|
18-Jan-05
01:36 PM
|
So What Should the English National Anthem Be?
With the calls for an English national anthem getting ever stronger, there is more and more talk, in the press and in the pub, about what the English national anthem should be. Everyone has their own ideas, from the obvious to the ridiculous.
Here are some suggestions. LET US NOW YOUR VIEWS.
Land of Hope and Glory
This is already used as England's 'Victory Anthem' at The Commonwealth Games having been selected for that purpose by The Commonwealth Games Council for England and the rousing tune is known around the world. The music is Sir Edward Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 of 1902. Elgar had been commissioned to compose a work for the coronation of the King Edward VII, and it was then also suggested that a section of the first Pomp and Circumstance March should also have words and become the climax of the "Coronation Ode". Benson then produced a modified version of the words for performance as a separate piece, and it is the chorus from this that is now so familiar to British audiences as Land of Hope and Glory.
But already we have hit a problem - Land of Hope and Glory is about Britain, not England, written for the coronation of the British monarch and celebrating Britain at the height of the British Empire. So, in the same way that God Save the Queen is a British song that has been misappropriated by the English, surely Land of Hope and Glory belongs to all Union Jack waving Brits, as at last night of the proms?
The next sticking point is the words. It is believed that Elgar himself disliked them, which is not a good start, but the problem is in the content and the sentiment, rooted as it is in turn of the century Britain at the height of the Empire. The idea conveyed by “Wider still and wider shall thy bounds be set; God, who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet” is inherently questionable, but surely not suitable for a modern England a century on. Because the new English national anthem will be a opportunity for us to present a clearer identity of Englishness to the rest of the world, it is surely of upmost importance that we don’t choose a song whose lyrics are firmly rooted not only in the past, but in a different world. In footballing terms, to choose an anthem whose words suggest that the English are obsessed by and still rooted in the past, would be a spectacular own goal. We must choose a song appropriate to England in the 21st century and this is not political correctness, it is common sense.
But this is not necessarily to throw the baby out with the bath water - the anachronistic lyrics do not necessarily mean that the tune could not become the English national anthem. In actual fact, new and more contemporary lyrics have already been written and are used in many schools and there is no reason, therefore, why new, and specifically English words couldn't be written to this great tune. So a modified Land of Hope and Glory could be used as the English national anthem, despite the fact that this move that would not be popular amongst other non-English British music fans. Or should it be left as what it currently is - a grand reminder of a different age - but not one that should be rehashed and repackaged as 21st Century national anthem?
Land of Hope and Glory
Dear Land of Hope, thy hope is crowned.
God make thee mightier yet!
On Sov'ran brows, beloved, renowned,
Once more thy crown is set.
Thine equal laws, by Freedom gained,
Have ruled thee well and long;
By Freedom gained, by Truth maintained,
Thine Empire shall be strong.
Land of Hope and Glory, Mother of the Free,
How shall we extol thee, who are born of thee?
Wider still and wider shall thy bounds be set;
God, who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet.
Thy fame is ancient as the days,
As Ocean large and wide:
A pride that dares, and heeds not praise,
A stern and silent pride:
Not that false joy that dreams content
With what our sires have won;
The blood a hero sire hath spent
Still nerves a hero son.
Jerusalem
A favourite of congregations as disparate as Church of England services, Labour Party Conferences and the terraces of Twickenham, this stirring and beautiful hymn is a melody dating from 1916 by Charles Hubert Hastings Parry and of course the inspiring words are a poem by William Blake.
Surely no English person can fail to be stirred whenever those famous opening lines are sung, though few people outside of cathedrals and rugby clubs could claim to know all the words. But although it is a seemingly obvious contender, is Jerusalem really national anthem material? A dark poem, like the satanic mills Blake writes about, it is a radical lament about the social injustices of industrialisation, a worthy theme that if it were written today, would probably be considered by some as political correctness! And the conclusion is one of negativity, with a stirring call to action imbued with hope, but negativity none the less. As David McKie put in in The Guardian "But it's hard to see what encouragement players could gain from much of the text, most of which Blake devotes to asking questions (Did those feet walk on England's mountains? Was the Lamb of God seen on English pastures? Was Jerusalem builded here among dark, satanic mills?) to which the answers, unhappily, always seem to be: no" (The Guardian, 7 March 2002). Would any country really want a national anthem that, far from celebrating all that is best about a nation, actually sends people away lamenting the present, to come back with hope and do better next time. Surely we have had enough of that feeling with the football World Cup and Wimbledon!
