England's National Anthem - What Should It Be?

[Wymsey]

What do you reckon?

Edited 19 hours ago by Wymsey

[davieG]

Assuming Charles would have to approve any change,  unlikely,  I doubt he’d agree to I vow to thee my country as it was Diana’s  favourite hymn and played at her funeral. 

[spacemunky]

Probably something by Ed Sheeran.

[urban.spaceman]

Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen

[Alf Bentley]

 

 

[StanSP]

Sweet Caroline. 

[Raj]

 

[Foxdiamond]

1 hour ago, StanSP said:

Sweet Caroline. 

Ha. A song written by chap from Brooklyn and written in Memphis.

[Foxdiamond]

I would go for Jerusalem for England only events

[SouthStandUpperTier]

Something long-winded, tuneless, with bat-sh*t crazy lyrics. Works for Paquador...

 

 

[Stuntman_Mike]

I'm not sure what it should be, but it does feel time for a change. 

[Chelmofox]

Bring your Daughter,  by Iron Maiden

[Officer Doofy]

Clubfoot

[Finnegan]

The people that repeatedly call for Jerusalem know absolutely nothing about music. 

 

You'd still have the biggest dirge in sporting anthems. 

 

It's a kinda pretty song and yes it sounds OK being sung by a bunch of middle aged posh women at the proms. But it's not an anthem and it's not rousing.

 

Rule Britannia kinda works but I think it's fair to say the ship has definitely sailed on that. You're never getting away with adopting a patriotic, chest thumping, flag waving song as your anthem in 2026. Nobody would bat an eyelid if it was already your anthem (I mean half of Europe's anthems are about murdering their neighbours) but actually changing to it would cause way too much fuss. 

 

That said, this is a forum full of people that can't understand why When You're Smiling never took off like You'll Never Walk Alone so I don't know why I bother. 

 

Edited 9 hours ago by Finnegan

[bovril]

Vow to Thee My Country isn't really my taste but I like Holst and have family from Thaxted, so would choose that. O God of Earth and Altar as a leftfield choice. 

[AKCJ]

8 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

But it's not an anthem and it's not rousing

Jerusalem works perfectly fine when sung at the cricket.

[Pliskin]

Cowboys from Hell…. 

[Finnegan]

57 minutes ago, AKCJ said:

Jerusalem works perfectly fine when sung at the cricket.

 

It's fine as a crowd song, you should sing it more at all your sporting events, it sounds cool being sung by a lot of people. 

 

But it's not a rowsing pre match anthem you want to belt out to get yourself in the mood before a football or rugby match is it? 

 

It's too mellow. It's like the Japanese anthem, that's got this really kinda eerie, haunting, mournful quality to it. It sounds cool when they sing it but it's definitely not anthemic, it's more likely to put you to sleep. 

 

I mean compare that to La Marseillaise. 

 

Edited 8 hours ago by Finnegan

[Finnegan]

As an aside, you should be careful what you wish for because if England ever do agree to have their own national anthem then some committee will probably get together, decide all of these traditional songs aren't inclusive or relevant enough anymore and they'll drag Andrew Lloyd Webber out of semi retirement again to compose you an original piece

 

[Jattdogg]

Mundian to bach ke  by Panjabi MC

 

[bovril]

46 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

As an aside, you should be careful what you wish for because if England ever do agree to have their own national anthem then some committee will probably get together, decide all of these traditional songs aren't inclusive or relevant enough anymore and they'll drag Andrew Lloyd Webber out of semi retirement again to compose you an original piece

 

An ode to the NHS with an ironic nod to Greggs, composed by Ed Sheeran. 

[EastAnglianFox]

Can't think of anything in the world that is more drab and uninspiring than the current offering you have, anything would be an improvement.

 

One of the songs they belt out at last night of the proms would be pretty cool

 

 

[Sampson]

Definitely should be Jerusalem, greatvpiece of music.

 

But if we're also posting joke answers then it should be something where people happy to take the piss out of themselves in a good natured way, easy to sing along to, and also part of important institutional touch stone of British culture. In that case, I nominate this 

 

 

Edited 6 hours ago by Sampson

[when_you're_smiling]

It’s good enough to be Coalville’s national anthem….so…

 

 

 

[spacemunky]

3 hours ago, Pliskin said:

Cowboys from Hell….