Spitting Image-- Jerusalem Hymn

[hummingfrog]

Spitting Image was certainly very clever and amusing, but their politics seem to have been pure mindless party-line leftism, the sort that genuinely believes that the rich people are responsible for all the world's problems, and that if you put enough poor people on the dole that will eliminate the problem of poverty.

[Augustus077]

@hummingfrog it certainly is the case, but they did hilarious stuff none the less... in any case, as a moderate conservative myself don't get mad about things like this, I take it as a joke.

[chiplawrie]

@hummingfrog I'm pretty sure that it was more a case of who was in power at the time, especially since Ian Hislop (one of the main screenwriters for Splitting Image) has been critical of (and mocked merciessly) pretty much every British political institution (and a good number of yank ones)

[SummerHerald]

@Sparrowmaiden, Margaret Thatcher, Milk Snatcher!

[Birddrz]

The "And made is look like Milton Keynes" line is classic

[dizzydevil547]

thatcher was totaly hated by the working class and poor in the uk she was only there for the rich.some of here hated policies were poll tax which replaced paying rates(included in your rent if you were a council tenent) for things like water,police, etc antd the youth training scheme which was nothing more than slave labour for high school leavers ( a full weeks work hours for a measily £28 a week) i know i did it lasted 6 weeks and told em to stick it and went and got a crap job that paid more!

[joebstarsurfer]

look what there doing now lol

[TheSwordsmon]

I think the most amazing thing about Britons is our ability to hate all the things that made us a great nation. I wonder how many Thatcher-haters remember how dreadful Britain actually was in the Seventies?

[MachiavellianHeir]

I love Thatcher and this still makes me giggle!

[TheBob721]

and milton keynes being known for their concrate cows plus maggie thatcher the milk snatcher,as she stopped school milk for kids.

[alexandertory]

@TheBob721 I think the Milton Keynes thing is because it was a purpose built town under the Conservative government of the 1950s to relieve London of congestion and because of the war damaged homes. Prior to it bein milton, it was many villages and places but the whole centre and surrounding was re-built, its also known as the "new City" a sort of new jerusalem, a toryville pleasent place to live. The glass building in the video is a mall, one of the first built in Britain.

[TheBob721]

@TheBob721  that was not me that was my mum

[TheBigbigKat]

I viewed the cow as having two meanings.

"Sacred cow" - the sacred cow of stubborn Thatcherism.

And of course as "Old cow" as well.

[753hill]

Who are those people getting shot?

[arachne1960]

think there are two reasons for cow - old joke went, Thatcher, the only cow in Britain who wouldn't give milk to schoolkids - the other reference I think is to the Concrete Cows of Milton Keynes

[samhipwell]

Thatcher got took away the milk in schools, which has now become a symbol of her stupidity.

This video is 100% accurate with any tory government.

[monstrouscarbuncle]

Great video! And the lyrics are definitely more realistic than the original!

Although the Tories were obviously rather right-wing in those days, to portray them as Nazis was quite risky... because many of Thatcher's cabinet ministers were jewish! Oh dear...

[bringthehistory]

@monstrouscarbuncle And yet Michael Howard failed to see the contradiction when he was confronted with the question that, as Home Secretary (under Major, I know), the immigration policies he enacted would have seen he and his family murdered in Eastern Europe if they had been in place in the 1930s.

[whirlyfan]

i wish i could say things have changed scince then als not don't u feel history repeating itsself ?

[djde001]

@Jonas1145 It possibly had something to do with the BSE outbreak in the mid '80s, refering to her as a mad cow, I remember a puppet with her eyes glowing red at some point during these shows, wish they'd bring it back!!

[josephclough]

maybe its just an english thing. Us calling someone a cow pretty much means the same thing as calling someone a b*tch, only a bit more polite.

[Durbs75]

I will bet that none of the writers, producers, or cast of Spitting Imagine had much contact with said "lower class" either before or after this was made.And buying a newspaper or getting the windows cleaned does not count. Middle class guilt-ridden twats.

Though Chris Barrie was amusing in Red Dwarf.

[vivascargill]

don't much care for associating Blake with Maggot--but it was ok!

[Kidsgrove49]

This was another of Spitting Images cheap shots. Older viewers will note how little of Thatchers reforms have been reversed. Free school milk ? Anyone want it back ?

We had 13 years of Labour and they didn't reverse anything Thatcher did. In fact - they built upon it and pretended it was "New Labour".

I enjoy the old clips because they remind me how crap things were in 1985 with only 4 TV channels.

[joebstarsurfer]

cant believe the Tories are ruining England again jesus.

[CapyGuy]

@joebstarsurfer and in a couple years, people will probably be saying the same thing about the Labour party.

[MrGilles1990]

@joebstarsurfer What are you on about? Labour destructor this country, How can the Tories do worse than them?

[MusicMadSuperAwesome]

The one dislike is clearly from Margaret Thatcher.

[Kidsgrove49]

Spitting Image satire was so sucessfull that the Tories were in office for 18 years.

After that came Tory Blair.

[Rotebuehl1]

Just brilliant!

[themysteriouscrumpet]

It's Margdolf Thatchler! Fascism with fabulous hair!

[themysteriouscrumpet]

It's Margdolf Thatchler!

[rfitzhen]

How accurate this sketch was of Britain under Thatcher

[EEWW2006]

@rfitzhen 100% accuracy, its much the same under her bastard offspring Cameron.

[redxenos]

It sounds like the tune from 'God Save the South' which was the national anthem of the Confederate States. Am I the only one who thinks so?

