- The Power of Four
"The Power of Four" is a joint anthem for the four
Home Nations ofEngland ,Scotland ,Wales andIreland (where Ireland refers to bothNorthern Ireland and theRepublic of Ireland ). It was composed by [http://www.neilmyers.com Neil Myers] .It is used mainly during events on the rare occasions where the countries are represented as one entity, and therefore using the national anthem of either the
United Kingdom or theRepublic of Ireland would be unsuitable.It was first performed by Welsh opera singer
Katherine Jenkins before theBritish and Irish Lions rugby union match against Argentina at theMillennium Stadium in2005 . It is always sung in English, and there are as yet no versions in any of the other languages spoken in Britain or Ireland.The song has so far experienced a mixed response, to say the least. In July 2005, following the Lions tour, a journalist on the BBC Sport website, James Standley, commented that The Power Of Four is "hollow and disliked by fans" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/international/4671725.stm] while the Sunday Herald's Alasdair Reid called it "pompous and overblown" [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20050703/ai_n14681518] . However, Lions coach
Sir Clive Woodward said he hoped it would "stir the passions" [http://www.planet-rugby.com/Tournaments/British_Irish_Lions/story_43742.shtml] .Lyrics
From the four corners of our lands
We're united, hand in hand
Together
We're stronger
We join and proud we stand
Now the day has come, we are one
Standing tall for our Lions' call
We're stronger
Together
We are the power of fouree also
*
British and Irish Lions External links
* [http://www.lionsrugby.com/sound/Anthem%20Version%202.mp3 MP3 file] from the British and Irish Lions' site. Note: here the lyrics are slightly different: "our countries' call" rather than "our lions' call".
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.