h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

God does not exist.
The Queen does not matter.
Great Britain is a progressive, democratic, multicultural and largely secular society.

Lets have a national anthem which says something about us and what we hold important.

At sporting events, supporters of Scotland and Wales, quite sensibly, do not sing God Save the Queen. When England plays Scotland, England supporters do, which really doesn't make sense. This suggests we need both a new English anthem, and a new British one.

(The majority in Northern Ireland will probably want to keep God save the Queen in order to annoy the nationalists - so let it be the anthem of Northern Ireland only. I'm not suggesting it would be good there, it would be divisive. But divisiveness seems to be popular.)

I may be accused of failing to repsect an important tradition. Well I respect the tradition of having contempt for tradition that has quite recently been supplanted by this stuffy stubbornness. How do people think the national anthem and the union flag (don't get me started) came about? They were changes!

As a relatively neutral thrid party in Canada, may I suggest that some lesson might be learned from the Americans.

Their Hymn to their sovereign-leader is called 'Hail To The Chief' and requires no lyrics. It is a musical identity associated directly with the office no matter who holds it or how badly. It is played to announce the Presidential presence and is not otherwise used.

If memory serves there are several such 'themes' on the books in the English musical court which could be used solely to announce the regal presence. Some may have old Latin lyrics which no one need bother to learn and the instrumental version would prevail.

In all other public ceremonies the Americans sing their national anthem, which is about their country, or at least the patriotic stirrings of one wretched Yankee who waited through the night to be scalped by Mohawks as a combined force of British regulars and native volunteers took siege of their isolated wilderness fort (War of 1812).

This musical separation of nation and leader is one of those 'good' American ideas it might be wise to investigate.

Getting all the ethnic tribes of the British Isles to agree on a non-monarch oriented 'national' anthem may be problematical but there is no reason why gems like "We Will Rock You" or "We Are the Champions" or even "Stairway to Heaven" couldn't be adopted for a non-regal, non-nationalist statement for rowdy public unisong.


~jwf~

God save the (Monarch) in it's full version is actually a song against the rebellious Scots that is why the Scots are up in arms about this being the National anthem.

And well they should be!
The Monarch song should be used only as a regal signature theme like Hail the Chief. And a new 'national' anthem should be chosen.
I am sincere in my suggestion that 'We Will Rock You' as a round with "We Are the Champions' would find favour with rowdy crowds everywhere. Both these tunes bring a sense of social unity and pride to large unruly mobs just as a national anthemn is meant to do.
If the current national anthem is failing to do that, and is in fact causing social tensions, then it needs to be scrapped in favour of something more relevant, more popular and passibly easy for drunkards to sing at full voice while holding a glowing butane cigarette lighter and weaving to and fro.

If y'canna control the mob y'canna control the nation!

Let me note further for the sake of those who may think that old stadium-feelgood tunes by Queen are unthinkable for something as 'noble' as a national anthem, that the American anthem about red glaring rockets is sung to the tune of an old British naval drinking song.
peace
~jwf~

For some reason, unknown to me, the English 'crowd' at international Rugby matches used to (still do?) sing 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot'

As this song has little if anything to do with England's past or present, I think it illustrates only too well that the English really are crying out for anthem all of their own

Two points--

1.) Fort McHenry was not a wilderness fort--it was at the mouth of the harbor of Baltimore, which was one of the US's main seaports at the time. It wasn't exactly isolated. No Mohawks were involved, and, actually, if I remember my history classes correctly, Francis Scott Key had been promised that he'd be released no matter what happened--he was just being detained durring the battle so he couldn't warn his countrymen of the British plans--no fear of being scalped.

Also, the fort was being attacked by the British Navy, not a combination of regulars and volunteers--it was a naval bombardment, not a land battle.



2.) If you want to replace "God Save The Queen" because the lyrics are outdated, why not keep the tune (after all, it is one of the most famous patriotic tunes in use--God Bless America and at least one other European national anthem use it) and just replace the words--surely you can find some patriotic poem that fits it and isn't so irrelevant.

It worked for America... we took a silly British pub tune and set Key's words to it.

>> --it was at the mouth of the harbor of Baltimore...<<

I saw "The Spirit of Baltimore II" today. Some of the "Tall Ships" are visiting Halifax. Not as many as in 2000 and far fewer than in 1984 when nearly a hundred came.

