English "national Anthem"

[jeffa]

Am I the only person who cringes whenever they hear Jerusalem being used as the English National Anthem? Jingoism at is absolute colonial, imperial worst, IMO. Praising your nation is one thing, but suggesting that Jesus actually visited it really is ridiculous! It always reminds me of the episode of Till Death Us Do Part where Alf Garnett is claiming that everything and everyone is English, including God.

[boxtops]

There is certainly a belief that Jesus did visit England - with Joseph of Arimathea - and planted the Glastonbury Thorn.

I've not heard Jerusalem used as our anthem - where do you hear it?

[pixie373]

Yes - it's nearly as bad as the real one.

[jno]

it's a question, not a statement and I suspect Blake's answer might have been No.

(As others have pointed out, the whole poem is three questions and a demand, to which the answers are No, No, No and Get them yourself.)

[jeffa]

"where do you hear it?"

Seriously? There seems to be some sport thing happening in Glasgow at the moment.

[boxtops]

Yes seriously, jeffa, I'm not watching the sport thing at all.....

[tamborine]

Wot dya expect of nordiks

[Milvus]

What lyrics are jingoistic or colonial? Boxtops describes it well. Nothing wrong with that

[jeffa]

The first verse, particularly. Not only is England the greatest country, but Jesus actually visited it. With God on our side, and all that. None of the colonies can boast that.

[Milvus]

So you think the description: England's mountains green, pleasant pastures, clouded hills and satanic mills is jingoistic? If I were you, I would avoid reading tourist brochures in the future! Where you find anything colonial is a mystery.

[EDDIE51]

It does not suggest Jesus visited England it is a set of questions. NOT statements.
And did the Holy lamb of God walk upon England's mountains green?
And was Jerusalem builded here , in England's green and pleasant land?
Another song that is often misunderstood is 'Rule Britannia', it is not 'Britannia Rules the waves' ( a statement) it is Britannia Rule the waves ( a command) that missing 's' makes all the difference.

[jeffa]

"It does not suggest Jesus visited England"

Of course it does! The fact that it phrases it as a question is irrelevant.

[maggiebee]

What are they playing as the Scottish "National Anthem"?

[Cloverjo]

I don't like it being used as the national anthem simply because it doesn't mean much to us as a nation. I wish we could use the one we usually have for GB as a whole. By contrast I love Scotland's anthem. And it also seems to mean a lot to the Scots.

[Cloverjo]

Flower of Scotland, maggiebee.

[bibblebub]

Jerusalem certainly sounds better than the usual deistic, monarchic dirge but, perhaps, we should have Vindaloo or Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life.

[maggiebee]

Thanks Cloverjo, I hoped it would be that.

[Caribeing]

I think it is powerful and emotional, better than O Flower of Scotland which is Scotland's anthem, reminds me of Billy Connolly telling his drunkard stories!

[jeffa]

There was an interesting programme on TV a few years ago where Phil Cunningham was asking various prominent Scots what they thought should be the National Anthem of an independent Scotland, and quite a few didn't think it should be Flower of Scotland. The Proclaimers in particular thought that it should be something which specifically didn't feature anything having a go at the English.

[inksplotter]

Time for a new anthem? What about "Protocoligorically Correct" from the "Slipper and the Rose" or the "Ying Tong" song even?

[SeaJayPea]

I'd rather that than the usual nonsense. Read all of God Save The Queen if you really want jingoistic nonsense.

England doesn't have its own national anthem, some of its sports teams seem to think its OK for them to use the UK one. I happen to think not.

We've used Land of Hope and Glory at Commonwealth Games in the past. No idea why not this time.

Cricket has started using Jerusalem at the start of each day's play and despite using God Save The Queen for the anthems, the RFU do also get the crowd singing Jerusalem as well. You may not be making your point jeffa if you'd ever heard 80,000 voices belting out Jerusalem there. Makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck.