A chance comment on Twitter this afternoon gave us a fun thought – with over 230,000 readers a month, could we get a song to No.1 in the charts by ourselves now, as both publicity and a rallying call for the Yes movement?
We got lots of suggestions for songs with apt lyrics about Scotland’s relationship with the UK and catchy tunes, so as democrats we’ve decided to have a poll to pick what would be the best choice if we should decide to attempt the project.
For those of you with Spotify, click the image to open.
(Full 30-track playlist here. It’s an open collaborative one so feel free to add your own suggestions, or to make a YouTube version for those without the app.)
Something’s puzzled me for more than 15 years, viewers, and an article I read today brought it back to mind, so I’m going to raise it very briefly in the hopes that someone might even now be able to answer the question for me.
There’s something odd about the chart above, isn’t there?
In the light of the Electoral Commission setting higher limits for referendum campaign spending, Labour’s Richard Baker, Dr. Richard Simpson and Alistair Darling embark on an urgent fundraising drive outside The Rangers’ next away game in SFL 3.
(We might have gone with this, but it doesn’t seem to be possible to embed YouTube video at a specified starting point, at least in so far as we don’t know how to do it.)
There are, we’re certain, some twists to come yet in the “Rangers” story. But while we’ve been able to pretty clearly identify and understand the motivations of all the concerned parties in events to date (and our assessments and predictions have accordingly almost always been bang on the money), we’ve finally run into a logical roadblock where we just can’t make sense of anything.
Because we can no longer for the life of us figure out what the SFA is playing at.
…is seeing Scotland taking its place in peace alongside the other independent nations of the world (at 2m 42s), courtesy of the heartwarming and ever-splendid Dancing Matt:
(Where The Hell Is Matt? 2008 is still our favourite, though.)
It was very pleasant to see Lou Hickey and Dougie MacLean performing “Caledonia” at the Yes Scotland launch – it’s a nice enough tune, if a bit mopey, and “Flower Of Scotland” has been somewhat ruined for us as a national song by years of appallingly murdered, out-of-time renditions at Murrayfield and, especially, Hampden.
(We liked the brief period when The Three McTenors or something did a speeded-up rendition at the football, which was nicely modern and left less room for the crowd to balls it up in – for some reason football fans can’t grasp the concept of a pause – but the SFA with their trademark ineptitude soon abandoned it in favour of Ronnie Corrie barking it out in his Hielan’-wedding get-up again. We also approve of the SRU’s practice of making the band stop for verse two and leaving it to the crowd alone, but why not just count them in and then let them sing unaccompanied from the start?)
We can’t help feeling, though, that music is a bit of a weak spot generally for the Scottish nationalist movement – still basically mired in the misty-blue-hills-of-Tiree era, where Runrig are seen as modernist hep-cats and the SNP’s official song is a 1962 blues tune best known by the staggeringly inappropriate title of “Let’s Stick Together”.
Had it been up to us, the Yes launch would have seen Glasgow’s own Primal Scream stood in front of a giant backdrop of Gordon “British jobs for British workers“ Brown and pummelling out an apocalyptic rendition of “Swastika Eyes“, but we get that that might not have mainstream appeal. Anyway, the point is, it’s time to think positive.
