Islanders
In an odd quirk of fate, I found myself on YouTube last night (and early this morning) in a very retro mood. Although I looked at many clips of TV themes from a bygone era, two in particular stuck with me for no particular reason.
The first one was Dad's Army, with its oddly cheerful lyrics. This show was a 70s hit about the British Home Guard. It's probably worth it (if you're a WW2 buff) to have a quick look at the opening sequence. The lyrics go as follows:
Who do you think you are kidding Mr. Hitler?
If you think we’re on the run...
We are the boys who will stop your little game,
We are the boys who will make you think again.
Cos, who do you think you are kidding Mr. Hitler?
If you think old England’s done.
Mr Brown goes off to town on the 8:21,
But he comes home each evenin’ and he’s ready with his gun.
So watch out Mr. Hitler
You have met your match in us.
If you think you can push us
We're afraid you've missed the bus.
So, who do you think you are kidding Mr. Hitler?
If you think old England’s done.
It's gems like that which make me remember my childhood in England with sometimes unnerving fondness. Quite a different gem (from quite a different bunch of islands), however, came in the person of the imperious Jack Lord and the 12-season hit detective series, Hawaii Five-O. If you have never seen and heard the famous intro sequence, here it is. I remember the later seasons showed a closing sequence of a bunch of canoeists battling through the waves. Stirring stuff.
The first one was Dad's Army, with its oddly cheerful lyrics. This show was a 70s hit about the British Home Guard. It's probably worth it (if you're a WW2 buff) to have a quick look at the opening sequence. The lyrics go as follows:
Who do you think you are kidding Mr. Hitler?
If you think we’re on the run...
We are the boys who will stop your little game,
We are the boys who will make you think again.
Cos, who do you think you are kidding Mr. Hitler?
If you think old England’s done.
Mr Brown goes off to town on the 8:21,
But he comes home each evenin’ and he’s ready with his gun.
So watch out Mr. Hitler
You have met your match in us.
If you think you can push us
We're afraid you've missed the bus.
So, who do you think you are kidding Mr. Hitler?
If you think old England’s done.
It's gems like that which make me remember my childhood in England with sometimes unnerving fondness. Quite a different gem (from quite a different bunch of islands), however, came in the person of the imperious Jack Lord and the 12-season hit detective series, Hawaii Five-O. If you have never seen and heard the famous intro sequence, here it is. I remember the later seasons showed a closing sequence of a bunch of canoeists battling through the waves. Stirring stuff.
etched with acid at 7:49:00 am
2 Comments:
I associate something of a loss of innocence with the theme song for Dad's Army. When I first watched the programme I incorrectly assumed the song actually came from the Second World War. It was a little discomforting to discover its ersatz nature some years later. But the real blow was my sudden realisation of just how bad the Mr Brown goes off to town on the 8:21 line is. The accent on the is so entirely wrong (it should, of course, be on eight but the tune can't possibly allow this) as to have made me baffled ever since as to why they didn't re-write the line completely
Heh. It's a bit like the hymn which begins:
Errrrrrrr-bide with me, fast falls the eventide!
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