Friday, June 12, 2020

Funny Friday


-----o😊o-----

A mixed collection today, readers.  Most have a risqué aspect but they were selected for humour, not risqué content.

Don’t proceed further if you might be offended.

For those who do venture forward, enjoy.

-----o😊o-----

SOME HUMOUR . . .
 _____________

A US item but applicable to all governments, I would say . . .

Once upon a time the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert.

Congress said, "Someone may steal from it at night." So they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job.

Then Congress said, "How does the watchman do his job without instruction?" So they created a planning department and hired two people, one person to write the instructions, and one person to do time studies.

Then Congress said, "How will we know the night watchman is doing his tasks correctly?" So they created the Quality Control Department and hired two people. One to do the studies and one to write the reports.

Then Congress said, "How are these people going to get paid?" So they created a time keeper and a payroll officer position. Then hired two people.

Then Congress said, "Who will be accountable for all of these people?" So they created an administrative section and hired three people: An Administrative Officer, Assistant Administrative Officer, and a Legal Secretary.

Then Congress said, "We have had this command in operation for one year and we are $18,000 over budget, we must cutback overall cost."

So they laid off the night watchman.
_____________

Many years ago a man was travelling through the mountains of Switzerland. Nightfall was rapidly approaching and he had nowhere to sleep.

He went up to a farmhouse and asked the farmer if he could spend the night. The farmer told him that he could sleep in the barn.

As the story goes, the farmer's daughter asked her father, "Who is that man going into the barn?" "That fellow is travelling through," said the farmer. "Needs a place to stay for the night, so, I told him he could sleep in the barn."

The daughter said, "Perhaps he is hungry." So she prepared him a plate of food for him and then took it out to the barn. About an hour later, the daughter returned. Her clothing dishevelled and straw in her hair.

Straight up to bed she went. The farmer's wife was very observant. She then suggested that perhaps the man was thirsty. So she fetched a bottle of wine, took it out to the barn, and she too did not return for an hour. Her clothing was askew, her blouse buttoned incorrectly. She also headed straight to bed.

The next morning at sunrise the man in the barn got up and continued on his journey, waving to the farmer as he left. When the daughter awoke and learned that the visitor was gone, she broke into tears. "How could he leave without even saying goodbye," she cried. "We made such passionate love last night!"

"What?" shouted the father as he angrily ran out of the house looking for the man, who by now was halfway up the mountain. The farmer screamed up at him, "I'm going to get you! You had sex with my daughter!" The man looked back down from the mountainside, cupped his hand next to his mouth, and yelled out... "LAIDTHEOLDLADYTOO!"
_____________

A little girl asks her mum "mummy, how was I born" Her mother smiled and replied "once upon a time your daddy and I decided to plant a wonderful tiny seed. Your daddy planted it in the earth and I took care of it every single day. After a while the seed germinated and grew tall with many leaves until it became a lovely healthy plant. Then we dried it and smoked it and got so high we forgot to use a condom"

-----o😊o-----

FROM THE VAULT . . .