Back in '84 the finest schooner among the fleet was the original "Spirit of Baltimore". Her planks were swelling, she had taken on a little weight, but she was a fine looking lady. And she had become so familiar after her starring role in a TV series that I couldn't take my eyes off her. All white and ghostly in the fog, glistening in the sun.

The new ship looks almost too fresh and unseasoned in comparison. Like a pair of good shoes not quite broken in.

How about them Orioles, eh!

~jwf~

The last time I was in Baltimore was for an It's Academic tournament at Johns Hopkins University, but before that was to see the tall ships (don't remember the year).

Don't recall seeing either Spirit of Baltimore there, but I probably just wasn't paying attention.


I haven't watched an Orieals game live since before Ripkin beat Lou Garig's streak--Baltimore is only an hour away, but I just haven't been into baseball (or any sports) much for a while.

Haven't been paying attention at all this season. I'm more interested in the ?New Senators?--they'd actually be my hometown team if they materialize.

(For people who don't live in the Washington, DC area, by the ?New Senators?, I mean the Montreal Expos if they do move to DC/Northern Virginia next season.

If we're going to get rid of the words, can we please get rid of the tune as well, well-known or not? It's a horrible dirge Heaven only knows why anyone else uses it (Liechtenstein and, I think, Norway), because they're not historically obliged to.

(Billy Connolly once suggested the theme tune to 'The Archers': it's jaunty, virtually everyone knows it in the UK)

As for an English national anthem - Land of Hope and Glory being even dodgier in terms of its lyrics - I'd like to see more use made of 'Jerusalem', which is genuinely stirring.

The trouble with "We Are The Champions" is that national anthems seem to be made the most use of at sporting events and playing that, right before being trounced by ... well, just about anyone, at ... well, just about anything, is just going to make the other side's fans hysterical with laughter

I like the idea of just having the music without any lyrics. The 'Nimrod' bit from Elgar's 'Enigma Variations' would probably please the traditionalists and is again very stirring, very British, but without being aggressively nationalistic.

Otherwise, might I suggest having a different Beatles song each year?

>> ..might I suggest having a different Beatles song each year? <<

You might, but probably sooner than later you'll come smack up against "Back In The USSR" and be wishing you'd gone with "We Will Rock You" in the first place. Didja know the Rooskies used to have a bomber which the Yanks code-named 'Badger'. It looked kinda like an early BOAC Comet airliner but had supersonic pretensions for those aircrews having great faith in Soviet aluminiumumin ...welding techniques.

~jwf~

Aside from sporting events (where I don't care whats played as I won't be watching/listening) what do we need an anthem for?

>> ...what do we need an anthem for? <<

Two things.

First and most importantly as a communal, spirit-booster to create 'esprit de corps'. When sung with sincere enthusiasm, "We Are The Champs" and "We Will Rock You" will bring any group of disparate yahoos together and uplift their spirits. It bonds and gives common purpose. All other differences are put aside temporarily and the crowd is united in purpose for whatever event is occuring; football, theatre, rowing, lynchings...

And secondly, some musical signature (non-lyrical) to honour and mark the presence of the 'leader' (President, King, Queen, Emporor). This is a carry-over from earlier days when trumpets were used to communicate orders over distances or to large groups. A trumpet fanfare would signal the presence of the leader and attending persons would be expected to adopt whatever protocols were established for their behaviour during such occassions; silence, grovelling, eyes averted...

Like many bugle signals (Charge, retreat, taps, etc.) it was essentially an 'order' to the troops or people in a public gathering to note and respect the fact that the leader was among them. In addition to "Hail To The Chief" as the signature tune of the American President, many TV hosts and other celebrities have used such signature tunes. These become so much a part of their character we sometimes don't even notice that they are always played when they enter and appear on stage. Bob Hope for example was always 'piped on' with "Thanks for the Memories".


~jwf~

I've been boycotting communal displays of nationalism etc all my adult life. I see no reason to change now.
If we must have an anthem I'd suggest "A Farewell to Kings" by Rush .

Jerusalem would be the obvious candidate for an English national anthem. It wouldn't really work as a UK anthem owing to all those references to 'England's green and pleasant land', which I guess wouldn't go down too well in Glasgow and Cardiff.