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| A new English national anthem: is Jerusalem as good as it gets? | A new English national anthem: is Jerusalem as good as it gets? |
| (10 days later) | |
| Today, as tradition demands before every Olympics, MPs debated the pressing need for England to have its own national anthem. | Today, as tradition demands before every Olympics, MPs debated the pressing need for England to have its own national anthem. |
| Yes, you might think there are more important issues right now, such as junior doctors or whether Leeds is either going to be given some new flood defences or turn into a permanent aqua park. | Yes, you might think there are more important issues right now, such as junior doctors or whether Leeds is either going to be given some new flood defences or turn into a permanent aqua park. |
| But it isn’t – honestly! – as stupid an idea as it first sounds, even though a second reading now seems unlikely. A nation anthem is there to inspire people at times of national crisis – just look at Parisians singing La Marseillaise after the recent terror attacks; God Save the Queen hasn’t inspired anyone since it was popularised in 1745 during Bonnie Prince Charlie’s invasion to take back the throne for the Stuarts. | But it isn’t – honestly! – as stupid an idea as it first sounds, even though a second reading now seems unlikely. A nation anthem is there to inspire people at times of national crisis – just look at Parisians singing La Marseillaise after the recent terror attacks; God Save the Queen hasn’t inspired anyone since it was popularised in 1745 during Bonnie Prince Charlie’s invasion to take back the throne for the Stuarts. |
| Yet every time this issue is debated, there is only really one choice for an English anthem: Jerusalem, Blake’s great poem of building a paradise among England’s “dark Satanic mills”, set to Hubert Parry’s soaring orchestration. | Yet every time this issue is debated, there is only really one choice for an English anthem: Jerusalem, Blake’s great poem of building a paradise among England’s “dark Satanic mills”, set to Hubert Parry’s soaring orchestration. |
| Related: Wonderful Land is our new Jerusalem | Letters | |
| You could argue it isn’t the best choice. Jerusalem – as its very name makes clear – is just as religious as God Save the Queen, and totally unsuitable for today’s largely secular England. | You could argue it isn’t the best choice. Jerusalem – as its very name makes clear – is just as religious as God Save the Queen, and totally unsuitable for today’s largely secular England. |
| Amid the great poetry there are also some of the most cliched, appallingly hackneyed phrases imaginable - “England’s green and pleasant land”, for instance – words you would cringe at if they came out of Nigel Farage’s mouth. | Amid the great poetry there are also some of the most cliched, appallingly hackneyed phrases imaginable - “England’s green and pleasant land”, for instance – words you would cringe at if they came out of Nigel Farage’s mouth. |
| Billy Bragg once said that singing it is “the one time I do actually feel pride being English”. But would he feel the same if it had been written by someone other than the free-love supporting, vision-seeing, working-class champion Blake? Maybe not. | Billy Bragg once said that singing it is “the one time I do actually feel pride being English”. But would he feel the same if it had been written by someone other than the free-love supporting, vision-seeing, working-class champion Blake? Maybe not. |
| But even with those points, I have to admit it is the best way to go. The only alternative is a competition for a brand-new song – every child in the country being asked to grab a pen and write an entry, Gary Barlow and Andrew Lloyd Webber being begged to do so, too, with Dizzee Rascal commissioned for a guest rap. | But even with those points, I have to admit it is the best way to go. The only alternative is a competition for a brand-new song – every child in the country being asked to grab a pen and write an entry, Gary Barlow and Andrew Lloyd Webber being begged to do so, too, with Dizzee Rascal commissioned for a guest rap. |
| It woud probably be a worthwhile event – getting everyone to debate what it really means to be English today – but chances are it wouldn’t produce the greatest poetry. | It woud probably be a worthwhile event – getting everyone to debate what it really means to be English today – but chances are it wouldn’t produce the greatest poetry. |
| Switzerland recently held a similar contest and ended up picking a winner that spends most of its time pointing out the country’s flag is a “white cross on a red background”. | Switzerland recently held a similar contest and ended up picking a winner that spends most of its time pointing out the country’s flag is a “white cross on a red background”. |
| It’s hardly Blake, is it? It’s hardly even God Save the Queen. | It’s hardly Blake, is it? It’s hardly even God Save the Queen. |
| Alex Marshall is the author of Republic or Death! Travels in Search of National Anthems | Alex Marshall is the author of Republic or Death! Travels in Search of National Anthems |