LIVES OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE
The E.J. Boys Archive

Last edit 24.6.2018

IN PROGRESS — NOT FOR PUBLICATION

THE TALLYWAGS, "THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE" (2018)

23 May 2018

English World Cup anthem for Russia, 2018

"The Charge of the Light Brigade" has been repurposed as an unofficial World Cup anthem, and here's the video to go with it. It's not exactly Tennysonian in diction and sensibility, but it nevertheless faithfully addresses the same questions of error, failure, tragedy, and of course the glory that will inevitably redeem them. On the other hand, it could herald yet another heroic failure.

YouTube: "The Charge of the Light Brigade"

(Click on image to play YouTube video)

What a palava
In Balaclava
For the Charge of the Light Brigade
There'll be cannons to the left
Cannons to the right
Tryin' to ruin our day.

Whenever you find me
In the valley
With England's cavalry
I'm believin' we can go
All the way to Moscow
And on to victory.

Cardigan charges

Notice incidentally the brief animation where Lord Cardigan charges out of a poster on the wall, and beyond the cannon.

(Click on images to enlarge)

This is adapted from John Leech's Punch cartoon [2 November 1854 check date].

John Leech, Punch magazine [2 November? 25 November 1854?]:

"A TRUMP CARD(IGAN)"

[2 November appears too soon after the 25th October. The 25th sounds more plausible. Was it the very first Balaclava poem? It appears that this image accompanied the poem by Tom Taylor. Check and link?

(Click on image to enlarge)

Members of Sex Pistols, Wildhearts and more unite to fix English football after 52 years of hurt

Charge Of The Light Brigade by The Tallywags features Sex Pistol Paul Cook and more

After 52 years of hurt, English football has finally been fixed.

Punk supergroup The Tallywags - made up of Sex Pistols and Professionals drummer Paul Cook, Tom Spencer from The Professionals and The Men They Couldn't Hang, Chris McCormack from The Professionals and Three Colours Red, Toy Dolls singer Olga and Wildhearts man Danny McCormack - have released Charge Of The Light Brigade, a song that hopes in inspire the current English World Cup squad by fixing the mistakes of the past.

The song, which cleverly rhymes 'palava' with 'balaclava' (a reference to the Battle of Balaclava, during which the ill-fated Charge Of The Light Brigade tool place, leading to the slaughter of over 100 Allied soldiers and 300 horses) is accompanied by a video in which several iconic moments from English football's tragic World Cup past are finally expunged from history.

Diego Maradona's Hand Of God goal? Not given. Robert Green's howler against the USA? He makes the save. Even Chris Waddle manages to put that penalty in the back of the net.

And while England might not win the World Cup, at least they'll always have this banger as their anthem.

[Source:

https://www.loudersound.com/news/english-football-failure-fixed-at-last-by-russia-2018-punk-banger]