Bring Me My Arrows Of Desire

[poliphilo]

Our national anthem is needlessly divisive.

If I were French I'd have no problem singing the (hair-raising) Marseillaise and if I were American I'd have no problem singing the (stirring) Star-spangled Banner, but the British national anthem commits me to monarchical rule and that's something I'm against. Like Corbyn I refuse to sing it. I'm a Republican. And in spite of everything the establishment and its media would like us to believe there's a a strong, honest and deeply patriotic tradition of British Republicanism. Let's reel off some names. Milton was a Republican, so were Burns, Shelley, Wilkes, Paine and Blake; I'm happy to be of their company. And then there's Cromwell (that very great man) who stands in solid, grim faced, Victorian bronze outside the Houses of Parliament- as a reminder and a reproach.

There are alternatives. The Scots have already adopted Flower of Scotland. Here in England there's Jerusalem. I'd have no problem singing Jerusalem. I'm a patriot, only not a monarchist- and the establishment has conflated the two. Listen, you lot, we fought a war over this issue; which- incidentally-  we won- and we're still here.  It's wrong that a nation of two opinions should have a national song that so offensively promotes the values of the dominant party.

Comments

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Before you get TOO enamored of OUR national anthem here in the United States... try singing it. It's got a range that makes it basically impossible for a normal person to sing.

Note that we repurposed the tune of YOUR national anthem as a patriotic song of OURS, because it's just easier:
"My country 'tis of thee/Sweet land of liberty/Of thee I sing./Land where my fathers died/Land of the Pilgrim's pride/From every mountainside/Let freedom ring."

It's a TERRIBLE set of lyrics, but it's STILL something we sing, because your tune is easier to sing than ours.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I tell you what you should have as your anthem- This Land is My Land. Woody rules!

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Yep, that would be my first choice, too. Especially the later verses, which supports radical anarchist communism.

As I went walking I saw a sign there
And on the sign it said "No Trespassing."
But on the other side it didn't say nothing,
That side was made for you and me.

In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?

All the best patriotic songs as questions about how our country could be better. Accepting things uncritically is jingoism; patriotism is loving one's country enough to wish to work on it.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Love those verses...

You're right. Anthems should be aspirational.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

It's perfectly possible for normal persons to sing the Bar Strangled Spanner, it just needs to be in a slightly lower key. It's not the range, it's the starting point. There is even a movement to get the key changed.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

It's over an octave and a half range. That's not horrific -- my range is a bit over two octaves -- but it's still a lot for casual singing.