I noted the English national anthem played at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games was Jerusalem. Not GSTQ.
Is this indicative of the Scott leaving the UK?
Is this indicative of the Scott leaving the UK?
National Anthem
- Thread starter Dustydog
- Start date
PaulT said:
That's my point Paul. GSTQ is a "National "anthem" not just English. As far as I can ascertain there is no official English anthem although it is becoming more common that people like to have Jerusalem or Land of Hope and Glory.
Jerusalem! Surely not :-
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England’s green and pleasant land
I have never been to Jerusalem, but from what I have seen and heard about it, it is about the last place I would want built here. And its music is almost as dreary and miserable as that of GSTQ.
Difficult to know where to begin with the problems with "Jerusalem". A point of issue between Christians, Muslims and Jews since at least its capture by Muslims in 1076, leading to the Crusades, and a flashpoint right up to the present day. And we should have a national anthem about waving a sword over it?
Secondly, even without the political issues, what is a foreigner to make of an English national anthem being about a city in Israel/Palestine (delete to taste)? Imagine - it would be like us hearing that the national anthem of Mongolia, say, is "New York, New York"! You'd think - what the heck ?!
OTOH, Land of Hope and Glory would make a brilliant anthem. I heard a story that Elgar composed the music while cycling in the Shropshire countryside, as he often did, and that when he got back he told a friend that he had thought of a melody which "will knock 'em flat". He was right. I don't generally get excited about music, but this melody was the first I ever remember to have stuck in my mind.
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England’s green and pleasant land
I have never been to Jerusalem, but from what I have seen and heard about it, it is about the last place I would want built here. And its music is almost as dreary and miserable as that of GSTQ.
Difficult to know where to begin with the problems with "Jerusalem". A point of issue between Christians, Muslims and Jews since at least its capture by Muslims in 1076, leading to the Crusades, and a flashpoint right up to the present day. And we should have a national anthem about waving a sword over it?
Secondly, even without the political issues, what is a foreigner to make of an English national anthem being about a city in Israel/Palestine (delete to taste)? Imagine - it would be like us hearing that the national anthem of Mongolia, say, is "New York, New York"! You'd think - what the heck ?!
OTOH, Land of Hope and Glory would make a brilliant anthem. I heard a story that Elgar composed the music while cycling in the Shropshire countryside, as he often did, and that when he got back he told a friend that he had thought of a melody which "will knock 'em flat". He was right. I don't generally get excited about music, but this melody was the first I ever remember to have stuck in my mind.
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