An Afghan, an Albanian, an Algerian, an American, an Andorran, an Angolan, an Antiguans, an Argentine, an Armenian, an Australian, an Austrian, an Azerbaijani, a Bahamian, a Bahraini, a Bangladeshi, a Barbadian, a Barbudans, a Batswanan, a Belarusian, a Belgian, a Belizean, a Beninese, a Bhutanese, a Bolivian, a Bosnian, a Brazilian, a Brit, a Bruneian, a Bulgarian, a Burkinabe, a Burmese, a Burundian, a Cambodian, a Cameroonian, a Canadian, a Cape Verdean, a Central African, a Chadian, a Chilean, a Chinese, a Colombian, a Comoran, a Congolese, a Costa Rican, a Croatian, a Cuban, a Cypriot, a Czech, a Dane, a Djibouti, a Dominican, a Dutchman, an East Timorese, an Ecuadorean, an Egyptian, an Emirian, an Equatorial Guinean, an Eritrean, an Estonian, an Ethiopian, a Fijian, a Filipino, a Finn, a Frenchman, a Gabonese, a Gambian, a Georgian, a German, a Ghanaian, a Greek, a Grenadian, a Guatemalan, a Guinea-Bissauan, a Guinean, a Guyanese, a Haitian, a Herzegovinian, a Honduran, a Hungarian, an I-Kiribati, an Icelander, an Indian, an Indonesian, an Iranian, an Iraqi, an Irishman, an Israeli, an Italian, an Ivorian, a Jamaican, a Japanese, a Jordanian, a Kazakhstani, a Kenyan, a Kittian and Nevisian, a Kuwaiti, a Kyrgyz, a Laotian, a Latvian, a Lebanese, a Liberian, a Libyan, a Liechtensteiner, a Lithuanian, a Luxembourger, a Macedonian, a Malagasy, a Malawian, a Malaysian, a Maldivan, a Malian, a Maltese, a Marshallese, a Mauritanian, a Mauritian, a Mexican, a Micronesian, a Moldovan, a Monacan, a Mongolian, a Moroccan, a Mosotho, a Motswana, a Mozambican, a Namibian, a Nauruan, a Nepalese, a New Zealander, a Nicaraguan, a Nigerian, a Nigerien, a North Korean, a Northern Irishman, a Norwegian, an Omani, a Pakistani, a Palauan, a Palestinian, a Panamanian, a Papua New Guinean, a Paraguayan, a Peruvian, a Pole, a Portuguese, a Qatari, a Romanian, a Russian, a Rwandan, a Saint Lucian, a Salvadoran, a Samoan, a San Marinese, a Sao Tomean, a Saudi, a Scottish, a Senegalese, a Serbian, a Seychellois, a Sierra Leonean, a Singaporean, a Slovakian, a Slovenian, a Solomon Islander, a Somali, a South African, a South Korean, a Spaniard, a Sri Lankan, a Sudanese, a Surinamer, a Swazi, a Swede, a Swiss, a Syrian, a Taiwanese, a Tajik, a Tanzanian, a Togolese, a Tongan, a Trinidadian or Tobagonian, a Tunisian, a Turkish, a Tuvaluan, a Ugandan, a Ukrainian, a Uruguayan, a Uzbekistani, a Venezuelan, a Vietnamese, a Welshman, a Yemenite, a Zambian and a Zimbabwean all go to a nightclub... The doorman stops them and says “Sorry, I can’t let you in without a Thai.”

-----o😊o-----

LIMERICK OF THE WEEK . . .

Tim B, obviously also a limerick lover, sent me another email which was sent to him by his brother.  You may recall that Tim’s brother, Reg, is a retired lawyer in Georgia.  One of his pastimes is to write limericks.

From Reg:

I overlooked a limerick I wrote and forgot to add the one about the plumber.  Here they are.

There once was a pretty young strumpet,
After sex she’d serve tea and a crumpet
But it was her norm
If one couldn’t perform
To sadly play taps on her trumpet.

And, the one I overlooked.

There once was a plumber named Lee
Who was plumbing his girl by the sea
Said his girl “Stop your plumbing,
I hear someone coming.”
Said the plumber, still plumbing, “It’s me.”

-----o😊o-----

GALLERY . . .








-----o😊o-----



CORN CORNER:
_____________

For an experiment, my son has been wearing a different Manchester United top for two weeks. So far he's been spat at, verbally abused, and punched...

God knows what will happen to him when he leaves the house.
_____________

_____________

_____________

_____________

_____________



We cannot allow this year to end
That would be admitting that 2021.

Some responses:

We'll still get another chance because 2022 is 2020, too.

A couple years after that we'll learn: what was 2024?

