Today England celebrates it’s national holiday, the traditional feast day of its patron saint George. You wouldn’t know it, for most this is simply a non-event. There’s no parade like Chinese New Year, no mass revelling like St Patricks, no national fervour like 4th July. The simple fact is, that most folk see being English as nothing to be proud of. Here at WoW, that fact is something we flatly don’t agree with.
To celebrate, I’m going to share some of the songs that evoke memories of England for me. Musically, England has a vast and rich heritage. Through from the Beatles and the Stones, Sex Pistols and Roxy Music, New Order and Aphex Twin: England’s audible past is fascinating, groundbreaking and successful.
So below are the songs that summon up the greatest my nation has to offer: romantic sunsets in London, to shabby council housing in Sheffield. Politics of the state, affairs of the heart and everything in between. These are the songs that, to me, are England.
Kinks – Waterloo Sunset
Pulp – Disco 2000
Billy Bragg – A New England
Blur – This Is A Low
Human League - Don’t You Want Me?
Photo: Tricky
Filed under: Ramble, Rant | Tagged: Billy Bragg, Blur, England, Human League, Kinks, Pulp, St George's Day
Billy Bragg’s piano version of Blake’s ‘Jerusalem’ always gets me..
Actually, thinking about this, Bragg’s “A New England”, though a great song with the word “England” in the title, is one of his less English songs. I’d have picked something like “Mary” instead. Other suggestions spot on.
Cheers for the comments folks, Bob; I know what you mean about ‘A New England’, but I did this in a bit of a rush and my thought train ran…
Hmmm. England. Gotta have some Bragg. England. Oh, I know… ‘A New England’!
Lazy, I know, but hey, it’s a great track nonetheless.
Thanks for dropping by!