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Why don’t they change the British National anthem?

(223 Posts)
nanna8 Wed 27-Jul-22 14:41:32

To Land of Hope and Glory? Stop singing about one hereditary person and sing about the nation!

Iam64 Wed 14-Sept-22 08:12:14

Morning Maw. We won’t be alone in having found listening to crowds singing God save the King very moving. I love Jerusalem but I’m with you on feeling there’s a heightened awareness of the sentiments and respect for our constitutional monarchy

MawtheMerrier Wed 14-Sept-22 07:34:12

1) We just have
2) I wonder if we had stopped “hearing” the words because HM the Queen had lived “long to reign over us”
Put it this way, I have never heard the National Anthem sung with such emotion, pride and sincerity as over the last 6 days.
As an aside, I was at a wonderful Platinum Jubilee Choral concert back in the summer. At the end, the chorale and other choirs involved plus a huge orchestra plus a large audience sang (played); all three verses of God Save the Queen. I felt very emotional at the time as I wondered whether I would ever sing precisely those words again. As it turned out, I haven’t, but I stood for the National Anthem when the Queen’s death was announced last Thursday, too choked to sing.
No, in answer to OP, “Jerusalem” was great at the Commonwealth Games for England, but I think there is a heightened awareness of the sentiments expressed in God Save the King - and we will sing it and mean it.

Glenn4 Wed 14-Sept-22 00:25:01

Now is the ideal time to change, to something more uplifting and less dreary

Grandma29 Wed 03-Aug-22 02:11:07

I love our National Anthem and would not like it tobe change. Change isn’t always better

Callistemon21 Tue 02-Aug-22 17:45:59

Joy241

Sorry, Castlemon ?

????????

effalump Tue 02-Aug-22 17:44:55

I agree. We need someone to write a more uplifting, patriotic song. I always love how the Americans sing with their hand on their heart (even though they're singing about fighting the British in 1776). There are too many people these days that just don't seem to like being British.

Joy241 Tue 02-Aug-22 11:16:53

Sorry, Castlemon ?

Joseanne Mon 01-Aug-22 08:00:04

Just to stir things up a bit and lower the tone I thought the melody and words were first written by a Headmistress in France when Louis X1V had surgery to remove a boil from his bum.

Lucca Mon 01-Aug-22 06:51:44

Yammy.
As for DNA it shows where your forebears came from but does not reflect how you feel about the country you call home.

I’m English.

volver Mon 01-Aug-22 05:28:26

I'm ignoring you Mollygo

Have a nice day.

Mollygo Sun 31-Jul-22 23:27:13

Go for it Volver. Report if you like. In a competition for the rudest poster I’m far behind you. You should read back some of your comments.

Elrel Sun 31-Jul-22 21:20:19

MawtheMerrier

Bagpipes have that effect on me too, but so do brass bands and sea shanties!

Callistemon21 Sun 31-Jul-22 20:32:59

Joy241

All the suggested alternatives seem to harp back to the days when Britain ruled an empire, reference ‘mother of the free’ and ‘God who made thee mighty, make thee mightier still’
Perhaps, if do have a new anthem, and, I agree that our current one is quite a dirge, it should be a brand new one, more appropriate to a modern Britain?

more appropriate to a modern Britain?

England, Joy241, England!

Callistemon21 Sun 31-Jul-22 20:31:48

volver

What about Wuthering Heights for the national anthem? ?

What - the National Anthem of God's Own Country?

volver Sun 31-Jul-22 18:30:51

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Mollygo Sun 31-Jul-22 17:52:33

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MawtheMerrier Sun 31-Jul-22 11:08:44

The Border Reivers were on both sides of an uncontrollable Border, they were lawless and did not follow either country's rules
I think I made that clear too.
As "fellow Borderers" we must agree to differ, but the munitions workers were way before my time and as they say autres temps, autres moeurs

Yammy Sun 31-Jul-22 11:04:59

MawtheMerrier

^Maybe our time for a new anthem is when we get our freedom from the Scots. I wish we could have a referendum and see how many of the English people want to retain them, I think a lot of Scots would get a surprise.I would give them it tomorrow^.
After all the battles and trouble in my county we are still at war verbally. We even had the only State controlled Breweries and Pubs in the country when they poured over the border on a Sunday got legless and into fights. All because their Calvanistic religious rules would not let their pubs open
Wow!
I wonder which county this poster lives in?
Born and brought up in the Scottish Borders I knew we were, in centuries gone by, perpetually at “war” with raiders from over the border. But the Border Reivers gave as good as they got!
Regarding pub opening hours I vaguely remember that to buy a drink on a Sunday you had to prove you were a bona fide traveller which meant neighbouring towns swapping over numbers of their inhabitants!
However licensing laws were less to do with Calvinism than national considerations.
Thank you Wikipedia
After the outbreak of World War I the Defence of the Realm Act was passed by Parliament in 1914. One section of the Act concerned the hours pubs could sell alcohol, as it was believed that alcohol consumption would interfere with the war effort. It restricted opening hours for licensed premises to luncheon (11:00 or 12:00 to 14:40 or 15:00, depending on the region) and supper (17:30 or 18:30 to 22:30). In the late 1980s the licensing laws in England and Wales became less restricted and allowed pubs to allow the consumption of alcohol on the premises from 11:00 until 23:00,[although nightclubs were allowed to stay open much later. Significantly revised rules were introduced in November 2005, when hour limits were scrapped, and pubs were allowed to apply for licences as permissive as "24 hours a day".In practice, most pubs chose not to apply for licences past midnight
The wartime restrictions in Scotland were not repealed until 1976. As a result, Scottish laws were generally less restrictive, with local authorities being allowed to determine opening hours. Most Scottish pubs now open until midnight, though this is not universal
BTW I object to being categorised as dour ????