This year’s been forceful that’s for sure. Our only hope lies in someone mastering The Force. 2021 Kenobi

Ask a New Zealander what they think of the current year and you will be told 2020 sucks, but don’t mistake that for 2026
 _____________

I tell it in the wrong order.

Why am I bad at telling jokes?

-----o😊o-----

Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Quote for the Day


Of Flags and Poems

Having posted a few items on Australia in the last few days, here is another. 



One of my friends and a contributor to Bytes on occasion, Steve, is a defender of our current flag. He came to mind when I stumbled upon a poem by an anonymous writer espousing the same view, so Steve, this one’s for you . . . 



Our flag bears the stars that blaze at night
In our southern sky of blue
And that little old flag in the corner
That's part of our heritage too,
It's for the English, the Scots and the Irish
Who were sent to the end of the earth
The rogues and the schemers and dreamers
Who gave our Australia its birth.
And you who are shouting to change it
You don't seem to understand
It's the flag of our laws and language
Not the flag of a far away land
There are plenty of people who'll tell you
How when Europe was plunged into night
The little old flag in the corner
Was their symbol of freedom and light.
It don't mean we owe our allegiance
To a forgotten imperial dream
We've the stars to show where we're going
And the old flag to show where we've been.


By way of right of reply, I offer my own bit of poetry . . .

The Brits began it with Brexit. 
Meghan did hers with Megxit, 
Let those like Steve scoff, 
Take the Union Jack off 
And let’s have our own Aussie flagxit. 


or


Tuesday, June 9, 2020

Quote(s) for the Day

"A man may be a tough, concentrated, successful money-maker and never contribute to his country anything more than a horrible example."

- Sir Robert Menzies (1894-1978)
 Prime Minister of Australia 1939-1941 and 1949-1966




Compare with:


"The best way to help the poor is not to become one of them."

- Lang Hancock (1909-1992)
Australian mining magnate)


5 x 5: Songs about Australia, Part 2



5 Facts about 5 songs about Australia, Part 2
_________________



Sounds of Then:
By Gang Gajang

Link:

Lyrics:

I think I hear the sounds of then,
And people talking,
The scenes recalled, by minute movement,
And songs they fall, from the backing tape.
That certain texture, that certain smell,

To lie in sweat, on familiar sheets,
In brick veneer on financed beds.
In a room, of silent hardiflex
That certain texture, that certain smell,
Brings home the heavy days,
Brings home the the night time swell,
Out on the patio we'd sit,
And the humidity we'd breathe,
We'd watch the lightning crack over canefields
Laugh and think, this is Australia.

The block is awkward - it faces west,
With long diagonals, sloping too.
And in the distance, through the heat haze,
In convoys of silence the cattle graze.
That certain texture, that certain beat,
Brings forth the night time heat.

Out on the patio we'd sit,
And the humidity we'd breathe,
We'd watch the lightning crack over canefields
Laugh and think that this is Australia.

To lie in sweat, on familiar sheets,
In brick veneer on financed beds.
In a room of silent hardiflex

That certain texture, that certain smell,
Brings forth the heavy days,
Brings forth the night time sweat
Out on the patio we'd sit,
And the humidity we'd breathe,
We'd watch the lightning crack over canefields
Laugh and think, this is Australia.
This is Australia etc..

_________________

"Sounds of Then (This Is Australia)" (another personal favourite) is a 1985 song by Australian rock band, Gang Gajang, from their self-titled debut album, Gang Gajang. "Sounds of Then" was written by front man, Mark "Cal" Callaghan, who provides lead vocals and guitar. He co-produced the album with fellow band member, Graham Bidstrup, and Joe Wissert.
_________________

Callaghan recalled that it started as a poem in his notebook, reflecting on the time that his family moved from England to Bundaberg in Queensland, a major culture shock for him:

