General Chat

God = Christianity not used by all other faiths so absolutely excludes them.

G-d = often used by those of the Jewish faith although YHVH is used but omits the vowells

Other faiths refer to the *cough* Almighty by other names, some of which cannot be spoken.

How on earth could you make that anthem multi-cultural? You can't.

God save the Queen is ignored at many sporting events as a nuisance to be endured before the start of games.

The song Land of Hope and Glory was adopted extremely well by nearly all sport stars and certainly a huge majority of the spectators. However, I would knock out the name God and substitute 'those' (nice and PC).

Finally only sing the first verse before everyone loses interest

:-D

Who are the 'English' anyway? :-D ;-) do we know? Does it mean being born here, adopting England as 'home' , having an unbroken line to Ethelred the unready ( why wasn't he? ahh yes thanks google!).


"In tropical climes there are certain times of day
When all the citizens retire to tear their clothes off and perspire.
It's one of the rules that the greatest fools obey,
Because the sun is much too sultry
And one must avoid its ultry-violet ray.
The natives grieve when the white men leave their huts,
Because they're obviously, definitely nuts!

Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun,
The Japanese don´t care to, the Chinese wouldn´t dare to,
Hindus and Argentines sleep firmly from twelve to one
But Englishmen detest-a siesta.
In the Philippines they have lovely screens to protect you from the glare.
In the Malay States, there are hats like plates which the Britishers won't wear.
At twelve noon the natives swoon and no further work is done,
But mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.

It's such a surprise for the Eastern eyes to see,
that though the English are effete, they're quite impervious to heat,
When the white man rides every native hides in glee,
Because the simple creatures hope he will impale his solar topee on a tree.
It seems such a shame when the English claim the earth,
They give rise to such hilarity and mirth.
Ha ha ha ha hoo hoo hoo hoo hee hee hee hee ......

Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.
The toughest Burmese bandit can never understand it.
In Rangoon the heat of noon is just what the natives shun,
They put their Scotch or Rye down, and lie down.
In a jungle town where the sun beats down to the rage of man and beast
The English garb of the English sahib merely gets a bit more creased.
In Bangkok at twelve o'clock they foam at the mouth and run,
But mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.

Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.
The smallest Malay rabbit deplores this foolish habit.
In Hong Kong they strike a gong and fire off a noonday gun,
To reprimand each inmate who's in late.
In the mangrove swamps where the python romps
there is peace from twelve till two.
Even caribous lie around and snooze, for there's nothing else to do.
In Bengal to move at all is seldom ever done,
But mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun."

Noel Coward..the epitome of Englishness?

For the purpose of this exercise, I'd say an Englishman is anyone whose primary allegiance is to England and preferably lives or has a permanent home here.

JoyLouise - we're all talking rhetorically. There's been no official thought or desicion about choosing a new anthem. We're considering something that could be acceptable to all English people regardless of their faith in a higher being or lack of it.

Oh - and no mention of the Monarch so that Republicans can join in ;-)

I would always say one verse only as that is all that is needed for events.

A multi-cultural anthem? It doesn't make any sense at all. Who mentioned having one of those, I must have missed that post?

Still not come across a religion which bans the use of the 'God' word though. Is it a matter of individual taste?

For England's Anthem, Tabitha's suggestion is ideal. Everyone only needs to learn a few new lines of words because the tune is known already.

Det, I am aware that no decision has been made officially about selecting an anthem for England alone and I don't believe that will happen while the Queen still lives - out of courtesy.

Perhaps we need someone to write new music and a new verse?

Good luck to anyone who tries because trying to please all of the people all of the time is probably impossible.

I don't think the unofficial Manx anthem can be beaten really , I sang it at school, and there is no ref to God, or Royalty, or expanding the Empire :-D

all versions at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellan_Vannin_(poem)

Video , which makes me cry every time, especially as it shows where I used to live

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3O6gv64WSM

"When the summer day is over,
Its busy cares have flown,
I will sit beneath the starlight,
With a weary heart alone.
Then it rises like a vision
Sparkling bright it shines for me
My own dear Ellan Vannin
With its green hills by the sea
Let me hear the ocean murmur
Let me watch your stormy sky
Then above the emerald waters
Sings the seagull as she flies
Then arising like a vision
Sparkling bright it shines for me
My own dear Ellan Vannin
With its green hills by the sea
And in all my times of sorrow
And on some lonely shore
I'll go back to Ellan Vannin
To my childhood days once more"

Oh and it has no un-hittable notes :-)

Look at the Oz National Anthem.

Many people wonder who Gert is...... that woman who lives by the sea. :-D

One of Rollo's rellies was Bishop of Sodor and Man.
He loved the job and became an expert in the Manx language.

:-)

This thread has opened my eyes!!!
I used to love 'Hills of the North Rejoice', I thought it was a song about the loveliness of Britain, until I looked at the words:

Hills of the north, rejoice;
river and mountain spring,
hark to the advent voice;
valley and lowland, sing;
though absent long, your Lord is nigh;
he judgment brings and victory.

Isles of the southern seas,
deep in your coral caves
pent be each warring breeze,
lulled be your restless waves:
he comes to reign with boundless sway,
and makes your wastes his great highway.

Lands of the East, awake,
soon shall your sons be free;
the sleep of ages break,
and rise to liberty.
On your far hills, long cold and gray,
has dawned the everlasting day.

