The Mountain Goats – The Anglo-Saxons

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Send "The Anglo-Saxons" Ringtone to Cell

*We'd like to dedicate this song to our
friends, the former inhabitants of the British Isles.*

they use to paint their bodies blue
a couple of them might be distantly related
to you
according to ceaser
they shaved their entire bodies
except for the upper lip and the head

yeah the anglo-saxons
yeah the anglo-saxons

a subliterate bunch of buys
but some sources say otherwise
yeah the anglo-saxons

yeah they were men on a mission
perserving their poetry
by and oral tradition
yeah an oral tradition is was all you get
untill st. agustine
brought them the alphabet

yeah the anglo-saxons
yeah the anglo-saxons
yeah in 1065
they were ragin'
till 1066 about the northern invasion
go!








*spoken

Send "The Anglo-Saxons" Ringtone to Cell


Lyrics submitted by fuckedupdog

Track duration: 01:49


The Anglo-Saxons song meanings
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5 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:...who transcribed these, lol?

    It should be Caesar and, of course, Norman Invasion. Also I think it's "preserving their poetry / by an oral tradition / yeah, an oral tradition was all you'd get / until St. Augustine / brought them the alphabet".
    Flag splintercaton December 08, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:The liner notes for "Ghana" also address this pressing issue: "I blush with shame every time I hear it: the liberties this lyric takes with matters of historical record are inexcusable. The Picts painted their bodies blue, not the Anglo-Saxons. The Romans, visiting England with a view to expanding the empire, took note of this unusual practice. Centuries later, a singer in California would note that 'Yeah, the Picts!' didn't have the same ring to it as 'Yeah, the Anglo-Saxons!' One hopes, perhaps vainly, that the 'all you'd get/alphabet' rhyme offsets the glaring inaccuracies at play here."

    Gotta love the Mountain Goats. :) The liner notes are almost as entertaining as the album itself.
    Flag elmson March 16, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The liner notes for "Ghana" also address this pressing issue: "I blush with shame every time I hear it: the liberties this lyric takes with matters of historical record are inexcusable. The Picts painted their bodies blue, not the Anglo-Saxons. The Romans, visiting England with a view to expanding the empire, took note of this unusual practice. Centuries later, a singer in California would note that 'Yeah, the Picts!' didn't have the same ring to it as 'Yeah, the Anglo-Saxons!' One hopes, perhaps vainly, that the 'all you'd get/alphabet' rhyme offsets the glaring inaccuracies at play here."

    Gotta love the Mountain Goats. :) The liner notes are almost as entertaining as the album itself.
    Flag elmson March 16, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:In Columbus 1994, he says live: "large amounts of historical historical data provided in this song are uh...very inaccurate, so, if you get quized on pre-norman conquests of england please do not take your answers from this song".
    Flag RedLeafon September 22, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:"they use to paint their bodies blue"

    Well, that was the Celts, and Caesar never saw an Angle or a Saxon (or even a Jute for that matter)

    Still, who says everything has to be accurate ;)
    Flag dagwoodon September 20, 2005   Link

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