We lived half way between Bundaberg and the ocean, all around was bush scrub and cane fields. And walking up to the top of the street to catch the school bus, one morning you turn around and there's fire. It's one of those songs where if your goal was only to sell records, whatever it took to do it, then the song would have been called 'This is Australia'. But it's not about that. It's a brick veneer drama. My parents got divorced when they came to Australia, it was a horrible period of my life. And the song is actually about how smells and sounds and sensations can rekindle a memory – which is what music does so successfully for people: 'I think I hear the sounds of then and people talkingScenes recalled by minute movementAnd songs they fall from the backing tape…'. That’s what it’s about. It’s not about, ‘Isn’t Australia great!’ And the memories that are being recalled are from the time my family moved to Australia. When out on the patio we’d sit and the humidity we’d breathe, we’d watch lightning crack over cane fields, laugh and think, ‘This is Australia’.
_________________

The song was used in a Coca-Cola ad, see it at:

Also watch how the ad portrays what the lyrics are about.
_________________

By the way . . .

The name Gang Gajang (also GANGgajang) was adopted in 1984 and is onomatopoeiac for the sound of a guitar playing a loud chord.



Give me a Home Among the Gum Trees:

"Give Me a Home Among the Gumtrees" is a popular Australian song written in 1974 by Wally Johnson and Bob Brown (aka Captain Rock). 

Link:
John Williamson live at the memorial service for Steve Irwin:

John Williamson remix, with lyrics:

Another John Williamson version with lyrics:

Lyrics:

I’ve been around the world

A couple of times or maybe more
I’ve seen the sights, I’ve had delights
On every foreign shore
But when my mates all ask me
The place that I adore
I tell them right away

Give me a home among the gumtrees

With lots of plum trees
A sheep or two, a k-kangaroo
A clothesline out the back
Verandah out the front
And an old rocking chair

You can see me in the kitchen

Cooking up a roast
Or Vegemite on toast
Just you and me, a cup of tea
And later on, we’ll settle down
And go out on the porch
And watch the possums play

Give me a home among the gumtrees

With lots of plum trees
A sheep or two, a k-kangaroo
A clothesline out the back
Verandah out the front
And an old rocking chair

There’s a Safeways up the corner

And a Woolies down the street
And a brand new place they’ve opened up
Where they regulate the heat
But I’d trade them all tomorrow
For a little bush retreat
Where the kookaburras call

Give me a home among the gumtrees

With lots of plum trees
A sheep or two, a k-kangaroo
A clothesline out the back
Verandah out the front
And an old rocking chair

Some people like their houses

With fences all around
Others live in mansions
And some beneath the ground
But me I like the bush you know
With rabbits running round
And a pumpkin vine out the back

Give me a home among the gumtrees

With lots of plum trees
A sheep or two, a k-kangaroo
A clothesline out the back
Verandah out the front
And an old rocking chair

Give me a home among the gumtrees

With lots of plum trees
A sheep or two, a k-kangaroo
A clothesline out the back
Verandah out the front
And an old rocking chair

_________________

It was originally performed as a satirical number in Johnson and Brown's comedy act at the Flying Trapeze Cafe in Fitzroy, Melbourne.  At that time the Australian Government had decided to scrap God Save the Queen as the national anthem and was running a contest called the Australian National Anthem Quest to find a replacement. The Gumtrees song was Johnson and Brown's response (it did not win).
_________________

The song was later recorded by popular Australian country music singer-songwriter John Williamson, thus increasing its popularity with many mistakenly believing Williamson to be the original composer.
_________________

Country band Bullamakanka made some changes to the lyrics, which were also retained in Williamson's recording. These tended to water down the original tongue-in-cheek nature of the song. 
_________________

Bullamakanka's version was later used as the theme song for the popular gardening and lifestyle television program Burke's Backyard, which ran on Australian television for 17 years.
_________________

Glossary for overseas readers:

