# British Song @ Ford's Funeral **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 31, 2006, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-song-fords-funeral/386178 "2006-12-31T02:49:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![xiix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/d6d6ee/32.png) [@xiix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xiix)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-song-fords-funeral/386178/1 "2006-12-31T02:49:44Z")
I was wondering if anyone could explain why ‘God Save the Queen’ was played during this evening’s funeral service for the late President Gerald Ford. My only guess was that perhaps some British Royalty was present but that seems like a slightly odd reason given the number of dignitaries from various other countries that were presumably also present. So what gives? Is this a standard of some sort? ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-song-fords-funeral/386178/2 "2006-12-31T02:54:17Z")
In the U.S. it’s known as _My Country 'Tis Of Thee_. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-song-fords-funeral/386178/3 "2006-12-31T03:01:00Z")
[Here](http://www.countrygoldusa.com/country_tisofthee.asp) are the lyrics to _My Country 'Tis of Thee_. Usually we sing only the first and last verse at most. The first time I heart the British sing “God Save the King,” I thought it was very strange that they had put strange lyrics to our song. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-song-fords-funeral/386178/4 "2006-12-31T03:03:45Z")
[More information](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Country,_'Tis_of_Thee): > [@](#): > > “My Country, 'Tis of Thee,” also known as “America,” is an American patriotic song. The melody, based on the British national anthem, “God Save the Queen,” has been used by many other countries. > > The lyrics to “My Country, 'Tis of Thee” were written in 1831 by Reverend Samuel Francis Smith of Boston’s Park Street Church while at the Andover Theological Seminary in Andover, Massachusetts. The song served as a de facto national anthem for much of the 19th century. I didn’t watch the whole thing. Did they show foreign dignitaries? Am I a Very Evil Person for thinking how funny it would have been (based on Ford’s really undeserved reputation of being a klutz) if the pallbears had stumbled while carrying his casket up the steps? ---
**Author:** ![xiix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/d6d6ee/32.png) [@xiix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xiix)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-song-fords-funeral/386178/5 "2006-12-31T03:09:16Z")
thanks, that makes much more sense now. IMHO its a pretty wacky decision to play that song without the American lyrics and simply assume everyone knows that they’re referring to the rewritten version. Wikipedia has a pretty solid [article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_Save_the_Queen) on the song as well as a mention of “My Country, 'Tis of Thee”… _Charles T. Brooks, in 1833, translated a German Lutheran hymn also starting with the words “God bless our native land” This hymn inspired Rev. Samuel F. Smith to write the words to the American patriotic song “My Country, 'Tis of Thee” (also known as “America”), sung to the same tune, in 1832._ ---
**Author:** ![MrFloppy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@MrFloppy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrFloppy)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-song-fords-funeral/386178/6 "2006-12-31T13:11:08Z")
Slight hijack. I was tickled by the fact that the music to the British Labour Party’s anthem ‘The Red Flag’ is used for a popular Christmas tune here in the US: Oh Tannenbaum. _Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer, We’ll keep the red flag flying here._ 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-song-fords-funeral/386178/7 "2006-12-31T13:47:45Z")
On a related note the Star Spangled Banner was uses the music from an old British drinking song. [The Master speaks](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_011.html) ---
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-song-fords-funeral/386178/8 "2006-12-31T13:51:55Z")
Someone will no doubt be along to correct me pretty soon but it is my understanding that that song (Internationalen) was used by quite a few labour movements and was the Russian National Anthem in times gone by. [Wiki](http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internationalen_(s%C3%A5ng)) ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-song-fords-funeral/386178/9 "2006-12-31T15:07:22Z")
[QUOTE=xiix] thanks, that makes much more sense now. IMHO its a pretty wacky decision to play that song without the American lyrics and simply assume everyone knows that they’re referring to the rewritten version. [/QUOTE] Most Americans would probably have the reverse question about, and reaction to, the song being played at a British funeral. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-song-fords-funeral/386178/10 "2006-12-31T15:11:42Z")
The first words for me are the hymn. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-song-fords-funeral/386178/11 "2006-12-31T15:15:41Z")
I maintain that we had the songs first. Some snarky British doctor just went back in time to England so they could retro-actively rewrite them O\_O ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-song-fords-funeral/386178/12 "2006-12-31T16:02:47Z")
