Maggie Out

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Margaret Thatcher, target of the chant Margaret Thatcher stock portrait (cropped).jpg
Margaret Thatcher, target of the chant

"Maggie Out" was a chant popular during the miners' strike, student grant protests, poll tax protests and other public demonstrations that fell within the time when Margaret Thatcher was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Contents

Lyrics

The chant called for her to be removed from that role. It was referred to, in that context, during a parliamentary session in 1982. [6] When Margaret Thatcher felt compelled to resign some people had memories of chanting it for thirteen years. [7] [8] People were passionate about this group activity and associated it with varied political struggles from that time. [9] [10]

It is a variant of the "Oggy Oggy Oggy, Oi Oi Oi" chant. When used in that format, the lyrics were:

Maggie, Maggie, Maggie!
Out! Out! Out!

Maggie, Maggie, Maggie!
Out! Out! Out!

Maggie!
Out!

Maggie!
Out!

Maggie, Maggie, Maggie!
Out! Out! Out!

The Larks produced a track called "Maggie, Maggie, Maggie (Out, Out, Out)" which was included on the Miners' Benefit LP "Here We Go" on Sterile Records. [11]

Upon Thatcher's resignation, groups of opponents gathered at Downing Street, chanting a variation – replacing the word "out" with "gone". [12] [13]

Following the death of Thatcher on 8 April 2013, this chant was revived in the format of "Maggie, Maggie Maggie (Dead, Dead, Dead)" at celebratory parties held in Glasgow, London and Reading. [14] [15] [16]

See also

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References

  1. Sergeant, John. Maggie: Her Fatal Legacy. Pan Macmillan, pg 8.
  2. El Saadawi, Nawal. The Nawal El Saadawi reader. Palgrave Macmillan, pg 274
  3. “Miners' strike - Dragon's Flame“ Archived 2018-12-21 at the Wayback Machine . BBC. Retrieved 26 March 2018
  4. “Margaret Thatcher, inspiration to New Labour” Archived 2018-10-19 at the Wayback Machine . The Telegraph. Retrieved 26 March 2018
  5. Are ageing lefties in denial? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-10633782 Archived 2019-07-02 at the Wayback Machine
  6. HC Deb 30 Nov 1982, vol. 617, col. 1513
  7. Fun memories of protesting https://web.archive.org/web/20020105051537/http://socialistworker.co.uk/1742/sw174223.htm
  8. Steel, Mark. Reasons to be Cheerful. Scribner
  9. Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside. https://web.archive.org/web/20030201041127/http://cjstone.co.uk/pgs/others05seaside.htm
  10. Remarks visiting Bristol, Margaret Thatcher Foundation http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105329 Archived 2018-10-19 at the Wayback Machine
  11. The Larks http://www.facebook.com/maggiemaggiemaggieoutoutout Archived 2018-10-19 at the Wayback Machine
  12. "Letters: Protest ban". The Independent. 2006-07-05. Retrieved 2019-07-12.
  13. O'Farrell, John. (31 October 2010). Things can only get better : eighteen miserable years in the life of a Labour supporter, 1979-1997. London. ISBN   978-1409020776. OCLC   1004975264.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  14. "Some Liverpool fans celebrate Baroness Thatcher's death with derisory chants". The Daily Telegraph . Archived from the original on 2018-01-22. Retrieved 2019-07-12.
  15. "Margaret Thatcher's death greeted with street parties in Brixton and Glasgow". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 2019-05-23. Retrieved 2019-07-12.
  16. "Margaret Thatcher dead: Street parties held across the UK to mark passing of PM". Daily Mirror . Archived from the original on 2018-01-22. Retrieved 2019-07-12.