Gumtrees: eucalypts, widespread in Australia
Verandah out the front:  Verandahs have been a common feature of Australian homes since the early 19th century, preventing heating of the homes from the direct sunlight on the walls and for providing shade for seated areas.  In Queensland wrap around verandahs encompassing the whole house gave its name to that style, the Queenslander.
Safeways: a defunct Australian supermarket chain, which was a subsidiary of the American company and is now part of Woolworths Limited
Woolies: Woolworths, the Oz Woolies has no connection with tye US one, someone was astute enough to register the name in Oz






I Am Australian:

The Seekers

Link:

Lyrics:

I came from the dream-time
From the dusty red-soil plains
I am the ancient heart
The keeper of the flame
I stood upon the rocky shores
I watched the tall ships come
For forty thousand years I've been
The first Australian

I came upon the prison ship
Bowed down by iron chains
I bought the land, endured the lash
And waited for the rains
I'm a settler, I'm a farmer's wife
On a dry and barren run
A convict, then a free man
I became Australian

I'm the daughter of a digger
Who sought the mother lode
The girl became a woman
On the long and dusty road
I'm a child of the Depression
I saw the good times come
I'm a bushie, I'm a battler
I am Australian

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We'll share a dream and sing with one voice
"I am, you are, we are Australian"

I'm a teller of stories
I'm a singer of songs
I am Albert Namatjira
And I paint the ghostly gums
I'm Clancy on his horse
I'm Ned Kelly on the run
I'm the one who waltzed Matilda
I am Australian

I'm the hot wind from the desert
I'm the black soil of the plains
I'm the mountains and the valleys
I'm the drought and flooding rains
I am the rock, I am the sky
The rivers when they run
The spirit of this great land
I am Australian

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We'll share a dream and sing with one voice
"I am, you are, we are Australian"

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We'll share a dream and sing with one voice
"I am, you are, we are Australian"
"I am, you are, we are Australian"
_________________

Written in 1987 by Bruce Woodley of The Seekers and Dobe Newton of The Bushwackers, its popularity has allowed it to join the ranks of other patriotic songs considered as alternatives to the Australian national anthem, "Advance Australia Fair". It is commonly taught in primary schools and, over the years since the song's release, there have been calls for it to become Australia's national anthem, notably in 2011 by former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett.
_________________

"I Am Australian" is popular at celebrations such as Australia Day and New Year's Day, as it celebrates the diversity of Australian society.  It is often sung by Australian fans at numerous sporting events.

It was often played at citizenship ceremonies from 2008 until 2012 when the Copyright Tribunal ruled that this was an infringement and ordered the Federal Government to pay Bruce Woodley $149,743.34 in compensation.
_________________

Spectators seated in the public gallery of the Australian House of Representatives erupted into applause and sang part of "I am Australian" when Parliament voted on and legalised same sex marriage on 7 December 2017.
_________________

Glossary:

The dream-time:  the aboriginal; spiritual belief system stretching back to creation.
The tall ships: the sailing ships of the first settlement, 1788
Digger: prospector, the term later being extended to Australian soldiers and then later as a mark of affection for a friend (males, not females, or in the vernacular, blokes, not sheilas).
Bushie: anyone from the outback or sparsely populated regions, even if there is no forest.  It is defined as any place more than 50 kilometres from where I live, hence my friends Steve and Diane live in the bush.
Battler: a working class person who is doing it tough.
I am Albert Namatjira and I paint the ghostly gums: indigenous Australian artist 1902-1959, noted for his paintings of Australian gums and landscapes, such as:


I'm Clancy on his horse: the man who is the subject of Banjo Paterson’s poem Clancy of the Overflow
I'm Ned Kelly on the run: Ned Kelly was a famous Australian bushranger (outlaw) who was hanged in 1880.  Fascinating story, search for the detailed story on him in parts on Bytes.
I'm the one who waltzed Matilda: Waltzing Matilda is Australia’s unofficial national anthem.. The Matilda referred to was a man’s bedroll and swag, to go Waltzing Matilda was to take to the road, travelling from place to place, often looking for work in hard times or just being a swaggie or swagman, a hobo travelling the road.  I have written about the song previously, click on:



Monday, June 8, 2020

Quote for the Day


God Save Her Maj


Today is the Queen's Birthday public holiday in Australia. 

