On the British Invasion episode of the show “Impractical Jokers”, the intro sequence had a bunch of sights around London, but the music was “La Marseillaise”. Now I know a bunch of American patriotic songs use melodies from British songs, “My Country Tis of Thee” and “God Save the Queen” as an example, but does the melody of “La Marseillaise” actually mean something in the UK, or did the show just completely screw up?
Here’s the intro I’m talking about.
I am think, the British humor, she mi’ be too subtle for yew…
Clearly it was based on the opening of the Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love”.
There’s nothing whatsoever subtle about this show. Given the options that they did it as a sly bit of humor that most of their viewers would miss, or that they just screwed up because they’re morons, I’d bet a nut it’s the latter.
Think of a US humor show doing a visual tour of Washington DC to the tune of O Canada… or God Save the Monarch. Actually, the latter would be too meta for most viewers.
It is a USA show, this is the special where they went to Britain. Believe me, playing the wrong music for 5 seconds during the intro is way too subtle for them, especially since there was no payoff later.
“My Country 'Tis of Thee” is actually a lampshading of the British national anthem (it states that Americans have no other monarch but the deity), but since no one bothers to tell US children that when they learn the song in music class in the second grade, only adults who happen to stumble across the fact at some point even know that the tune isn’t original or the song has a meta-meaning. So making a video tour of Washington, DC to the tune of “G-d Save the Monarch” would seem perfectly fine to most US citizens, and would leave UKers scratching their heads. I have no idea what Canadians would think.
Yes, Amateur Barbarian, I know you know that, but non-US readers might not know what we are talking about, so I thought I’d explain.
OK. Just watched the intro…what about “We’re in London B*****s!” was confusing? It seems like a pretty straightforward joke.
Amateur Barbarian was being ironic. I know nothing about that show except for the first 25 seconds of your link, but if there’s nothing whatsoever subtle about that show, there’s your answer: Marseillaise playing over sights of London, abruptly killing off the music, a guy in a dress screaming: “We’re in London, bitches.” Haha. Humor of the crudest kind, nothing subtle about it.
If this is too subtle for US viewers, I really have no hope for America’s future ;).
Ding, ding, ding, ding!
Can anyone answer my original question - does the melody of “La Marseillaise” mean anything in Britain?
I’m not unfamiliar with the show. This kind of joke is completely outside what they’d normally do, especially since I’m sure it would go right over the head of most Americans, and probably 90% of their viewers. It’s like dropping an Oscar Wilde witticism in the middle of a Three Stooges pie fight.
Obviously I can’t speak for every British person, but to me, and to anyone I know, La Marseillaise means: “Ooh, listen; it’s the French national anthem. Why is it so much better than ours?”
ETA: Also, “Another defeat at rugby or football is surely imminent”.
Well, it’s used in the intro to “All You Need Is Love” in kind of the same way…
I don’t think so. In “All You Need Is Love”, I think the Marseillaise is used to establish the mood of the song, with France being the country of love and all (that was always my interpretation, and I can’t think of another), and in this case it’s, haha, we show you iconic views of London, England and play La Marseillaise, the Frenchiest symbol for France that ever Frenched the planet (except for maybe the Eiffel tower or Napoleon), hurr durr, funny! Different thing.
Meh, it’s an intro people could associate with English music, right or wrong. And, they cut it off at the same moment. When I hear that song, and it’s not a sporting event or a movie that is using it as a “we’re in France” tag (which also cuts off at the same moment), I expect it to lead into The Beatles.
I’m probably ruined for the experience by my exposure to the tag, but The Beatles is the first thing I thought of. But you’re right, they probably meant a joke on only the one level.
No, I’ve read that The Beatles were being deliberately ironic in having the British segment of the world’s first global live satellite broadcast open with the **French **national anthem. John especially liked the idea (he wrote the song).
I also can’t speak for every American person, but we Americans are notoriously culturally isolationist. I doubt most people in the US would know what that music was. They’d recognize it as something, mostly as the beginning of a Beatles song, but not as the national anthem of France. I was an early lover of classical music but for years I had no idea that it was the French anthem. I always associated it with the 1812 Overture (where it represents the Russians defeating Napoleon…)
To me, it seems a pretty clear joke. Doubt they’re morons. Everyone knows that’s the French national anthem. There’s nothing subtle about it.
Well, I stand corrected, teaches me to never underestimate Lennon’s quirky humo(u)r. I like that explanation :).
See, this is one of the cultural differences I have encountered on this board that sometimes baffle me. I can only speak from a German perspective, but I guess that it applies to most of Western Europe as well, that playing the Marsellaise instantly triggers images of moustached guys in striped sweaters with barets and baguettes under their arms, hot chicks, and wondering when the next revolution will start. Seriously, isn’t it a common Hollywood trope to introduce a French setting with playing little parts of the Marseillaise? For me, it’s one of the most iconic and recognizable pieces of music ever.
It is.