Take Down The Union Jack

Take down the Union Jack, it clashes with the sunset
And put it in the attic with the emperors old clothes
When did it fall apart? Sometime in the 80s
When the Great and the Good gave way to the greedy and the mean
Britain isn't cool you know, its really not that great
It's not a proper country, it doesn't even have a patron saint
It's just an economic union that's passed its sell-by date

Take down the Union Jack, it clashes with the sunset
And ask our Scottish neighbours if independence looks any good
'Cos they just might understand how to take an abstract notion
Of personal identity and turn it into nationhood
Is this the 19th century that I'm watching on tv?
The dear old Queen of England handing out those MBEs
Member of the British Empire - that doesn't sound too good to me

Gilbert and George are taking the piss aren't they?
Gilbert and George are taking the piss.
What could be more British than here's a picture of my bum?
Gilbert and George are taking the piss

Take down the Union Jack, it clashes with the sunset
And pile all those history books, but don't throw them away
They just might have some clues about what it really means
To be an Anglo hyphen Saxon in England.co.uk

WORDS AND MUSIC: Billy Bragg (2002)

Billy: vocal, electric guitar

Note:
Formerly known as Millennium Song

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Take
• Down
• Billy
• Bragg
• Union
• Jack
• Gilbert
• George

[6princeofdarkness]

i think a few people have very much missed the point of this song. billy bragg is actually very patriotic, he was in the army and ive heard him say how proud he is to be british. he is trying to say that britain was/has been taken over by greedy idiots! and yes it did start around the 80s and it is getting alot worse!

[euanrocks]

Fuck the UK! Independence for Scotland, England and Wales! Unite Ireland as one country! Take down the Union Jack!

[Leofricson]

The man who said "Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel" actually described hiself as a patriot and was pointing out that scoundrels can sometimes pretend to good values in order to be excused. Patriotism has nothing to do with "being proud of the 'piece of dirt' you were born on and everything to do with heritage and achievement of your extended family, your nation. Patriotism can bind people together in a positive way. We should all be proud of our identitiy, wherever we come from.

[Janbees]

@Leofricson I think what you meant to say was, "what they would like to think is socialism, is actually fascism". A power-mongering dictator is not a requirement for Socialism. Socialism is the power-mongering dictator's poor excuse for staying in power.

[PaddyGoo]

@folwert The Union Jack is what flies off the back of RN ships, the big stripey flag thing is a Union Flag - do get it right if you must be all ridiculous about a piece of coloured cotton.

[PaddyGoo]

as was said by someone far more clever than anyone one here, "Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel" - I'd go further, pride in ones own country is inversely proportional their IQ - being proud of a layer of dirt you accidentally were born on is obviously crass stupidity - be proud of what you have achieved, not the piece of mud your mother spilled you on.

[MrCopperhead1861]

And the stars and stripes. One world, one people.

[78RustyNail]

Where can I get a sweatshirt like that?

[3tangle3]

States come and go, stop crying about an economic corporate union.......it was based on money and forced assimilation into the english language....it was not based on love :(

[sionnyn]

@6princeofdarkness I think he is saying how proud he is of being English. That's different, you know, though it is apparently difficult for many English people to understand  that!

[sionnyn]

Billy Bragg is almost alone in speaking up for Englishness as an honourable idea, instead of thrashing the dead horse of 'Britishness' that most English nationalists do. We Celts know that in the English mind, Britain=England - they are interchangeable - but with Scotland looking to go their own way, Wales not far behind, and Ireland looking at being united within a generation, the English are still struggling for an identity - and Billy is doing his best to provide one. 

[Leofricson]

@6princeofdarkness Errrr... hate to burst your bubble.... 'Billy Bragg was in the Army'...... He joined, but like the middle class inadequate rich kid he was he failed his recruit selection, he ran away as it was to hard for him. He was dismissed. Hardly a glowing 'I was in the Army ' carreer...... Hardly a 'patriot'. 'He is trying to say that Britain has been taken over by greedy idiots'. We all agree, but those 'greedy idiots' are called the Liebor Party and he supports them.....