[QUOTE=xiix] IMHO its a pretty wacky decision to play that song without the American lyrics and simply assume everyone knows that they’re referring to the rewritten version. [/QUOTE] :dubious: It’s an American funeral for an American head of state. “My Country 'Tis of The” is an American standard, played at practically every patriotic occasion. There’s almost no way they _couldn’t_ have played it. If international audiences might be confused, well, I don’t see why that should particularly concern the funeral directors. What I mean is, I don’t see why the possibility should even come up in their minds. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-song-fords-funeral/386178/13 "2006-12-31T16:10:41Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] :dubious: It’s an American funeral for an American head of state. “My Country 'Tis of The” is an American standard, played at practically every patriotic occasion. There’s almost no way they _couldn’t_ have played it. If international audiences might be confused, well, I don’t see why that should particularly concern the funeral directors. What I mean is, I don’t see why the possibility should even come up in their minds. -FrL- [/QUOTE] Indeed, when in Rome, sing as the Romans do. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-song-fords-funeral/386178/14 "2006-12-31T16:13:32Z")
[QUOTE=MrFloppy] Slight hijack. I was tickled by the fact that the music to the British Labour Party’s anthem ‘The Red Flag’ is used for a popular Christmas tune here in the US: Oh Tannenbaum. _Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer, We’ll keep the red flag flying here._ 🙂 [/QUOTE] You mean “Maryland, My Maryland”? We clearly filched it from a Christmas song before any Brit labor movement did. (According to the [wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Tannenbaum) article, the earliest known “Tannenbaum” lyrics were from 1550. The tune is an old folk tune.) ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-song-fords-funeral/386178/15 "2006-12-31T16:23:09Z")
[QUOTE=Myglaren] Someone will no doubt be along to correct me pretty soon but it is my understanding that that song (Internationalen) was used by quite a few labour movements and was the Russian National Anthem in times gone by. [Wiki](http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internationalen_(s%C3%A5ng)) [/QUOTE] OK, I’ll try. “The Internationale” is a different tune than the others we’ve been discussing. It was the Russian national anthem 1918-44: [http://www.anu.edu.au/polsci/marx/int/int.html](http://www.anu.edu.au/polsci/marx/int/int.html) [http://www.hymn.ru/index-en.html](http://www.hymn.ru/index-en.html) > **[The Internationale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internationale)** > > "The Internationale"\[a\] is an international anthem that has been adopted as the anthem of various anarchist, communist, socialist, georgist and social democratic movements. It has been a standard of the socialist movement since the late nineteenth century, when the Second International adopted it as its official anthem. The title arises from the "First International", an alliance of workers, which held a congress in 1864. The author of the anthem's lyrics, Eugène Pottier, a member of the Fr The... The first link contains a folk rendition, the second link several schmaltzy orchestral / choral renderings as befitting a national anthem. The French lyrics were originally intended to be sung to La Marseillaise. IMO, that was a better choice. ---
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-song-fords-funeral/386178/16 "2006-12-31T19:09:23Z")
Quite correct **Yabob**. That’s what relying on a distinctly unreliable memory does for you. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-song-fords-funeral/386178/17 "2006-12-31T19:47:21Z")
[QUOTE=MrFloppy] Slight hijack. I was tickled by the fact that the music to the British Labour Party’s anthem ‘The Red Flag’ is used for a popular Christmas tune here in the US: Oh Tannenbaum. _Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer, We’ll keep the red flag flying here._ 🙂 [/QUOTE] Matching this, on the theme of “two nations divided by a common language” ;), the rather well-known official Presidential march, “Hail to the Chief,” does actually have lyrics relating to the President, beginning “Hail to the chief we have chosen for our nation…” But the original song related to the ceremonial carrying in of the Christmas tree: > [@](#): > > ``` > Hail to the chief, who in triumph advances, > Honor'd and blessed be the evergreen pine! > Long may the tree in his banner that glances, > Flourish, the shelter and grace of our line. > Hail to the chief, who in triumph advances, > Honor'd and blessed be the evergreen pine! > Long may the tree in his banner that glances, > Flourish, the shelter and grace of our line. > Heav'n send it happy dew, > Earth lend it sap anew; > Gaily to burgeon and broadly to grow; > While ev'ry highland glen, > Sends our shout back again, > Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! i-e-roe! > > ``` These words were written by Sir Walter Scott as a part of his “The Lady of the Lake” series. The U.S. lyrics date from about 1812, and were slowly adopted in the period 1815-1835 as the tune to honor the President, being made “official” (though only by the Dept. of Defense) only in 1954. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2007, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-song-fords-funeral/386178/18 "2007-01-01T01:34:56Z")
[QUOTE=Raguleader] I maintain that we had the songs first. Some snarky British doctor just went back in time to England so they could retro-actively rewrite them O\_O [/QUOTE] Who would do that?! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2007, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-song-fords-funeral/386178/19 "2007-01-01T09:53:32Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] :dubious: It’s an American funeral for an American head of state. “My Country 'Tis of The” is an American standard, played at practically every patriotic occasion. [/QUOTE] Maybe I just don’t witness many patriotic occasions, but the last time I heard “My Country 'Tis of Thee” was back in grammar school, 20 years ago. I’m not being facetious here, but is it really _that_ popular?