Look up state-controlled Pubs and you will find out. During WW11 the ammunition workers at Annan went over the border on Sundays to get their beer it's all documented. When I was young a lot of our Pubs were still State-controlled.
The Border Reivers were on both sides of an uncontrollable Border, they were lawless and did not follow either country's rules.
Yes, I do have a high percentage of Reiver blood from both sides. So make your own assumptions. Maybe we got fed up of having to build castles and Bastilles even some of our churches are built to defend. So that could account for our attitude of let's get rid just like the Scots want to go it's come down in the DNA.
Dour is as dour does.

Joy241 Sun 31-Jul-22 11:00:32

All the suggested alternatives seem to harp back to the days when Britain ruled an empire, reference ‘mother of the free’ and ‘God who made thee mighty, make thee mightier still’
Perhaps, if do have a new anthem, and, I agree that our current one is quite a dirge, it should be a brand new one, more appropriate to a modern Britain?

MawtheMerrier Sun 31-Jul-22 10:31:33

Maybe our time for a new anthem is when we get our freedom from the Scots. I wish we could have a referendum and see how many of the English people want to retain them, I think a lot of Scots would get a surprise.I would give them it tomorrow.
After all the battles and trouble in my county we are still at war verbally. We even had the only State controlled Breweries and Pubs in the country when they poured over the border on a Sunday got legless and into fights. All because their Calvanistic religious rules would not let their pubs open
Wow!
I wonder which county this poster lives in?
Born and brought up in the Scottish Borders I knew we were, in centuries gone by, perpetually at “war” with raiders from over the border. But the Border Reivers gave as good as they got!
Regarding pub opening hours I vaguely remember that to buy a drink on a Sunday you had to prove you were a bona fide traveller which meant neighbouring towns swapping over numbers of their inhabitants!
However licensing laws were less to do with Calvinism than national considerations.
Thank you Wikipedia
After the outbreak of World War I the Defence of the Realm Act was passed by Parliament in 1914. One section of the Act concerned the hours pubs could sell alcohol, as it was believed that alcohol consumption would interfere with the war effort. It restricted opening hours for licensed premises to luncheon (11:00 or 12:00 to 14:40 or 15:00, depending on the region) and supper (17:30 or 18:30 to 22:30). In the late 1980s the licensing laws in England and Wales became less restricted and allowed pubs to allow the consumption of alcohol on the premises from 11:00 until 23:00,[although nightclubs were allowed to stay open much later. Significantly revised rules were introduced in November 2005, when hour limits were scrapped, and pubs were allowed to apply for licences as permissive as "24 hours a day".In practice, most pubs chose not to apply for licences past midnight
The wartime restrictions in Scotland were not repealed until 1976. As a result, Scottish laws were generally less restrictive, with local authorities being allowed to determine opening hours. Most Scottish pubs now open until midnight, though this is not universal
BTW I object to being categorised as dour ????

volver Sun 31-Jul-22 10:18:28

See what I mean Happysexagenarian? grin

grannyrebel7 Sun 31-Jul-22 10:15:50

I love the national anthem and definitely don't want it changed.

Yammy Sun 31-Jul-22 10:11:07

Maybe our time for a new anthem is when we get our freedom from the Scots. I wish we could have a referendum and see how many of the English people want to retain them, I think a lot of Scots would get a surprise.I would give them it tomorrow.
After all the battles and trouble in my county we are still at war verbally. We even had the only State controlled Breweries and Pubs in the country when they poured over the border on a Sunday got legless and into fights. All because their Calvanistic religious rules would not let their pubs open.
I have even been on Scots islands in the 70's and 80's when children playground swings etc.were tied up on Sundays what a reflection on the peoples doure mentality.
As for DNA it shows where your forebears came from but does not reflect how you feel about the country you call home.
I am proud to be English ,but my DNA from both parents has a lot of Scotsand Irish and Viking.
Where I live was part of the Celtic Kingdom of Strathclyde until after the Norman conquest so some Scots must have Celtic DNA if the Kingdom was divided.

Lucca Sun 31-Jul-22 08:21:32

Grandmajb

That nobody knows- not even the Welsh !

???

Grandmajb Sun 31-Jul-22 08:11:36

That nobody knows- not even the Welsh !