Shores of the utmost West,
ye that have waited long,
unvisited, unblessed,
break forth to swelling song;
high raise the note, that Jesus died,
yet lives and reigns, the Crucified.

Shout, while ye journey home;
songs be in every mouth;
lo, from the North we come,
from East, and West, and South.
city of God, the bond are free,
we come to live and reign in thee!

Then I realised it could be a song for any barnpot 'takeover' group!!! :-S :-0

"Who are the 'English' anyway?"

Research based on DNA such as a large scale study in Somerset and others in the north comparing ancient DNA with modern DNA ( excluding immigrants over the last century ) suggests that most of the population of England has been here since at least the beginning of the bronze age and share their best DNA match with our gallic cousins in Normandy and Brittany.

All the others brought with them cultural changes, political change and of course took the money and women but only added marginally to the English gene pool. Just too many women and not enough rampant invaders to make a massive difference, not even in Yorkshire.

Unless the country decides to become a republic ( wildly unlikely ) my guess is that the short sharp and punchy GSTQ will remain.

This anthem comes ot mind though, ideal for the inevitable England v Germany penalty shoot out this summer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw2QtlexjuU
:-D

Interesting Rollo, my undiluted English side goes back a long way and the Irish side apparently originated in Normandy, so my DNA should be fairly 'pure' ? ;- ) lolol ...does this mean I have to join some awful political party which seeks to promote the rights of the 'Indigenous English' ?:-0 :-D

PS Rollo, I do hope you are recovering well :-)

Well I am still not allowed to drive :-( but otherwise feel fine.
I am taking my pills for thinning the blood and something else for the blood pressure even though I have low blood mpressure anyway. Declined statins. I promise you that Bells Palsy + mini stroke + festive season + aged parent takes a fall all at once is not a great start to the year.

Things are picking up though :-) Arsenal are on top. Jan income is likely to be around half of usual rather than zero. Sadly I have been advised not to go skiing for a bit or play squash. So instead I go running in Barnard Park.

My OH says I try to cram too much into a day and that I should chill out more.
Hey ho why not ? Chilled Mumm's ?

I have always found UKIP very funny as all their nonsense is based on myth and ignorance. It is less funny when government ministers fall for their flaky logic though.

Without the madness of good King George the British could have ended up as part of a North American condonimium run, probably, from New York. Thanks to a series of maladroit decisions that chance was lost.

The only other choice was to engage with and reach some sort of accomodation with our large brutish and nasty neighbours on the other side of the Straits of Dover. Failure to do so is one reason why I have more male rellies buried in France than the UK.

Whatever is bashed out for the upcoming referendum won't change that. Regardless of the vote the results will be the same - "Europe" won't disappear into the mists of Avalon. Cameron at least seems to have worked this out having painted himself into a corner. Now he is trying on a rather clumsy u-turn.

God Save the Queen

Rollo, walk don't run or your knees will be the next things to need fixing :-0

Are they preventing you from driving for a month? If so, not long to go.

Good luck and keep popping the pills. :-)

Seeing as the referendum has been brought up, where does G.Osborne get his figures from? He thinks the majority is in favour of staying in. A show of hands in the pub recently showed 100% in favour of leaving, likewise on the beaters wagon yesterday. Even my German bird (as my wife refers to her) thinks the British will be better off out. Anyway, going back to the thread....perhaps a new National Anthem should be written in Esperanto, so as not to offend anyone.

Never Mind the Bollocks Here Come the Sex Pistols.

A country that frets overmuch or reveres too greatly such talismans as the national song is a country ill at ease and insecure. For all its faults that is not England.

One of my rellies, from Surrey, voted no in the infamous "Would You Fight for King and Country" vote in 1933. He was a well known subversive and would have loved punk rock. All the same a few years later in 1941 he was shot down over Cherbourg. All that remains of him is a name at Runnymede.

Let's stay with the anthem we've got. Sure it is no musical marvel but gets the job done and does not unduly delay the start of play. France has something more melodic but very bloodthirsty and def not PC. It is far too long. In many years living in France I never met anybody who could further than the third line.

Should cricket use the theme from test match special ?

ps: Currently pollig suggests that the BREXIT vote is in the balance 55 remain / 45 leave. (n 1975 three months before the vote 70% wished to leave. The actual result will again be the same a vote to stay in.

The Brits may have one view after a few beers down the pub but in the cold hard light of day it is another matter. This time as last time the BREXIT crwod have not been able to put up proof of reasons for leaving still less an answer to "what next then " after leaving.

It seems somewhat perverse that the two groups of people most directly affected by the referendum will not be allowed to vote - the young and the spouses of Brits from other parts of the the EU. Maybe they deserve it 'cos they are the ones least likely to be able to sing GSTQ.

Don't change the subject Rollo ;-)

Walk, don't run or you'll wreck your knees :-S

I'm not. The whole subject has only come up 'cos of UKIP and such dislike of Beethoven's Ninth plus this summer's soccer tournament in France. They are looking for something more fiery than the innocuous one verse version of GSTQ.

Or maybe it is Adele's booking agent putting on the pressure? Difficult to see her at Wembley singing GSTQ stretched to 2 mins max. LOHG or RB and you have a result.

As long as no one suggests getting Paloma Faith to sing it it will probably sound ok what ever is chosen.

Paloma Faith butchered the World in union so badly

I am English - most certainly not British or European -

English back to the 14th Century at the moment - OH's lot came over with the Normans but he classes himself English