What does it mean to be English? Is it a third Conservative Prime Minister since 2010, continuously banging the drum of “patriotism”? Is it anti-immigration, tax-avoidance schemes, elitist snobbery?
Or is it Jeremy Corbyn’s brand of patriotism; a nation with the aim of social justice, distribution of wealth and the rule of law operating in unison to create a better existence for all?
What’s clear, is that none of these people “get it”. Callous, empty gestures from the right in the guise of patriotism, while Corbyn’s patriotism was oft in question; too often he came down on the wrong side, and the working classes which he so desperately sought to represent, never felt like he had their back.
Gazelle’s latest single (‘Is This My England’), released for VE Day, calls bullshit on all sides; reminding the people exactly who they are and what they stand for. England isn’t Tommy Robinson’s, and it’s certainly not the property the soggy biscuits who frequented Eton.
It’s melting pot of cultures, ideals and lifestyles. It’s humble, charitable, hilarious. It made Mo Farah a knight of the realm, and Harry Maguire a sex god. It raised thirty-two million pounds for the NHS because a 100-year old veteran did laps of his garden (Captain Tom Moore, we are not worthy).
This single’s greatest quality, is nuance; that long-forgotten art form. Beautifully - but achingly - capturing England’s constant inward struggle with greed and selling itself down the river at every turn, this track is a look under the hood at the pace of change in this country with an inherent, but heartfelt, sense of regret.
This should be a breakthrough moment for Gazelle, creatively. With their foot off the gas for what feels like the first time, the result is sublime. In reality, it’s likely that this will be sadly overlooked. A working-class troupe sporting Fred Perry across their chests and Adidas Originals on their feet, singing about the England of old? They’ll do well to avoid being lumped in with the “Britain First” crowd.
The truth is, however, that they should be lauded for treading the path of literary legends William Blake, George Orwell and John King. Patriotism, is not blindly following your government into one dead end after another. Nor is it stoicly backing their opposition. Sometimes, the most patriotic thing of all, is to question everything.
THIS, is patriotism. And Gazelle, get it.