Here are some facts, trivia and items of interest about the anthem "God Save the Queen".
_________________

"God Save the Queen" is interchangeable with “God Save the King” depending on the gender of the reigning monarch. 
_________________ 

It is the royal anthem in a number of Commonwealth realms, their territories, and the British Crown dependencies. 
_________________ 

The author of the tune is unknown but it has been attributed to the composer John Bull (1562-1628). 


The first published version of what is almost the present tune appeared in 1744. 
_________________ 

The lyrics as published in the Gentleman's Magazine in 1745 ran: 

God save great George our king, 
Long live our noble king, 
God save the king. 
Send him victorious, 
Happy and glorious, 
Long to reign over us, 
God save the king! 
_________________ 

"God Save the Queen" is the national anthem of the United Kingdom. 
_________________ 

In 1984 the Royal Proclamation issued by Governor-General Sir Ninian Stephen declared "God Save the Queen" to be the Royal Anthem and that it is to be played when the Australian monarch or a member of the Royal Family is present, though not exclusively in such circumstances. 

The same proclamation made "Advance Australia Fair" the national anthem. 

Prior to 1984 "God Save the Queen" was the national anthem of Australia. 
_________________ 

David (now Sir David) Smith, official secretary to the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, had been troubled when the Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, instructed that the words "God save the Queen" were to be dropped from the proclamation announcing the double dissolution of Parliament in 1974. According to Smith, Whitlam had drawn a line through what he had referred to as “the request to the Almighty", adding a handwritten note, "We'll have no more of this nonsense." 

Nineteen months later, on the day that Kerr dismissed Whitlam and his Government, Smith was tasked with reading Kerr’s proclamation. Smith thought it "appropriate to revert to the proper form". He told Ewart Smith, the deputy secretary in the Attorney-General's Department: "Don't forget to put 'God save the Queen' back in."' 
Source: 

David Smith’s book: Head of State - the Governor-General, the Monarchy, the Republic and the Dismissal (Macleay Press) 
Discussed in:

Smith read the proclamation on the steps of Parliament House 4 hours after Kerr had terminated Whitlam’s commission, ending with the words “God Save the Queen.” 

A grim faced Whitlam stepped forward, removed the microphone from Smith and commenced speaking with the words "Well may we say 'God save the Queen', because nothing will save the Governor-General". 

Click on the following link and activate the clip at that site to see and hear Whitlam’s “Kerr’s cur” speech: 

Also at:

Sir David Smith reading the proclamation 


_________________ 

The melody of GSTQ continues to be used for the national anthem of Liechtenstein, "Oben am jungen Rhein", and the royal anthem of Norway, "Kongesangen". 
_________________ 

In the United States, the melody is used for the patriotic song "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" (also known as "America"). 
_________________ 

Beyond its first verse, which is consistent, "God Save the Queen/King" has many historic versions. Since its first publication, different verses have been added and taken away and, even today, different publications include various selections of verses in various orders. In general, only one verse is sung. Sometimes two verses are sung, and on rare occasions, three. 
_________________ 

Lyrics: 

First stanza: 

God save our gracious Queen, 
Long live our noble Queen, 
God save the Queen: 
Send her victorious, 
Happy and glorious, 
Long to reign over us: 
God save the Queen. 

Second stanza: 

O Lord, our God, arise, 
Scatter her enemies, 
And make them fall. 
Confound their politics, 
Frustrate their knavish tricks, 
On Thee our hopes we fix, 
God save us all. 

