Song to represent England?

Subject: Song to represent England?
From: GUEST,Fyldeplayer
Date: 15 Mar 20 - 05:30 AM

Being coached back from an Moari evening in NZ the driver insisted nations led a song from home. A lot of Americans onboard so Country Roads / Wheels on the Bus etc. came out. We were dropped off before our big moment - but both realised next morning we were struggling to decide on a good singalong English song the yanks and others might know ( we seem to know theirs ). What would you have done?

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: The Sandman
Date: 15 Mar 20 - 05:40 AM

ON ILKLEY MOOR BAH TAT ,JUST BECAUSE ITS EASY FOR THEM TO JOIN IMN ON ILKLEY MOOR BAH TAT

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: The Sandman
Date: 15 Mar 20 - 05:41 AM

Wheear 'as ta bin sin ah saw thee,
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at?!
Wheear 'as ta bin sin ah saw thee?

On Ilkla Moor baht 'at?!
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at?!

Tha's been a cooartin' Mary Jane
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
Tha's been a cooartin' Mary Jane|

On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at

Tha's bahn t'catch thi deeath o'cowd
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
Tha's bahn t'catch thi deeath o'cowd

On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at

Then we shall ha' to bury thee
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
Then we shall ha' to bury thee

On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at

Then t'worms 'll cum and eat thee oop
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
Then t'worms 'll cum and eat thee oop

On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at

Then ducks 'll cum and eat oop t'worms
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
Then ducks 'll cum and eat oop t'worms

On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at

Then we shall go an' ate oop ducks
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
Then we shall go an' ate oop ducks

On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at

Then we shall all 'ave etten thee
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
Then we shall all 'ave etten thee

On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at

That's wheer we get us oahn back
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
That's wheer we get us oahn back

On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: The Sandman
Date: 15 Mar 20 - 05:44 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUsQ9Qs2DQo

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: The Sandman
Date: 15 Mar 20 - 05:46 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUsQ9Qs2DQo

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 15 Mar 20 - 07:03 AM

Yorkshire is a different country, Dick :-D

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Mar 20 - 09:00 AM

https://youtu.be/87gWaABqGYs

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: Joe_F
Date: 16 Mar 20 - 08:57 PM

Tipperary?
God Save the Queen?

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 16 Mar 20 - 09:11 PM

Song Of The Western Men, aka Trelawny.

[Lyrics by Robert Stephen Hawker (1804–1875), Parson of Morwenstow Parish in north Cornwall]

A good sword and a trusty hand,
A merry heart and true!
King James's men shall understand
What Cornish lads can do.
And have they fixed the where and when?
And shall Trelawny die?
Here's twenty thousand Cornish men
Will know the reason why!

And shall Trelawney live?
Or shall Trelawney die?
Here's twenty thousand Cornish men
Will know the reason why!

Out spake their Captain brave and bold:
A merry wight was he:
"If London Tower were Michael's hold,
We'll set Trelawney free!
We'll cross the Tamar, land to land,
The Severn is no stay:
With 'one and all', and hand in hand,
And who shall bid us nay?"

And shall Trelawney live?
Or shall Trelawney die?
Here's twenty thousand Cornish men
Will know the reason why!

"And when we come to London Wall,
A pleasent sight to view,
Come forth! come forth ye cowards all,
Here's men as good as you!
Trelawney he's in keep and hold:
Trelawney he may die:
But twenty thousand Cornish bold
Will know the reason why!"

And shall Trelawney live?
Or shall Trelawney die?
Here's twenty thousand Cornish men
Will know the reason why!

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: Mr Red
Date: 17 Mar 20 - 03:33 AM

Is Cornwall English? - twenty thousand Cornish men, Will know the reason why!

If we include Norfolk, Wild Rover - but Ireland got to brand that one.

Rule Brittania I think they would recognise. But sing?

Danny Boy, written by a Bristolian in Bristol. tune - Londerry Air, subject - Irish.

Maggie May - that would confuse them.

Fishermen of England - too obscure, even for many English.

London Pride - would they know that one?

London Bridge is Falling Down - ah maybe. Had to be Lundun innit?

