National Anthem

lucasade1 said:
I've also always thought the great war-time classic "There'll always be an England" was a nice song, probably not Anthem material though.

There'll always be an England,
While there's a country lane,
Wherever there's a cottage small
Beside a field of grain.
There'll always be an England,
While there's a busy street,
Wherever there's a turning wheel
A million marching feet.
Red, white and blue,
What does it mean to you?
Surely you're proud
Shout it aloud.
Britons awake!
The Empire too,
We can depend on you,
Freedom remains
These are the chains
Nothing can break.
There'll always be an England,
And England shall be free,
If England means as much to you
As England means to me.
This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in a silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or as a moat defensive to a house
Against the envy of less happier lands
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm
This England
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A great song, and would make an excellent anthem, except it's a bit dated now. And you would never get the govornment going for something so blatently colonial. :)

Let's face it, you would never get the govornment approving anything like Jerusalem, Rule brittania etc. Because they are all vaguely controversial, with Jerusalem you have the whole problem of the arabic nations accusing us of being part of a Zionist conspiracy (or some anti-semitic nonsense of that kind), with rule brittania and even land of hope and glory we would come accross as overly militaristic and domineering. The current one is nice and introverted, and politically neutral.
 
Does anyone know where I would be able to obtain an mp3 version of the hymns: Jerusalem and Land of Hope and Glory?*





* I know about the copyright of media mentioned in the FAQ, but I assume that being hymns these wouldn't be copyrighted in the same manner.
If I'm wrong, please feel free to delete this request.
 
robmiller said:
Or an official capital city :)
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Many years ago I used to have Encyclopedia Brittanica and according to that England wasn't a real country because of how its setup.
Anybody know where I can still find this information?
 
Tum te tum te tum te tum
Tum te tum te tum tum
Tum te tum te tum te tum
Tum te tiddely tum.

Sorted, thread can be closed now ;)

K.
 
Gilly said:
I've posted this before with a poll between Rule Brittania, Jerusalem and Land of Hope and Glory.

Think LoHaG won but I can't remember.
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What was the question for the poll? It can't have been for an English anthem because then Rule Britannia is not appropriate, and it can't have been for British because Jerusalem is about Engerland.

In my opinion the anthem for the UK should be Rule Britannia (complete with nationwide education programme about the words at the start), and Engerland should use Jerusalem. They're both 100 times better than God Save the Queen.
 
Jerusalem - soley about England so suitable for an English anthem only not for the UK

Rule Britannia - Written by a Scotsman (words) so I should be all patriotic but never did think it was anything special. Nothing wrong with it as such but as an Anthem no better than God Save the Queen (only my opinion of course).

Land of Hope and Glory - As above but not written by a Scotsman.

If it had to be an existing one 'I Vow To Thee, My Country. Although something new and more relevant would be better if we were given the chance to change it.

'The Black Bear' for Scotland, yeah it's cheesey but it's great. Or even better 'The Black Bear'/'Scotland the Brave' medley a la Edinburgh Tattoo :D
 
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