Southernbystander on Believers In The Ruins: “He was hounded by a relentless media onslaught, much of it driven but those made mad with rage by their…” Aug 16, 21:59
john h williams on Believers In The Ruins: “Captain Caveman very well said,it is a disgraceful post from someone who has very little idea of Autism or disabilities…” Aug 16, 19:57
James on Believers In The Ruins: “Look at yersel in a mirror, wee man; you’ll see yin.” Aug 16, 19:37
DaveL on Believers In The Ruins: “That’s rich coming from the Nazi fanboy himself! Who’d be Hatey? What a winner!” Aug 16, 18:59
agentx on Believers In The Ruins: “When you see “Confused says:” scroll on by.” Aug 16, 18:44
Alf Baird on Believers In The Ruins: ““”In physics, the concept of “opposites attract” is a foundational principle.” It is well known that certain groups of colonized…” Aug 16, 18:39
Red on Believers In The Ruins: “It’s regrettable when empathetic hearts are tricked into sympathy for the worst people. This is what Courtney Gartshore did, without…” Aug 16, 17:43
Hatey McHateface on Believers In The Ruins: “Pointless. Murrell endorses superglue for Scotland. Don’t be fobbed off with inferior substitutes.” Aug 16, 17:21
Hatey McHateface on Believers In The Ruins: “C’moan Confused. Dae Restore next! Then the Jews aboot 9 PM after the second boattle kicks in. It’s nae lik…” Aug 16, 17:19
robertkknight on Believers In The Ruins: “Hammer meets nail. Farage would sell his own Granny for glue.” Aug 16, 16:34
twathater on Believers In The Ruins: “Keep on telling it like it is confused , don’t let the middle class claimants put you off” Aug 16, 15:40
Hatey McHateface on Believers In The Ruins: “Light cannot exist without darkness? So if I turn on a bright light in a dark room, I can’t turn…” Aug 16, 15:01
Hatey McHateface on Believers In The Ruins: “Sorry, TURABDIN, you may not be fully up to speed with the lunacy here. Burnham is simultaneously letting real criminals…” Aug 16, 14:54
Hatey McHateface on Believers In The Ruins: “Hands up now! How many alert readers have twigged that a fatberg can’t ever know what a phallus is!” Aug 16, 14:46
Captain Caveman on Believers In The Ruins: ““An appalling post stuffed full of ignorance and bile” Welcome to Confused.” Aug 16, 13:43
James on Believers In The Ruins: “Adrian; noted and acknowledged. Meanwhile, as predicted the site phallus appears just like clockwork….. But you’re the one doing all…” Aug 16, 13:26
Spartan 117 on Believers In The Ruins: “An appalling post stuffed full of ignorance and bile, aside from the closing point about the BBC and the Western…” Aug 16, 13:20
Southernbystander on Believers In The Ruins: “TURABDIN, If there is irony there it is covered in too much of the blank variety, and so has become…” Aug 16, 12:53
Confused on Believers In The Ruins: “er, the point I was making about “things can always get worse” – https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz977nxww1jo the main reason people hit the…” Aug 16, 12:24
TURABDIN on Believers In The Ruins: “THE SCOTTISH ANTISYZYGY PARADOX AND PHYSICS. Understanding Oppositional Forces in Physics Fundamental Principles In physics, the concept of “opposites attract”…” Aug 16, 12:01
Captain Caveman on Believers In The Ruins: “@Alf Well, there’s only one person around here “in perpetual darkness of their Colonial Echo Chamber®”, Alf – as you…” Aug 16, 11:46
Jay on Believers In The Ruins: “Hi 100%, i typed in all those characters but youtube and this tablet do not communicate. Was keen to see…” Aug 16, 11:39
Hatey McHateface on Believers In The Ruins: “I think Burnham shouldn’t have been daft enough to threaten people flouting the disposable barbecue rule with prison. Even if…” Aug 16, 11:20
Hatey McHateface on Believers In The Ruins: “Odd hoo mony times I post tae Northy and you reply, Alf. Or vice versa. Here’s an echo I just…” Aug 16, 11:11
Hatey McHateface on Believers In The Ruins: “We can all see and understand those cases where a cold blooded killer is arrested, charged, tried and sentenced, and…” Aug 16, 10:46
100%Yes on Believers In The Ruins: “@ alurker and everyone else link to this conversation. Lets say for arguments sake, that Scotland doesn’t exist anymore just…” Aug 16, 10:34
Alf Baird on Believers In The Ruins: “Here is a wee bittie licht for yersel an ithers Hatey, in the perpetual darkness of your colonial echo chamber:…” Aug 16, 10:22
Alf Baird on Believers In The Ruins: ““These must be English elections in Scotland seeing as the English parliament was not dissolved 3 hundred years ago.” True,…” Aug 15, 21:59
Aidan on Believers In The Ruins: “For once I have to agree with James, there are no jurisdictions to my knowledge where the death penalty is…” Aug 15, 21:42
James on Believers In The Ruins: “Well said, Grace. “…When are we going to bring back the death penalty…” they wail. If they could, they could…” Aug 15, 21:20