The main issue with Jerusalem, however, is that it is an overtly Christian hymn. No-one, from any part of the political spectrum, would deny what a multicultural society that England is in 2002, and yet Jerusalem's lead character is the Lamb of God, a concept that probably means very little outside of churches in an era when the majority of people don't go to church. And is this something that English Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs agnostics and atheists (and people from all other faiths and none) could identify with? And the other, perhaps even more uncomfortable issue is that in 2002, do we really want to choose an English national anthem whose title is the place in the world most torn apart by conflict and hatred and somehow symbolic of the religious and cultural intolerance that blight our world? Jerusalem in 2002 is a very different concept than the one intended by Blake and to ignore that sad and uncomfortable fact would surely be insular and insensitive.
One also has to suspect that Blake himself, the mystic, would be horrified that his critique of life in 19th Century England ended up as the anthem of his country two centuries on so it would seem a little strange that 80,000 voices were singing Jerusalem at Wembley if Blake was turning in his grave in a corner of this green and pleasant land! Whatever the choice for an English national anthem, this will continue to be one of England's great songs, but like Blake, should we continue to revere it, but leave it be? Or should we ignore our concerns and elevate the song that is already seen by many as England's unofficial national anthem?
Jerusalem
And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the Holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?
And did the Countenance divine
Shine forth upon those clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here,
Among those dark satanic mills?
Bring me my bow of burning gold,
Bring me my arrows of desire;
Bring me my spear! O, clouds unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire!
I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land.
There'll Always Be An England
A music hall favourite during the second world war, it became a rallying cry in our darkest hour and the tune and the lyrics indeed conjure up all that was good about the wartime spirit in the 1940s. But that, unsurprisingly, makes it sound as though it belongs on a compilation of war time classics, rather than as a modern national anthem. The lyrics are very dated, focused on a rosy picture of rural life that no modern day farmer or post office owner could identify with, and overall it presents a deliberately highly idealistic, even naive view of an England past with little resonance with and relevance to a modern England.
It is also is guilty of the confusion between Britishness and Englishness that this whole campaign seeks to address - it talks of "the red, white and blue". Anyone visiting England dusting the World Cup, from other parts of the U.K. abroad, or for that matter Outer Space, would now know that England's colours are white with a red cross. At least we have now got that right, something we still hadn’t done properly until three decades after 'World Cup Willy' was parading round Wembley in 1966 in a Union Jack waistcoat. The song then makes an impassioned call to our Celtic neighbours, "Britons awake!" but one suspects if anyone tried to use "There'll Always be An England" as a rallying call for Britishness in Glasgow or Swansea, they might find some of the natives had awoken to their national identity a long time ago.
So a lovely bit of wartime nostalgia, for those alive who still like that sort of thing. But surely we need to be looking forward, not backwards and adopting a song all English people can identify with whether they are from town or shire. Or do you think that Englishness was partially defined and somehow crystallised by the courage of the war time years?
There`ll always be an England
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 loud
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.
I Vow to Thee My Country
This wonderful tune is of course from 'Jupiter' from Holst's ‘The Planet's’. Holst later turned this theme into a tune called Thaxted, named after a church a village in Essex, England, for which Holst was the music director. The lyrics are the poem I Vow To Thee My Country by Sir Cecil Spring-Rice. A staple of school assemblies, this hymn received publicity as a favourite of HRH The Princess of Wales, and was sung at the 1981 Royal Wedding and, poignantly, also at her funeral at the request of her son, Prince William.
Considering the fact that the three choices mentioned so far all have potential problems with the lyrical content, it is something of a relief that this hymn is, and can only really be interpreted as, worthy and timeless. Far from being about past glories or Empires or it sings of "the love that asks no question, the love that stands the test". In fact, the only accusation that could really be levelled at the words is that they are a little too worthy to the point of Victorian sentimentality, but that is hardly something that could cause offence to anyone.
As with Jerusalem, this is another Christian hymn, which means that the same arguments about having a religious anthem could apply, but with no reference to a specific God or religion, it could still be suitable for the English national anthem. There may also be some debate again whether the country to which Sir Cecil is vowing to is Britain or England but in a sense this does not matter, because the content of the words is so unspecific and honourable.
Perhaps the biggest argument against adopting I Vow To Thee…as the English national anthem would be similar to the issue about Land of Hope and Glory and The Last Night of the Proms, but even more so. Using this tune, a part of a great musical work, would confuse students of music at the very least and might undermine affection for this great piece. Of the Planets, people might come to comment, "Oh, yeah - that's the one with the English national anthem in it". But then again, the European Union did it with Beethoven's Ode To Joy, so there is a precedent from recent history. And if Kiri Te Kanawa and the Rugby Union can appropriate this great tune, then surely the English nation could!
I vow to thee, my country.
I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above
entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love;
the love that asks no question, the love that stands the test,
that lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;
the love that never falters, the love that pays the price,
the love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.
And there's another country, I've heard of long ago
most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;
we may not count her armies, we may not see her King;
her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;
and soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase,
and her ways are ways of gentleness, and all her paths are peace.
So let us know what you think?
|