[oclandestin]

I've only just realise how many cow explanations have already been offered, lol. Nice to know Spitting Image was known outside the UK though.

[willobi]

the good old bad daysof the 80s are back  ..bring it on fuckers.

[YesIamEccentric]

@willobi So Labour would've done better with their "we don't care if we get debt" or the Lib Dems with their Euro - joining policies.... yes the tories arent everyone's cup of tea but at least they save us a few quid.

[KMO325]

Now that was charming.

[familyguywoo]

haha epic fail!

[CrimsonPhantom88]

Of course, the historical swipes are completely baseless. Benjamin Disraeli did more to help the working class of Britain than the Liberals ever did.

[jinkedful]

@CrimsonPhantom88 exacly. to be honest spitting image made alot of fairly baseless assertions, but still pretty cool

[sylvischatz]

Ich mag das die Engländer auch über sich selber lachen können.

[Boico101]

@sylvischatz Danke

[QUEENno1fan]

This could also be used with today's Labour Goverment here in the UK. Loved it very funny.

[MetalheadBLADE]

@QUEENno1fan It couldn't really

[Jonas1145]

This is absolutely hilarious! There is just one thing that I don't quite get (being a non-Brit): why does Maggie change into a cow at the end of the hymn?

[Sparrowmaiden]

I'm not British either, but my guess is that it was simply a swipe at Thatcher, calling her a (literal) cow. Spitting Image referred to her as a cow several times, I think!

[jinkedful]

@Sparrowmaiden sadly yeah i think thats true, as a brit, i feel its a fairly low blow after such a clever sketch

[britishglorytomarrow]

@Sparrowmaiden

Yeah but they made fun of everyone who was famous or known

[dizzydevil547]

@Sparrowmaiden that would be a reference to her stopping school children having free bottles of milk in school ( was a thing they did right up to her stopping it we all got a small bottle of milk at break time from starting school @ 5 yrs old to going to high school if i remember correctly)

[jamesinbolton]

@Sparrowmaiden

I suspect it's a mix of this, but also there is a reference to Milton Keynes toward the end of the song, which is famed for it's "concrete cows".

[IRPannell]

@Sparrowmaiden How about the Milton Keynes concrete cows....

[Trotsky1069]

Or perhaps a 'holy cow', which must be preserved always?

[shawry86]

cus she is a cow...i hope she dies soon.

[AndrewJimScott]

@Jonas1145 It's a british word, meaning nasty woman.

[Darkstar1484]

It might also be a golden-calf reference with the religious overtones in the song

[Boico101]

@Jonas1145 Milton Keynes is known for its concrete cows, so I think that may be it, not sure though.

[LairdKincavle]

@Jonas1145 I think it is partly that people thought she was a Cow. Also there is the saying isnt there..."The Sacred Cow"...it may be a reference to that, or indeed the phootgraphs of her holding a baby calf during the 1979 election...or could be a reference to the English phrase, 'Mad Cow'..I personally think she was marvellous!

[KalahariSurf]

@Jonas1145 i think it's also because Thatcher was responsible for ending free milk at schools too

[oclandestin]

@Jonas1145 ... It might be a reference to the previous lyric about Milton Keynes, which is famous for its concrete cow statues... but it could just be that she was a cow : )

[cwscpfc]

@Jonas1145 Maggie Thatcher- Milk snatcher. She stopped free milk at schools during her dark years in power.

[jackheh]

@Jonas1145 I believe it may be in relation to one of Thatcher policies at the time. Schools used to provide free milk to kids, but this was something that was stopped under Thatcher. That is, the cow wants its milk back.

[jackheh]

@Jonas1145 I believe it may be in relation to one of Thatcher policies at the time. Schools used to provide free milk to kids, but this was something that was stopped under Thatcher. That is, the cow wants its milk back.

[pedleysd]

There's bunch of concrete cows in Milton Keynes, an 'artwork' for which the miserable town is infamous. Might be something to do with that?

[dragonwar524]

@Jonas1145 its an insult here to call someone a cow, and thats how spitting image portrayed her

[GodSavetheQueenER]

@Jonas1145 In Britain calling a women a cow is a derogatory slang, suggesting that she is coarse or unpleasant; In other words its our way of calling her a bitch.

[stephenhicks1974]

@Jonas1145 I think Its a reference to Milton Keynes which is known for its concrete cows.

[stuirteag]

My absolute favourite Spitting Image song! Lest we forget - they are still the same party you know!

[SurfariSam]

Ah yes! I remember them well!

Brilliant sketch though.

[lorinda11]

Awesome, I've checked once a month for this for as long as youtube has been going!

[MuppetPro]

Brilliant! Darkly Satirically Hilarious. By the way, do you have the song where Margret Thatcher sings about the economy and there's a bunch of footage of homeless people being shown in the background?

[Sparrowmaiden]

That sounds really familiar, but I'm not sure I have that one... I do have one where Maggie sings "I Did It My Way" and there are shots of an industrial wasteland and striking coal miners in the background. I could upload that one. :)

[LairdKincavle]

Upload all the ones you have...please please please..I love spitting image!- the political bits anyway! lol

[Sparrowmaiden]

Me too! I'll upload more of the political bits soon. Those are my favorite parts of the show.

[lewismurray1]

@Sparrowmaiden a classic scene you cant forget, do you have thatcher walking through the empty house of commons at the end of her era?

[Sparrowmaiden]

@lewismurray1 No, I'm afraid I don't have that one yet.