Navy to replace official Heart of Oak march with ‘more inclusive’ music

[Fishbone Jones]

Late post. Already being discussed.

 

[Kilted]

Well, maybe it will be reversed after the next election.

This is very sad. Heart of Oak is a wonderful song.

 

[The Bread Guy]

... I’m of the belief that a powerful and vocal minority out there wants to destabilize our traditions and totally disconnect us from our roots.

Well, some cynics on the socials are suggesting going back to the old ranks to preserve traditions and hail back to our roots could be seen as a less-than-fully-effective use of time/energy, too. Feels like it's about the pendulum swinging back and forth, and this is getting to one end of the swing.

 

[Lumber]

I’m of the belief that a powerful and vocal minority out there wants to destabilize our traditions and totally disconnect us from our roots.

One person who wrote a memo back in 2019 (not entirely to whom the memo was written exactly) calling for the song to be changed is a now retired commanding officer who was universally lauded by anyone and everyone who ever worked for them. Isaw a Chief tear up when saying good bye at their DWD. This is not a person who wants to destabilize our traditions or totally disconnect the navy from its roots, but someone who wants the navy to be the best it can be.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

The music is great, just change the lyrics. Even the US national anthem is a modified British song.

 

[Good2Golf]

and the cook was drunk...

 

[dapaterson]

Heart of Engineered Hardwood?

 

[Good2Golf]

Heart of Engineered Hardwood?

Sure Gramps….

SPC (stone product composite) has over taken luxury vinyl as the preferred flooring ship building material.

 

[dapaterson]

Heart of Rusted Through Pieces where the Paint is Structural?

 

[The Bread Guy]

If in doubt, ask Chat GPT, "Please generate alternative lyrics to the British and Canadian naval march "Heart of Oak" removing any gender references or references to historical events while still maintaining the spirit of the song."

And the result?

Certainly! Below are alternative, gender-neutral lyrics for Heart of Oak, keeping the energetic and triumphant spirit of the original while removing specific references to historical events:

---

Heart of Oak (Adapted Version)

Verse 1
Come cheer up, all hearts, let courage abound,
Our strength and resolve will ever be sound.
We’re bold and we’re free, steadfast as the sea,
For we are the people who dare to be free.

Chorus
Heart of oak are our ways,
Hearts unbroken we’ll stay!
With the winds at our back,
We will never turn away.

Verse 2
Through tempests and storms, we hold to our course,
Our unity bound by unyielding force.
Together we strive, with passion alive,
As long as the stars in the heavens shall thrive.

Chorus
Heart of oak are our ways,
Hearts unbroken we’ll stay!
With the winds at our back,
We will never turn away.

Verse 3
Our journey is long, our purpose is clear,
Through challenges faced, we conquer all fear.
The future we claim, together we aim,
For progress and peace to forever remain.

Chorus
Heart of oak are our ways,
Hearts unbroken we’ll stay!
With the winds at our back,
We will never turn away.

---

This version retains the motivational and uplifting tone of the original while offering inclusivity and universal relevance.

Thank you, thank you - I'm here all week ...

 

[JLB50]

The music is great, just change the lyrics. Even the US national anthem is a modified British song.

I compare it to Toronto tearing down all of its historic buildings and putting up soul-less towers in their place. So absolutely change the lyrics. Otherwise, I can see Canada getting a march that is so crappy that it makes the new Royal Australian Navy March (which replaced Heart of Oak) seem great in comparison. Even if it does tick all the boxes for diversity and inclusion.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Low hanging fruit.

 

[vonGarvin]

Our national anthem songs about knowing how to carry the cross and the sword.

I was going to mention that. "Just as your knows how to carry a cross, it also knows how to carry the cross." Which is appropriate for a song about the Roman Catholic feast of Saint John the Baptist, patron saint of Quebec.

 

[rmc_wannabe]

Otherwise, I can see Canada getting a march that is so crappy that it makes the new Royal Australian Navy March (which replaced Heart of Oak) seem great in comparison. Even if it does tick all the boxes for diversity and inclusion.

We already had that exercise happen during Unification.

Traditional, often rousing marches, replaced by some canned drivel with no soul; only that it was "Canadian" and "distinct".

In my own realm, "The Mercury March" sounds like a circus polka when compared to "Begone Dull Care." I am happy to see it coming back to use in the RCCS and relegated to "branch" events, where we try to keep nice with the Cyber/EW/CELE wieners...

 

[FSTO]

Artistic endeavours initiated by bureaucrats is always soulless and cringey.

 

[Jarnhamar]

One person who wrote a memo back in 2019 (not entirely to whom the memo was written exactly) calling for the song to be changed is a now retired commanding officer who was universally lauded by anyone and everyone who ever worked for them. Isaw a Chief tear up when saying good bye at their DWD. This is not a person who wants to destabilize our traditions or totally disconnect the navy from its roots, but someone who wants the navy to be the best it can be.

It sounds like they were very respected and influential. Did they champion any cultural changes or tackle service wide issues in addition to getting this song removed from circulation?

 

[daftandbarmy]

If in doubt, ask Chat GPT, "Please generate alternative lyrics to the British and Canadian naval march "Heart of Oak" removing any gender references or references to historical events while still maintaining the spirit of the song."

And the result?

Thank you, thank you - I'm here all week ...

Why not just pick one of the many dozens of rousing pipe tunes. Scotland is soaking wet, like the Navy's workplace.

And no one knows any of the words anyways

 

[Lumber]

It sounds like they were very respected and influential. Did they champion any cultural changes or tackle service wide issues in addition to getting this song removed from circulation?

Yes, and yes. I mean, they not have had the influence to affect service wide issues service wide, but they certainly had the the influence to tackle service wide issues within their sphere of influence.

 

[lenaitch]

Just officially have no lyrics; just the tune. When folks complain about the lyrics, the official answer is 'not ours'. How often is it sung in official settings anyway.

 

[quadrapiper]

Artistic endeavours initiated by bureaucrats is always soulless and cringey.

There's an in-house style that's very light and spritely: something of the public service announcement jingle about it, and a very strong feeling that it's written for the smallest ensemble possible, versus the enormous Royal Marine or Guards bands who informed the older arrangements and compositions.

Broader thought: time to chuck "Branch" identities entirely out the window? If someone's Army, they can be "Corps of X" or "Royal Canadian X Corps," and everyone else can fall back on RCN and RCAF identifiers, badges, music, etc.