--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All the brass instruments and big drums…" description: "\"“All the brass instruments and big drums in the world cannot turn ‘God Save the King’ into a good tune, but on the very rare occasions when it is sung ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eed/george-orwell-57_anthem_all-the-brass-instruments-and-big-drums_996363.jpg" --- # All the brass instruments and big drums in the world… ![“All the brass instruments and big drums in the world cannot turn ‘God Save the King’ into a good tune, but on the very rare occasions when it is sung in full it does spring to life in the two lines: Confound their politics, Frustrate their knavish tricks! And, in fact, I had always imagined that…” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eed/george-orwell-57_anthem_all-the-brass-instruments-and-big-drums_996363.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eed/george-orwell-57_anthem_all-the-brass-instruments-and-big-drums_996363.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eed/george-orwell-57_anthem_all-the-brass-instruments-and-big-drums_996363.jpg) > ““All the brass instruments and big drums in the world cannot turn ‘God Save the King’ into a good tune, but on the very rare occasions when it is sung in full it does spring to life in the two lines: Confound their politics, Frustrate their knavish tricks! And, in fact, I had always imagined that the second verse is habitually left out because of a vague suspicion on the part of the Tories that these lines refer to themselves.”” [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote sat that even grand, powerful symbols can be hollow unless they carry genuine, subversive meaning; true impact comes from authentic expression, not mere pomp. **In simple terms:** Symbols need real meaning to matter. Key Takeaway Seek authenticity over display. Themes politics art authenticity power expression Mood critical reflective Type analytical commentary When to use this quote - political protest - musical performance - public speeches - artistic creation Key Concepts subversion symbolic meaning cultural critique Questions to Reflect On - What makes a symbol truly powerful? - How can we ensure authenticity in public expressions? A Different Perspective It may overlook the role of tradition in uniting people. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anthem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anthem/) [God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Tories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tories/) ## Related quotes > [Frankly I don't listen to lyrics (a problem in that I apparently work in musical theatre) I just want a good tune that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-campbell/frankly-i-don-t-listen-to-lyrics-a-problem-in-that-i-apparently-work/) Christian Campbell > [There's many a good tune played by an old banjo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hopkins/there-s-many-a-good-tune-played-by-an-old-banjo/) [Anthony Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hopkins/) > [I play any piano with a good tune.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pinetop-perkins/i-play-any-piano-with-a-good-tune/) [Pinetop Perkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pinetop-perkins/) > [I'm a composer, and therefore I know when I've written a good tune. When you've written a good song is when you know that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lloyd-webber/i-m-a-composer-and-therefore-i-know-when-i-ve-written-a-good-tune/) [Andrew Lloyd Webber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lloyd-webber/) > [Seek the truth always… no matter how good the tune or the story ~ Cheers... Big Al Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/big-al-connolly/seek-the-truth-always-no-matter-how-good-the-tune-or-the-story-cheers/) [Big Al Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/big-al-connolly/) > [“Okay, so he wasn't dreaming anymore, but did this fall into same song second verse? He would just have to play this out and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kindle-alexander/okay-so-he-wasn-t-dreaming-anymore-but-did-this-fall-into-same-song/) Kindle Alexander > [“It is considered in the Sto Plains that only scoundrels know the second verse of their national anthem, since anyone spending time memorizing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/it-is-considered-in-the-sto-plains-that-only-scoundrels-know-the/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [Later in the day, a second verse became clear to my vision. It read: "Pray without ceasing."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-c-neal/later-in-the-day-a-second-verse-became-clear-to-my-vision-it-read/) [Mary C. Neal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-c-neal/) > [“O come all ye faithful..." I began. "Joyful and triumphant..." Liam joined in. We made it through the first three words of the second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammy-blackwell/o-come-all-ye-faithful-i-began-joyful-and-triumphant-liam-joined-in/) [Tammy Blackwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammy-blackwell/) > [When I wrote 'Mushaboom', I was living in the second verse, but I suddenly found myself in the first.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/feist/when-i-wrote-mushaboom-i-was-living-in-the-second-verse-but-i/) [Feist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/feist/) > [“Go and catch a falling star, Get with child a mandrake root, Tell me where all past years are, Or who cleft the Devil’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-wynne-jones/go-and-catch-a-falling-star-get-with-child-a-mandrake-root-tell-me-2/) [Diana Wynne Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-wynne-jones/) > [Most revolutionaries are potential Tories, because they imagine that everything can be put right by altering the shape of society; once that change is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/most-revolutionaries-are-potential-tories-because-they-imagine-that/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [I've instinctively hated the Tories since birth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-brooker/i-ve-instinctively-hated-the-tories-since-birth/) [Charlie Brooker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-brooker/) > [I wanted us to go to the Tories when we were strong...not in misfortune to be made an honest woman of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/i-wanted-us-to-go-to-the-tories-when-we-were-strong-not-in-misfortune/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [If the Tories and Lib Dems fought together, they'd keep their ministerial offices and limousines, and continue to do the right things for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-portillo/if-the-tories-and-lib-dems-fought-together-they-d-keep-their/) [Michael Portillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-portillo/) ## More by George Orwell > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [It was given out that the animals there practised cannibalism, tortured one another with red-hot horseshoes, and had their females in common. This was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-was-given-out-that-the-animals-there-practised-cannibalism/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“The actual writing would be easy. All he had to do was to transfer to paper the interminable restless monologue that had been running…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-actual-writing-would-be-easy-all-he-had-to-do-was-to-transfer-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [He felt as though he were wandering in the forests of the sea bottom, lost in a monstrous world where he himself