England Swings

"England Swings"
Single by Roger Miller
from the album Golden Hits
B-side "Good Old Days"
Released November 1965 (1965)
Genre Country
Label Smash Records
Songwriter(s) Roger Miller
Roger Miller singles chronology
"Kansas City Star"
(1965)		 "England Swings"
(1965)		 "Husbands and Wives"
(1966)

"Kansas City Star"
(1965)		 "England Swings"
(1965)		 "Husbands and Wives"
(1966)

"England Swings (Like a Pendulum Do)" is a 1965 country music song written and performed by Roger Miller. The single was Miller's eleventh hit on the US country chart where it peaked at number three.[1] On the Billboard Hot 100, it peaked at number eight and was Miller's second number one on the Easy Listening chart. Petula Clark (from the Colour My World album)[2] and Pat Boone both released cover versions in 1967.

The title refers to Swinging London, a popular term for the progressive youth-centric cultural scene in London at the time. However, the lyrics don't convey any of this progressiveness: they mostly relate to stereotypical notions of traditional Britain, with references to "bobbies on bicycles", Westminster Abbey, and so forth (as in a tourism commercial). The song also provides the structure for Miller's later song "Oo De Lally (Robin Hood and Little John)" for the film Robin Hood. The song is lambasted in 'How The Brits Rocked America' (BBC), where Miller is presented as mocking the youth culture in a cynical and commercial way.

Cover versions and renditions

The song was covered by The Wiggles and Keith Urban on the Australian version of the album Let's Eat, released in 2011.[3]

A Swedish Version "Mulliga Maj" by Svante Thuresson exists.


Kings of Leon reference the song in the chorus of their song "Fans" - "All of London Sing...cause England Swings and they sure love the tales I bring..."

Chart positions

Chart (1965-66) Peak
position
New Zealand [4] 17
UK Singles Chart 13
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles 3
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 8
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks 1

See also

References

  1. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 231.
  2. ↑ Discography at Petula Clark's official site
  3. ↑ Wilkening, Matthew (January 21, 2011). "The Wiggles Feat. Keith Urban, ‘England Swings’ – Song Spotlight". Taste of Country.
  4. ↑ "flavour of new zealand - NZ listener charts". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 2016-09-29.


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