National Anthems Archives - Richard M. Langworth

Vanishing National Anthems: Do We Still Know the Words?

10 March 2024 Comments 1 Comment

There’s always been something faintly concerning to important or fancy people about national anthems. Early on, the disenchantment was relatively trivial. During Queen Victoria’s Jubilee in 1897, Lady Randolph Churchill arranged for a young man with a music box to play God Save the Queen whenever Her Majesty sat down in her Jubilee dress. When she rose, the song stopped, only to recommence when she sat down again. Nowadays, the critics are more frantic, and most lyrics have been forgotten.

Australia: National Anthems, Miscellaneous Ramblings

25 September 2023 Comments 0 Comments

In her memoirs, Mary Soames wrote of the great service of thanksgiving at St. Paul's Cathedral five days after V-E Day, 1945: "Such was the mood that we were allowed to sing the second verse of the National Anthem (usually a real no-no), bidding God arise to scatter the King's enemies ('Confound their politics / Frustrate their knavish tricks')." Well, at a Churchill Conference in 2000, we entertained her by singing all five verses of God Save the Queen, including that one. She was sure we were going way over the top.