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I've just heard the Welsh and the French anthems sung at the rugby...the former always moves me emotionally and the latter is very stirring to the soul. I wonder why the English anthem always sounds like a tuneless dirge to me? Am I alone in this?

theia;1387678 wrote: I've just heard the Welsh and the French anthems sung at the rugby...the former always moves me emotionally and the latter is very stirring to the soul. I wonder why the English anthem always sounds like a tuneless dirge to me? Am I alone in this?


The english don't actually have an official national anthem they use god save the queen instead.

theia;1387678 wrote: I've just heard the Welsh and the French anthems sung at the rugby...the former always moves me emotionally and the latter is very stirring to the soul. I wonder why the English anthem always sounds like a tuneless dirge to me? Am I alone in this?


You're watching the rugby? I missed the start, had to get the kids out first then come back and catch what I could. Now the daughter is sulking cos I have control of the remote :wah:

Betty Boop;1387683 wrote: You're watching the rugby? I missed the start, had to get the kids out first then come back and catch what I could. Now the daughter is sulking cos I have control of the remote :wah:


It's been on in the background...I like the ceremony at the beginning, I watch if it sounds exciting and I watch the last five or ten minutes.



The english don't actually have an official national anthem they use god save the queen instead.





That's a shame though...God Save The Queen is so dull.

theia;1387686 wrote: It's been on in the background...I like the ceremony at the beginning, I watch if it sounds exciting and I watch the last five or ten minutes.



The english don't actually have an official national anthem they use god save the queen instead.





That's a shame though...God Save The Queen is so dull.


It is dull, yes. What would you suggest as an alternative and what could Cornwall have as an anthem?, whilst we're at it

Betty Boop;1387687 wrote: It is dull, yes. What would you suggest as an alternative and what could Cornwall have as an anthem?, whilst we're at it


Good question...Trelawney seems to be the Cornish anthem (I googled!)

Jerusalem and Land of Hope and Glory seem to be the favourites for England (on Google). I quite like I Vow to Thee My Country but I suspect that if a decision is ever made on replacing God Save The Queen there will be an outcry about the suggested alternatives.

I can't see LOHAG being a fair reflection of the UK these days - "Wider still and wider shall thy bounds be set; God, who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet"? It's an open invitation to send Our Lads to sort out the Lesser Breeds, don't you think. Not on, that. If we're still going down the road to Empire let's go the whole hog and use Rule Britannia - "Still more majestic shalt thou rise, More dreadful, from each foreign stroke; As the loud blast that tears the skies, Serves but to root thy native oak".

spot;1387691 wrote: I can't see LOHAG being a fair reflection of the UK these days - "Wider still and wider shall thy bounds be set; God, who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet"? It's an open invitation to send Our Lads to sort out the Lesser Breeds, don't you think. Not on, that. If we're still going down the road to Empire let's go the whole hog and use Rule Britannia - "Still more majestic shalt thou rise, More dreadful, from each foreign stroke; As the loud blast that tears the skies, Serves but to root thy native oak".


Outcry alert

theia;1387692 wrote: Outcry alert :DIn the annals of inspiring national anthems you left out that of the Soviet Union:

That ought to bring tears to anyone's eyes, it defines justifiable pride.

Am I allowed to offer The Internationale as a replacement national anthem for the UK?Stand up, all victims of oppression

For the tyrants fear your might

Don't cling so hard to your possessions

For you have nothing, if you have no rights

Let racist ignorance be ended

For respect makes the empires fall

Freedom is merely privilege extended

Unless enjoyed by one and all.Alistair Hulett died a couple of years back and I so looked forward to his tours. A great man, that.

Look, the Welsh can sing, no doubt about that. But the two best rugby anthems are those of first Scotland and then Ireland. Singing a song asking God to save a lady and to have her live long was probably a hit in Victoria's time, but today its seriously boooooooooooooooring!!!

Oh come now JJ, the South Africans have far and away the best anthem, it's even danceable.

That one they play at Irish matches always has me puzzled, it sounds so like Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag that I'm surprised they weren't sued for plagiarism.

spot;1387710 wrote: Oh come now JJ, the South Africans have far and away the best anthem, it's even danceable.


And its sung in three of the twelve official languages too!

How best to sing the US National Anthem.

Eddie Izzard on the US National Anthem - YouTube

Betty Boop;1387687 wrote: It is dull, yes. What would you suggest as an alternative and what could Cornwall have as an anthem?, whilst we're at it


Goin' up Cambourne Hill?

My preference would be for Lamourna but it's hardly national anthem material.

spot;1387693 wrote: In the annals of inspiring national anthems you left out that of the Soviet Union:

That ought to bring tears to anyone's eyes, it defines justifiable pride.

Am I allowed to offer The Internationale as a replacement national anthem for the UK?Stand up, all victims of oppression

For the tyrants fear your might

Don't cling so hard to your possessions

For you have nothing, if you have no rights

Let racist ignorance be ended

For respect makes the empires fall

Freedom is merely privilege extended

Unless enjoyed by one and all.Alistair Hulett died a couple of years back and I so looked forward to his tours. A great man, that.


What! It cannot be that long since I saw him with Dave Swarbrick.

You could at least have referenced the Paul Robeson version so that the assembled multitude could have appreciated the sentiment behind the words :-

Soviet/ USSR Anthem in English [by Paul Robeson] - YouTube

Bryn Mawr;1387810 wrote: What! It cannot be that long since I saw him with Dave Swarbrick.

You could at least have referenced the Paul Robeson version so that the assembled multitude could have appreciated the sentiment behind the words :-

Soviet/ USSR Anthem in English [by Paul Robeson] - YouTube


Did he not get hauled up in front of the un-american activities committee and accused of being a communist?

Billy connolly says it better than just about anyone.

Billy Connelly : National Anthem - YouTube

gmc;1387822 wrote: Did he not get hauled up in front of the un-american activities committee and accused of being a communist?

Billy connolly says it better than just about anyone.

Billy Connelly : National Anthem - YouTube


Very - probably because he was

Bryn Mawr;1387866 wrote: Very - probably because he was


In those days anyone that spoke about civil rights was viewed as a communist, not really done any research on the subject, travelling to the ussr does not make you a communist. You're talking about a country that thought the labour party in the UK was communist.

Really, seriously, of all people in the 20th century besides Lenin and Trotsky, Paul Robeson was a communist. It's nothing to do with accusations, it's what the chap was.