So, now they want to comp9se some crxxpy lyrics to replace..........

Can anyone remember this one from Saturday morning pictures?

not sure how Mel Gibson got in there

Think 'I Vow to me thee my Country' is better.

Me too, Hilda

I love that one Hilda

Oh yes and 'I Vow to the my country'...cry buckets with that one..

I think anthems are iconic and its the emotions they create thats important. We dont really listen to every word we just enjoy the moment it creates. Its a bit like 'All things bright and beautiful' the words are so Victorian and yet I cant help shed a tear when I hear children sing it. And I'm not that old!

Joan

National Anthems just have to be a bit weird - here's the Australian one, though technically it is still God save the Queen:

Australians all let us rejoice
For we are young and free
We've golden soil and wealth for toil,
Our home is girt by sea:
Our land abounds in nature's gifts
Of beauty rich and rare,
In history's page let every stage
Advance Australia fair,
In joyful strains then let us sing
Advance Australia fair.

Beneath our radiant Southern Cross,
We'll toil with hearts and hands,
To make this Commonwealth of ours
Renowned of all the lands,
For those who've come across the seas
We've boundless plains to share,
With courage let us all combine
To advance Australia fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance Australia fair.

People here laugh at the 'girt by sea' words.

Regarding that second verse of God save the Queen - I like the idea of God (who is an Englishman - just ask RF Delderfield who wrote the book 'God is an Englishman') confounding the knavish tricks of the Queen's scattered enemies. So very mediaeval.

'Jerusalem' is a nice song, but would the WI let it go? And perhaps the thought of a 'Jerusalem builded here' is a bad idea because the English Jews and Muslims and Christians would be fighting over the place.

Nah - best to stick with the best. 'Ilkley Moor Baht Hat ' it is, then.

I do think that at, for example, rugby matches, England should have a celebratory song, of its own.

DH, who is a Scot, is forever pointing out that the National Anthem is NOT, NOT, NOT the English National anthem, but that of the UK, and (I quote) "It is sheer ** arrogance to assume it is England's.)

(He does get riled!)

It is a bit dirgey, though, don't you think?

If it ain't broke, don't fix it!!

What do others think?