The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #159033   Message #3766391
Posted By: keberoxu
17-Jan-16 - 05:07 PM
Thread Name: What do you call…
Subject: RE: What do you call…
This question has been around for generations, actually.

The DT has several songs by Flanders & Swann, the English duo who gave us At the Drop of a Hat. I think the DT includes the song with the chorus,

The English the English the English are best
I wouldn't give tuppence for all of the rest

And thereby hangs a tale.
Michael Flanders used to introduce this song by remarking,
"Do you realize that England has never had a proper National song of its own? Think of the Germans -- remember,
'German, German Over-Alls'?
What National song have WE got here in England?
'JERUSALEM.'
What are we going to do about that?"

When their song was first performed, the story goes, Flanders titled it "Anthem Anathema." Their reason for changing the song title, according to the story, was that they would perform in public, and afterwards people would come up to them with compliments on that lyric in particular; and Flanders would be shocked to realize that the listener did not recognize the satire involved, and took the lyrics literally. This person/persons would give themselves away by saying that they always felt the way the feelings are described in the song lyrics, and it was about time someone put what they felt into song so that the listener knew that they weren't alone!

This is not what Michael Flanders had in mind at all. He decided that "Anthem Anathema" was too subtle a title and had sailed clear over too many people's heads.

So today the song title says "Patriotic PREJUDICE."

To sum up:
Flanders & Swann intended to -- and did -- present a song that was an intentional satire, and not what people are struggling to describe in this thread. Nevertheless, they discovered that there were people in the audience who actually wanted the literal thing, whatever you call it.