Third stanza: 

Thy choicest gifts in store, 
On her be pleased to pour; 
Long may she reign: 
May she defend our laws, 
And ever give us cause 
To sing with heart and voice 
God save the Queen 
_________________ 

The phrase "God Save the King" is much older than the song, appearing, for instance, several times in the King James Bible. A text based on the 1st Book of Kings Chapter 1: verses 38–40, "...And all the people rejoic'd, and said: God save the King! Long live the King! May the King live for ever, Amen", has been sung at every coronation since that of King Edgar in 973. 
_________________ 

A less militaristic version of the song, titled "Official peace version, 1919", was first published in the hymn book Songs of Praise in 1925. This was "official" in the sense that it was approved by the British Privy Council in 1919. However, despite being reproduced in some other hymn books, it is largely unknown today. 

God save our gracious Queen! 
Long live our noble Queen! 
God save The Queen! 
Send her victorious 
Happy and glorious 
Long to reign over us 
God save the Queen! 

One realm of races four 
Blest more and ever more 
God save our land! 
Home of the brave and free 
Set in the silver sea 
True nurse of chivalry 
God save our land! 

Of many a race and birth 
From utmost ends of earth 
God save us all! 
Bid strife and hatred cease 
Bid hope and joy increase 
Spread universal peace 
God save us all! 
_________________ 

A version from 1794 composed by the American republican and French citizen Joel Barlow celebrated the power of the guillotine to liberate: 

God save the Guillotine 
Till England’s King and Queen 
Her power shall prove: 
Till each appointed knob 
Affords a clipping job 
Let no vile halter rob 
The Guillotine 

France, let thy trumpet sound – 
Tell all the world around 
How CAPET fell; 
And when great GEORGE's poll 
Shall in the basket roll, 
Let mercy then control 
The Guillotine

When all the sceptre'd crew 
Have paid their Homage, due 
The Guillotine 
Let Freedom’s flag advance 
Till all the world, like France 
O'er tyrants' graves shall dance 
And PEACE begin. 
_________________ 

The sovereign and her or his spouse are saluted with the entire composition, while other members of the royal family who are entitled to royal salute (such as the Prince of Wales, Duke of Cambridge and Duke of Sussex along with their spouses) receive just the first six bars. 
_________________ 

In 2015 the newly-elected leader of Britain's opposition Labour party, Jeremy Corbyn, was criticised after he chose to stand in silence rather than sing the national anthem Gods Save the Queen at a service to mark the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. Corbyn, a veteran left-wing politician, is a republican and does not support the British monarchy. 
_________________ 

‘God Save The Queen” (or, as was more usual until 1837, “God Save The King”), was originally a Jacobite drinking song, sung in secret in the years after 1688 by those loyal to the exiled Stuart dynasty. Fifty years later, what had started as a Scottish “traitors’” song was rediscovered and repurposed in praise of the Georgian monarchy. Like “Rule, Britannia!”, what we now know as an expression of loyalty thus began life as an expression of dissent. 

“God Save the King” became synonymous with preservation of the old, autocratic and privileged order. In France, it was opposed by singing the new French song of liberty, the Marseillaise. In England songs of opposition were also sung, often in the same locations, in scenes that must have been eerily reminiscent of the famous scene in the film Casablanca. 

Reformers were against singing lyrics that they saw as asking God to preserve corrupt and unjust regimes. Christians often saw such words as blasphemous. They would no doubt have supported Gough Whitlam deriding a call for the Almighty to save a monarch whose representative in Oz had just sacked his popularly elected government, a sacking without so much as a ‘by your leave’. 
_________________ 

British punk rock band the Sex Pistols had a hit with the band's second single “God Save the Queen”, which was later included on their only album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols. The song was released during Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee in 1977. 

The song is a rant about the monarchy. “God Save The Queen, she’s not a human being, and there’s no future, and England’s dreaming.” The record's lyrics, as well as the cover, were controversial at the time, and both the BBC and the Independent Broadcasting Authority refused to play the song. 

_________________ 


Happy Birthday, Your Maj.