was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/he-felt-as-though-he-were-wandering-in-the-forests-of-the-sea-bottom/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“if you took 1 Corinthians, chapter thirteen, and in every verse wrote 'money' instead of 'charity', the chapter had ten times as much meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-you-took-1-corinthians-chapter-thirteen-and-in-every-verse-wrote/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Happiness can exist only in acceptance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/happiness-can-exist-only-in-acceptance/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-if-all-others-accepted-the-lie-which-the-party-imposed-if-all/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Whitman himself "accepted" a great deal that his contemporaries found unmentionable. For he is not only writing of the prairie, he also wanders through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/whitman-himself-accepted-a-great-deal-that-his-contemporaries-found/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“But I tell you, Winston, that reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Whatever the Party holds to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-i-tell-you-winston-that-reality-is-not-external-reality-exists-in/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“And the people under the sky were also very much the same...everywhere, all over the world, hundreds or thousands of millions of people just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-people-under-the-sky-were-also-very-much-the-same-everywhere/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/don-t-you-see-that-the-whole-aim-of-newspeak-is-to-narrow-the-range/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Windmill or no windmill, he said, life would go on as it had always gone on--that is, badly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/windmill-or-no-windmill-he-said-life-would-go-on-as-it-had-always/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/man-is-the-only-creature-that-consumes-without-producing-he-does-not/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And the bigger the fall, the bigger the joke. It would be better fun to throw a custard pie at a bishop than at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-bigger-the-fall-the-bigger-the-joke-it-would-be-better-fun-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Any writer or journalist who wants to retain his integrity finds himself thwarted by the general drift of society rather than by active persecution.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/any-writer-or-journalist-who-wants-to-retain-his-integrity-finds/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Explore all 1,657 George Orwell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## More Anthem quotes > [I sang the National Anthem at Dodger Stadium - at a baseball game - which was crazy; there was, like, 60,000 people there, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-devine/i-sang-the-national-anthem-at-dodger-stadium-at-a-baseball-game-which/) [Adam DeVine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-devine/) > [No matter what. Wherever your mind wanders, it seems to turn up at the same Field of Dreams. It's the vision you wake up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-c-collins/no-matter-what-wherever-your-mind-wanders-it-seems-to-turn-up-at-the/) [James C. Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-c-collins/) > [I was in the recording studio when Pink was recording for a part of the gay rights anthem. It was just amazing to watch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judd-apatow/i-was-in-the-recording-studio-when-pink-was-recording-for-a-part-of/) [Judd Apatow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judd-apatow/) > [This miracle of me is mine to own and keep, and mine to guard, and mine to use, and mine to kneel before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/this-miracle-of-me-is-mine-to-own-and-keep-and-mine-to-guard-and-mine/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“The shortest national anthem in the world is the Japanese one, which only consists of four lines.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-goldstein/the-shortest-national-anthem-in-the-world-is-the-japanese-one-which/) [Jack Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-goldstein/) > [People who tend to listen to my music have come back and said, 'Yo, this is my anthem. This is what I live by.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/big-sean/people-who-tend-to-listen-to-my-music-have-come-back-and-said-yo-this/) [Big Sean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/big-sean/) > [Colin Kaepernick is the latest professional athlete to spark a national debate about the meaning behind the American flag and the national anthem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahmoud-abdul-rauf/colin-kaepernick-is-the-latest-professional-athlete-to-spark-a/) Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf > [All of us ... should remember that no amount of flag-waving, pledging allegiance, or fervent singing of the national anthem is evidence that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-roosevelt/all-of-us-should-remember-that-no-amount-of-flag-waving-pledging/) [Eleanor Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-roosevelt/) > [I had a gig in Sweden. There were thousands of people there, and when I launched into 'I'm Yours,' they were all singing along.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-mraz/i-had-a-gig-in-sweden-there-were-thousands-of-people-there-and-when-i/) [Jason Mraz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-mraz/) > [When you hear the Champions League anthem, it gives you goosebumps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/casemiro/when-you-hear-the-champions-league-anthem-it-gives-you-goosebumps/) [Casemiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/casemiro/) > [GIRLS NATIONAL ANTHEM](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-nelson/girls-national-anthem/) Jerome Nelson > [Written in support of abolishing the Corn Laws, it became Elliott's most famous poem. The Peoples Anthem When wilt thou save the people Oh,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ebenezer-elliott/written-in-support-of-abolishing-the-corn-laws-it-became-elliott-s/) [Ebenezer Elliott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ebenezer-elliott/) > [I sing the National Anthem, while I'm standing, over your body, hold you like a python.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lana-del-rey/i-sing-the-national-anthem-while-i-m-standing-over-your-body-hold-you/) [Lana Del Rey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lana-del-rey/) > [I came from a military family, so there are a lot of things I think about when the anthem is playing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-doolittle/i-came-from-a-military-family-so-there-are-a-lot-of-things-i-think/) [Sean Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-doolittle/) > [Who can I marry? Where can I live? What kind of career can I achieve? These are just some of the stories breaking with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-britting/who-can-i-marry-where-can-i-live-what-kind-of-career-can-i-achieve/) [Jeff Britting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-britting/) [Browse all 219 Anthem quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anthem/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“All the brass instruments and big drums in the world cannot turn ‘God Save the King’ into a good tune, but on the very rare occasions when it is sung in full it does spring to life in the two lines: Confound their politics, Frustrate their knavish tricks! 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