You know we would struggle on the premise of the OP. I think the go to - Ilkley Moor (bah gum).

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: GUEST,Pseudonymous
Date: 17 Mar 20 - 06:23 AM

John Lennon isn't folk, but this idea did for the Olympics in London and it would do for me:

Imagine

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: BillE
Date: 17 Mar 20 - 06:29 AM

You'll Never Walk Alone?

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: Lighter
Date: 17 Mar 20 - 10:25 AM

Only we here know "The Quaker," but it contains the inimitably English lines,

"We'll go on board the Quaker, like heroes of old,
And by those blooming French dogs we'll ne'er be controlled."

More seriously: older Americans may at least recognize the tune of the authority-defying "Lincolnshire Poacher," via Phil Harris's "The Thing."

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: gillymor
Date: 17 Mar 20 - 10:34 AM

Probably not what you're looking for-

World Turned Upside Down as recorded by Dick Gaughan.

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 17 Mar 20 - 10:53 AM

Maggie Hollands great song, ' A Place Called England ' end of.

Dave H

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 17 Mar 20 - 11:02 AM

Yep, Maggie Holland's song as above. Show of Hands' "Roots" or, to go further back, how about William Blake's "Jerusalem" .

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 17 Mar 20 - 11:06 AM

I'll second You'll Never Walk Alone for completely unbiased reasons. And I rather like Sweet Thames Flow Softly. Or Waterloo Sunset.

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: gillymor
Date: 17 Mar 20 - 11:09 AM

Some of us Yanks sing Jolly Jack Tar together.

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: Mr Red
Date: 17 Mar 20 - 11:30 AM

In an English Country Garden?

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: GUEST,Mark
Date: 17 Mar 20 - 11:39 AM

The Stately Homes of England,
How beautiful they stand,
To prove the upper classes
Have still the upper hand;

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 17 Mar 20 - 12:30 PM

And Britons never never never shall be married to a mermaid on the bottom of the deep blue sea?

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: Joe_F
Date: 17 Mar 20 - 05:52 PM

The English, the English, the English are best.
I wouldn't give tuppence for all of the rest.      -- Flanders & Swann

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: Jim McLean
Date: 18 Mar 20 - 07:18 AM

It's amazing how many people still don't know the difference between Britain and England.

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: GUEST,Pseudonymous
Date: 18 Mar 20 - 09:24 AM

Or that "Sweet Thames Flow Softly" derives from either Edmund Spenser or TS Eliot? Plus the tune is said to be American in origin, but I cannot vouch for that. That takes the edge off it somehow.

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 18 Mar 20 - 10:04 AM

"American in origin,"
It isn't - it's one of MacColl's own adaptations of several tunes
The inspiration was a quotation from Spencer's 'Prothalamion'
It was made for Children's radio' in the 1960s, an adaptation of the 'Romeo and Juliet' theme, based around two families of East London street Market traders and performed by 'The Critics Group'
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: GUEST,Starship
Date: 18 Mar 20 - 10:24 AM

"It's amazing how many people still don't know the difference between Britain and England." Or the UK.

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: GUEST,Fyldeplayer
Date: 18 Mar 20 - 10:32 AM

Thanks all for variety of suggestions. Perhaps it would narrow things down if repeated - singalong, I might have tried Kites by Dave Walters but I would be singing solo! English Country Garden certainly would have worked, I think! What is a real English standard? Roll out the Barrel / Scarborough Fair / All around my Hat ?

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Mar 20 - 10:37 AM

Then let it take the edge off for YOU. The text is nothing like Spenser's poem, inspired by a line from it though it may be, and but for Ewan McColl we wouldn't have that song. And I think it's lovely. He might have been born to Scottish parents but he was born in Salford, same as my mum. That'll do me, thanks.

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: RTim
Date: 18 Mar 20 - 10:57 AM

Here's Adieu to Old England.......pretty apt at present!

Tim Radford

ADIEU TO OLD ENGLAND - George Blake, 30 May 1906 - version

Oh once I could ride in a coach,
Had horses to drag me about:
But now I’m confined in a gaol so strong
And I know not which way to get out.

