"The Stately Homes Of England"-NOEL COWARD

[Hazzmania1234]

What a wonderful true song. I tell you what, the playing fields of Eton have made me more frightful than brave!!! I believe the song is being used on an advert however we are on the grand tour!! I could not agree more with gavestonful.

[Gavestonful]

What a wonderful way with the words of our glorious English Language the glorious Noel Coward had. His method of rhyming is absolutely classical and voiced in his impeccably clear and precise diction is pure perfection. They simply do not make them like Noel any more, he belonged to a generation of English people far and away superior to those of today in probably every way possible. They had style, elegance and class, there is no doubt about that. They were gold to today's plastic.

[richmondie]

The best of Britain? You can't have been listening to the words! Inspired to listen by Dan Cruikshank's prog on Easton Neston. Its owners kept filling it with priceless antiques, going bust, selling the antiques, starting again... now owned by a Russian fashion designer. Coward would have loved it.

[colindaleradiosutch]

MY MUM SAID, YOU GO UP THE LADDER, MY SON, YOUV'E GOT NO CHANCE IF YOU WORK FOR SOME OLD BELTED EARL ?. THERES ALWAYS SOME TOFF WHO WANTS YER TO WORK FOR PEANUTS ?. colindaleradiosutch

[randomdave30]

The original poem on which this was based was by a lady called Felicia Hemans, and I actually know a couple of her descendants. For what it's worth.

[xaltotunofpython]

My grandmother worked as a maid for the gentry in several country houses. She hated them with a passion. She said that if she ever met any of them again she would spit in their faces. Strong words from my granmother. Nice to see the country houses, but the gentry and the class system they represented would be better off as history.

[racingrubberbiker]

@xaltotunofpython Maybe she would prefer to work for our new gentry, like tony Blair with his property empire. My gran had nothing but good to say about her employers in the thirties. She got a lot more priveliges that if she had worked in any of the factories at the time.

[icequeenangel42]

I may be mainly German, half Jewish and living in a 60's ex-council flat in Somerset, but this song, in 2010, is still gert relevant

[gutplucker]

This is just fantastic, he conjures up the essence of the Best of Britain!

[eclaytondinosaur]

Well done, Mr Coward

Another triumph :P

[ldge]

I have a double-side quartet version (HMV plum label B.8741), but didn't know that Coward himself had recorded it as a solo. My version has two extra 'historical' verses ('A note we have from Chaucer contained a bawdy joke...') and the singers are Hugh French, Ross Landon, John Gatrell and Kenneth Carten / His Majesty's Theatre Orchestra, cond. Benjamin Frankel.

What is on the other side of your record?

[coldplayismagic]

wow this is so cool

[prettythings89]

This song sounds so much like Tom Lehrer's 'It makes a fellow proud to be a soldier'! No idea who came first. In any case, fabby, thanks for posting!

[ftumschk]

"This song sounds so much like Tom Lehrer's 'It makes a fellow proud to be a soldier'! No idea who came first"

Noel Coward wrote the song for his musical "Operette", in 1937.

[Boratlon]

I appreciate and applaud your taste, but I must disagree with you with your comparison to Lehrer.

Coward was much, much earlier.

[smcr62]

The Pam Ayres of his day. Excruciating. But even this is better than "I Went to a Marvellous Party", which beggars description.

[racingrubberbiker]

Pam Eyres is a complete pygmie compared to Noel Coward. She writes doggerels. He wrote plays, operettas, and performed in Las Vegas, produced and directed films, including such war-time morale boosters as , In Which We Serve, and Brief Encounter. He will never be forgotten, unlike Miss Eyres

[racingrubberbiker]

Oh, and another thing. He was on the Nazi Black List. That says it all.

[boabibingo]

You can't leave it at that. Please elaborate.

[Boratlon]

If you're an uncultured pleb, I suppose you're right on the money.

[MargeAggedon]

Love this song.

[AulicExclusiva]

So much fun. Thanks.

[Ohyewildthong]

Thanks for adding this, I love this piece

[joshthedixon]

Thank you for posting this, I am singing this in a show - u have helped me learn it!