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National anthem for England?

(61 Posts)
Yammy Thu 08-Jul-21 12:17:27

On reading the posts about the football and the Danish children singing their national anthem and comments about anthems. It does seem odd that England has not got one truly their own, just lots of regional ones. This topic raises its head every now and again.
What do people think would be an appropriate song for England?

grumppa Mon 12-Jul-21 10:17:54

How about a new set of lyrics to the tune of (Get Your Kicks on) Route 66, in memory of what is still English Football’s finest hour?

luluaugust Mon 12-Jul-21 10:16:13

The saving our gracious Queen comes from the 1715/45 uprisings to restore the Stuarts to the throne. History don't you just love it!

Callistemon Mon 12-Jul-21 10:06:08

Living in England!
Eg many of my Scottish friends
I would not be allowed

Alegrias1 Mon 12-Jul-21 10:02:01

Callistemon

English voters only.

Seems fair.

English or living in England? wink

Callistemon Mon 12-Jul-21 10:00:19

English voters only.

Mollygo Mon 12-Jul-21 09:58:49

Alegrias1

Well if England have a competition about choosing an anthem I vow to stay out of it grin

I bet you wouldn’t! gringrin

FannyCornforth Mon 12-Jul-21 09:58:14

I've not RTFT, so apologies if this has already been mentioned;
someone (I can't remember who, natch) once suggested the theme to The Archers.

All together now...

'Da da da da da da dah
Da da da da da-daaaah!'

? ? ?

Alegrias1 Mon 12-Jul-21 09:53:08

Well if England have a competition about choosing an anthem I vow to stay out of it grin

Mollygo Mon 12-Jul-21 09:51:39

Of course we can have a competition for an anthem,
and a referendum
and an election
and a vote on monarchy versus Head of State.
We can also have a competition about which side will moan loudest about the result.
I can’t remember who once told me on GN that if we only posted on things we agree on GN wouldn’t work.

Callistemon Mon 12-Jul-21 09:45:41

I wouldn't put much trust in a competition to find a new national song given what we come up with for Eurovision.
????

timetogo2016 Mon 12-Jul-21 09:35:12

I would rather stick with what we have.
The whole world knows it,no need for a change imo.

Alegrias1 Mon 12-Jul-21 09:34:28

Sorry, maybe I'm just feeling argumentative today....(there's a first grin)

We can't have a competition about the song because people will disagree. We can't have a vote on the Head of State because people will disagree. We can't have votes on the Constitution because people will disagree.

Maybe the anthem should be "You Can't Always Get What You Want" by the Stones.

Mollygo Mon 12-Jul-21 09:23:05

Marmardoit gringrin. So true.

DH immediately said ‘I vow to thee my country” would be better. So that’s absolutely vote already.

Mamardoit Mon 12-Jul-21 09:17:53

I would go along with Land of Hope and Glory. It used to be used at the Commonwealth Games.

I wouldn't put much trust in a competition to find a new national song given what we come up with for Eurovision.

Mollygo Mon 12-Jul-21 09:04:46

I’m happy to sing GSTQ.
If we have a change I think we should have
Land of Hope and Glory . It’s sounds great when I hear it on the last night of the Proms.
Can you imagine the uproar, whingeing, and even sheer nastiness, not just on SM but across the country, about the outcome of such a ‘competition’.
We can’t even agree on GN.
Multiply that by Twitter and then add in the real world of people not pseudonyms . . .
The criticism of the music or the words anyone didn’t like e.g. ‘not appropriate’,
‘not true’, ‘it would spoil it for others who like singing that song’, ‘too modern’, ‘not memorable’, ‘racist’, ‘sexist’, ‘exclusionary’
the list of complaints would go on and on.

Newquay Mon 12-Jul-21 08:35:57

Yes it really is time for a new national anthem. If only we could have a competition to find a new one

Calendargirl Mon 12-Jul-21 07:14:29

‘Jerusalem’ for me, if not GSTQ.

It was sung with such gusto when I was at school, everyone loved it when the headmaster announced at assembly ‘Hymn 446-Jerusalem’.

Sends shivers down my spine even now whenever it’s played.

Mamardoit Mon 12-Jul-21 06:56:45

That should have been GSTQ of course.

Mamardoit Mon 12-Jul-21 06:55:59

QSTQ is at least mercifully short. We usually get one verse which is plenty. I think it should only be used when the Queen or another major royal is present. Other anthems go on for far too long and many have meaningless words.

England does need its own national song. There are several listed above that have been used or could be used.

vegansrock Mon 12-Jul-21 05:31:53

God save the Queen is a dirge with meaningless words - save the Queen from what? death? It’s not a song about the country.Let’s have a modern one.

nanna8 Mon 12-Jul-21 00:59:11

I have never liked Advance Australia Fair and most Australians I know don’t, either. Most like We are One or even I still call Australia Home by Peter Allen. Waltzing Matilda was considered but they didn’t like the sentiment. I think it is a fine old song and reflects a lot about our early years.
The French and German national anthems are both wonderful, very heart stirring. Probably time to move on from God save the Queen, maybe they could have a National comp to find a good one ? That might be a good thing at this difficult time.

Callistemon Mon 12-Jul-21 00:03:52

Katie59

The modern anthem I do like is “Advance Australia Fair”
Even though it was written 150 yrs ago, it just seems right for today.

They had to change the words recently to make it more inclusive.
The other point is that not everyone can remember the words!

If you're singing as an English person, at the Commonwealth Games or Euros for instance, find your own song. We've got ours.
We've got our own song Alegrias1

You may have your own songs but, of the four countries, only Wales has an official national anthem.
Have I mentioned that before?

BigBertha1 Sun 11-Jul-21 20:12:58

Our school was 'These things shall be, a loftier race shall rise.......appalling isnt it gies on to say ' with light if learning in their eyes'. Never heard it again since thank heavens.

Grandma70s Sun 11-Jul-21 20:01:31

I think Jerusalem is the best combination of tune and words, but I suppose it would be rather odd to have a national anthem with the title of a city in another country, even though it is symbolic in Blake’s words.

Alegrias1 Sun 11-Jul-21 19:48:15

Those of us who remember 1966; look at the flags. I hope it doesn't take another 55 years for England to realise that they need to stop using the Union song, too.

We live in hope.