Since Windsor and central London are no-go areas for common citizens, we might celebrate the Queen's Jubilee in other ways. I love the Queen because she comes over as a genuinely decent person, who works extremely hard and cares about the country (and Commonwealth). Which is more than we can say about politicians, or other members of her family. One of the reasons we admire the Queen is because she came to the throne at the right time.The war was over, but there were still bombed areas and memories of rationing, death etc. And out of this a pretty, conscientious young woman taking on the mantle of Empire. Highly symbolic. Monarchy is image, not logic, and if it remains, the monarch must fill a need. Which is a contradiction in terms when it's hereditary. Long Live the Queen, Long May She Reign (even if it's only to keep the seat warm for William).
Anyway, here is a Calypso from 1953, and the singer, nice tenor, is Young Tiger (George E Browne) who was young then but was nearly 87 when he died in 2007. Listen to the inventive words, and the way they twist round the line. "Her Majesty looked really divine, in her crimson robe furred with ermine", "the night wind was blowing freezing and cold, but I held my ground like a young Creole" Royalty sure throws a grand party, though we pay and pay and pay and pay.....I'l be doing quite a lot more on the Queen in music over the next few weeks, but very "alternative". Which somehow I think she'd apppreciate more than right-wing Little Englanders.
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