbury

Along with King Arthur, Joseph of Arimathea, the Glastonbury thorn, Pilton festival and a host of fairies goblins and sprites.

Blake, unlike Byron, Shelley and Wordsworth, was a working class lad with a true appreciation of Revolution.

It has to be Jerusalem, or something by The Clash.

[underpants]

5. Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way

Pink Floyd "Time" plus if they win Olympic gold it will make the ceremony last uncomfortably long


that or something by The Pet Shop Boys. I don't care. I'm not English.

[Bad Dog]

7. Not Changes by Bowie.

because a bunch of drunken England supporters will ruin it. And in a hundred years time he will be remembered primarily for writing a shit anthem. Similarly with Pink Floyd or anything like that.

Btw, God Save The Queen will still be played at the Olympics because in that it's team GB, not team England/Scotland/Wales or NI.

[MowCowWhoHow III]

9. Greensleeves has always been quintessentially English for me (obv need suitable lyrics)

More footbally, sir?

More gritty?

[MADem]

18. There's a fable afoot that Six Wives Henry wrote the "Alas my love you do me wrong" lyrics...

I think it falls into "Cool Story Bro" territory, but it's a fun tale, anyway.

[johnp3907]

11. I was going to suggest something by Billy Bragg.

But Napalm Death can't be beat!

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. Nick a Scotsman's idea:

[Gumboot]

16. Ha ha, brilliant!

I haven't seen this in years, many thanks for posting!

[yellowcanine]

13. "Taffy Was a Welshman" is my suggestion.

Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a thief;
Taffy came to my house and stole a leg of beef;
I went to Taffy's house and Taffy was in bed;
So I picked up the Gerry pot and hit him on the head.
Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a thief;
Taffy came to my house and stole a piece of beef;
I went to Taffy's house, Taffy wasn't in;
I jumped upon his Sunday hat and poked it with a pin.
Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a sham;
Taffy came to my house and stole a piece of lamb;
I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was away,
I stuffed his socks with sawdust and filled his shoes with clay.
Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a cheat,
Taffy came to my house, and stole a piece of meat;
I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was not there,
I hung his coat and trousers to roast before a fire.[1]

[Kennah]

19. My vote goes to ...

[MowCowWhoHow III]

22. poll

[DavidDvorkin]

24. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot??

[MowCowWhoHow III]

25. Most popular at Rugby matches

[DavidDvorkin]

26. Well, I'll be!

I had no idea.

[T_i_B]

28. And "Jerusalem" is associated with the England Cricket Team

Sport can always complicate matters.

Personally I prefer chanting "ROVVVRUM! ROVVVRUM!" at rugby matches. Possibly because Twickenham is much more expensive than watching my beloved Rotherham Titans.

[DavidDvorkin]

29. I know that "Jerusalem" has been popular for a long time

Not in association with sports, but in general. Same for "Land of Hope and Glory".

The connection with sports puzzles me, especially in the case of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot".

[DavidDvorkin]

30. Come to think of it, "Chariot" would make some sense for baseball

Because of the "carry me home" part.

[T_i_B]

37. Why do rugby fans sing Swing Low, Sweet Chariot?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-31147766

An existing theory is that a group of boys from Douai School in Berkshire started singing the song at the same match, when England were playing Ireland in the Five Nations Championship.

The boys were alleged to have been serenading Chris Oti, a black player, making this theory more controversial because of the song's link with slavery.

But the Market Bosworth Rugby Club members at Twickenham that day - Dave Hales, John Ward, Bruce Coleman and Paul Spencer - all maintain they started singing the song first.

Some rugby fans claim to have sung it as early as the 1960s, as part of a drinking game accompanied with an elaborate series of sexual hand gestures.

[MADem]

33. Hash House Harriers--a Very British Endeavor. A drinking club with a running problem!!!!!

They do it with nasty sign language....!!!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hash_House_Harriers

Hashing originated in December 1938 in Selayang Quarry, Selangor, then in the Federated Malay States (now Malaysia), when a group of British colonial officers and expatriates began meeting on Monday evenings to run, in a fashion patterned after the traditional British paper chase or "hare and hounds", to rid themselves of the excesses of the previous weekend.[1] The original members included Albert Stephen (A.S.) Ignatius "G" Gispert, Cecil Lee, Frederick "Horse" Thomson, Ronald "Torch" Bennett and John Woodrow. A. S. Gispert suggested the name "Hash House Harriers" after the Selangor Club Annex, where several of the original hashers happened to live and dined, known as the "Hash House".

Before the revolution there was an ENORMOUS H3 club in Teheran. They used to tear up the town!

[Kelvin Mace]

27. What's wrong with this little ditty?

It was all the rage back in the day:

If that is too "80s" there is always this quintessentially English anthem.

[Jimbo S]

38. "The Bright Side of Life"