| rdfs:comment | - God Save the Queen is a oneshot fanfiction written and published on FanFiction.Net by Ben Barrett.
- "God Save the Queen", or "God Save the King", is an anthem used in a number of Commonwealth realms. It is the national anthem of the United Kingdom, Norfolk Island, one of the two national anthems of the Cayman Islands and New Zealand (since 1977) and the royal anthem of Canada (since 1980), Australia (since 1984), the Isle of Man, Belize, Jamaica, and Tuvalu. In countries not previously part of the British Empire the tune of "God Save the Queen" has also been used as the basis for different patriotic songs, though still generally connected with royal ceremony. The authorship of the song is unknown, and beyond its first verse, which is consistent, it has many historic and extant versions: Since its first publication, different verses have been added and taken away and, even today, differen
- The original release on A&M records was swiftly withdrawn after the company fired the band, and it was reissued on Virgin with a different B-side. It was banned from airplay by the BBC, although this did not prevent it reaching number 2 in the UK charts. EveryHit.com notes that "conspiracy theory states that it sold sufficient copies to be no. 1 in w/e 11 Jun but that the chart was 'manipulated' to avoid embarrassment in the week of the jubilee. There appears to be little evidence to support this: it seems more likely to be one of many pieces of 'hype' which surrounded the band at the time." [1] The song officially stated to be number one that week was Rod Stewart's I Don't Want To Talk About It. Nonetheless, the BBC admitted in 2001 that the song had topped the charts despite their ban. [
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| abstract | - The original release on A&M records was swiftly withdrawn after the company fired the band, and it was reissued on Virgin with a different B-side. It was banned from airplay by the BBC, although this did not prevent it reaching number 2 in the UK charts. EveryHit.com notes that "conspiracy theory states that it sold sufficient copies to be no. 1 in w/e 11 Jun but that the chart was 'manipulated' to avoid embarrassment in the week of the jubilee. There appears to be little evidence to support this: it seems more likely to be one of many pieces of 'hype' which surrounded the band at the time." [1] The song officially stated to be number one that week was Rod Stewart's I Don't Want To Talk About It. Nonetheless, the BBC admitted in 2001 that the song had topped the charts despite their ban. [2] Peel visibly supported the song by playing it before and after it had been dropped from Radio 1's playlists (his show went out after the 9 p.m. watershed): he saw no reason not to, as he felt it made a valid point. In his article God Save The Queen: What The Papers Say (Sounds 1977-06-18, reprinted in Olivetti Chronicles, Corgi edition, pp.151-5), he says that "their view may not be a popular view (although I challenge you to bring me a citizen who does not object to the intrusion of government into virtually every aspect of our lives), but it is a view that should be allowed to be aired," and pointed out the irony that, since the Pistols appeared to be criticising over government of the country, a blanket ban endorsed that opinion. He also drew a parallel with an earlier rock act: "My own view is that it's a great deal of fuss about nothing. I mean, I remember in the days when the Rolling Stones first started, everybody used to think that they were outrageous, people kept going in to the papers and said that they never bathed, and that they were violent and vicious and nasty people. The great problem has been that the Sex Pistols record has come along in the middle of the Jubilee, so everybody looks like the first couple of lines of the song is a simple song which says, as I understand it anyway, that society dehumanises and it dehumanises from the top on down, and nobody escapes this, which I think is something that's well worth saying." (Unsourced contemporary audio clip, Sounds Of The 20th Century, BBC Radio 2, 2011-10-07.) He certainly had a high regard for the song and implied that it crossed musical and stylistic boundaries, a claim he would probably think overstated in years to come: "Regardless of whether you consider yourself a punk, a hippie, a rocker or whatever...you're going to have to face the fact - later, if not now - that the Sex Pistols record is one of the great rock records of all time...'God Save The Queen' is a devastating record - and this time I do mean 'devastating.'" (Virginity - Virgin On The Ridiculous, Sounds, 1977-06-04. Reprinted in Olivetti Chronicles, Corgi, p.431.) JP sneaked the record into the 1977 Festive Fifty chart as a number 61, calling it "the most important 'sniggle' of the year" and suggested it could have been a joint number one with the Motors track. It subsequently appeared in five other charts, since they were composed on an all-time basis, but failed to make the cut for the very last one in 2000. That year, when Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren was in the running for Mayor of London, he irritated Peel with a spurious claim which gainsayed John's role in popularising the song: "He repeated the old canard about 'God Save The Queen' not being played on the radio at all. Well, that's complete bollocks, because it was played at least a dozen times on these programmes." (13 January 2000) The final repeated refrain "no future" was sampled by Rotten (John Lydon) himself on a Public Image Limited track, and the line "there is no future in England's dreaming" gave rise both to a Jon Savage book about the history of punk and a Cornershop song.
- God Save the Queen is a oneshot fanfiction written and published on FanFiction.Net by Ben Barrett.
- "God Save the Queen", or "God Save the King", is an anthem used in a number of Commonwealth realms. It is the national anthem of the United Kingdom, Norfolk Island, one of the two national anthems of the Cayman Islands and New Zealand (since 1977) and the royal anthem of Canada (since 1980), Australia (since 1984), the Isle of Man, Belize, Jamaica, and Tuvalu. In countries not previously part of the British Empire the tune of "God Save the Queen" has also been used as the basis for different patriotic songs, though still generally connected with royal ceremony. The authorship of the song is unknown, and beyond its first verse, which is consistent, it has many historic and extant 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, or sometimes two verses are sung, but on rare occasions three. In Britain, the Queen (or King) is saluted with the entire anthem, while other members of the royal family who are entitled to royal salute (such as the Prince of Wales) receive just the first six bars. The first six bars also form part of the Vice Regal Salute in Commonwealth realms outside the United Kingdom (e.g., in Canada, the governors general and lieutenant are saluted with the first six bars of "God Save the Queen", followed by the first four and last four bars of "O Canada"). The words of the song, like its title, are adapted to the gender of monarch, with "King" replacing "Queen", "he" replacing "she", and so forth, when a king reigns. In the United Kingdom, the last line of the third verse is also changed.
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