England Swings
"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.
| "England Swings" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Roger Miller | ||||
| from the album Golden Hits | ||||
| B-side | "Good Old Days" | |||
| Released | November 1965 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Label | Smash Records | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Roger Miller | |||
| Roger Miller singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
The title refers to Swinging London, a popular term for the progressive youth-centric cultural scene in London at the time, as in the opening line of the refrain: "England Swings, like a pendulum do". However, the lyrics do not convey any of this progressiveness, but mostly relate to stereotypical notions of traditional Britain, with references to "bobbies on bicycles", Westminster Abbey and Big Ben, plus, the "Rosy-red cheeks of the little children." 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. Miller sang his own Harmony and did his own harmonic whistling on the song. He sang the song with a British accent on the word "Children".
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 2010.[3]
Chart history
| Chart (1965-66) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia | 23 |
| New Zealand [4] | 4 |
| 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
- List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1966 (U.S.)
References
- Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 231.
- Discography Archived 2009-12-19 at the Wayback Machine at Petula Clark's official site
- Wilkening, Matthew (January 21, 2011). "The Wiggles Feat. Keith Urban, 'England Swings' – Song Spotlight". Taste of Country.
- "flavour of new zealand - NZ Listener". Flavourofnz.co.nz. 1966-01-27. Retrieved 2016-09-29.