        Here’s adieu to old England, adieu
        Here’s adieu to ten thousand, that’s more.
        If the world had been ended whilst I had been young
        My sorrows I ne’er should have known.

Oh once I could lie on a bed
That was made of the finest of down.
But now I am glad of a truss of green grass,
To keep my head from the cold ground.

Once I could eat of the bread
That was made from the finest of wheat
But now I am glad with a knolly bread crust
I’m glad I can get it to eat.

Oh once I could drink of that wine
That was made from the finest of grapes,
But now I am glad with a clear water spring
I’m glad I can get it to drink.

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: An Buachaill Caol Dubh
Date: 18 Mar 20 - 11:02 AM

Jim McLean and Starship, Hugh MacDiarmid made the point re. "England"="UK" almost a century ago, and I've found it universal among Scots that this conflation is disliked and indeed resented, quite legitimately. It's a bigger question than the subject of this thread, quite frankly, but at least it seems likely that, soon enough, it won't matter a tinker's curse to Scots (as distinct from North Britons) what mistakes in terminology are made in a foreign country to the South.

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: GUEST,Starship
Date: 18 Mar 20 - 11:30 AM

Aye, ABCD.

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 18 Mar 20 - 11:51 AM

Rather interesting that there's a similar debate going on in the Irish press about choosing a new National Anthem
One suggestion is 'Song for Ireland' which was made by an old associate, Phil Colclough - a Liverpudlian who moved to Stoke on Trent and then To London
I'm waiting for someone to suggest 'Dirty Old Town' made by a Salfordian Scotsman
Always did have a very cosmopolitan outlook, my Irish friends

Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 18 Mar 20 - 02:36 PM

Anyone mentioned Yellow Submarine yet?

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Mar 20 - 02:55 PM

Drink Old England Dry?

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 18 Mar 20 - 07:37 PM

how about William Blake's "Jerusalem" .

Why choose a song that starts with four questions, the answer to each of which is "No!"?

DC

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: An Buachaill Caol Dubh
Date: 18 Mar 20 - 09:15 PM

Ha! Never thought of it that way. In any case, leaving aside Blake's own intended meanings ( depending on the lines themselves being part of a longer work), would the word "Jerusalem" not niw prove problematic?

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: GUEST,Joe G
Date: 18 Mar 20 - 09:46 PM

Reg Meuross' England Green and England Grey


England Green and England Grey

or Jim Boyes' Jerusalem Revisted

Jerusalem Revisited

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: GUEST,Peter Cripps
Date: 19 Mar 20 - 05:49 PM

Heart of Oak?

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 20 Mar 20 - 03:06 AM

Doesn't matter, Doug. The OP asked for a good singalong English song. Which it is.

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 20 Mar 20 - 05:49 AM

That depends on your point of view Dave. In my secondary school, the first and second year pupils had to provide the choir for Speech Day. Jerusalem was our school hymn and we had to practise it over and over and over again. Like people who hate Shakespeare because they had to study it at school, Jerusalem is not at the top of my list of favourite sing-along songs.

DC

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: Ged Fox
Date: 20 Mar 20 - 06:03 AM

Vindaloo

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: GUEST,Pseudonymous
Date: 20 Mar 20 - 06:49 AM

Hearts of Oak is a bit butch/macho for me. Not to mention tending to the jingoistic. At least Blake was a bit of a rebel, though probably bonkers at times.

Once had a student bring in a Blake poem, the one about a tiger, and claim proudly to have written it. When I said I thought he had copied it out, he responded with incredulity and disappointment: 'How did you know that?'

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: An Buachaill Caol Dubh
Date: 20 Mar 20 - 09:41 AM

I'll bet he went on to claim copyright on an arrangement of a traditional song.

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: Mr Red
Date: 20 Mar 20 - 10:33 AM

Woad Ode - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Anthem_of_the_Ancient_Britons

True Blue British?

Subject: RE: Song to represent England?
From: An Buachaill Caol Dubh
Date: 20 Mar 20 - 12:19 PM

Very skilful and funny in a fairly polite way. Going to try this out on a couple of friends and see the reaction. Thanks.