Maggie Out Explained

"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]}

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:

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

• Let's Go Brandon – an anti-Biden chant which is a minced oath for "Fuck Joe Biden".
• Thanks, Obama – a slogan that gained popular use through viral memes protesting the presidency of Barack Obama.
• Putin khuylo! – an anti-Vladimir Putin chant that is popular in Ukraine after the annexation of Crimea.
• FDT – hip-hop protest song whose title is an initialism for "Fuck Donald Trump".
• Serzhik, go away! – Armenian political slogan protesting against Serzh Sargsyan

Notes and 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. http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/themes/society/strike_dragons_flame.shtml “Miners' strike - Dragon's Flame“
4. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/themargaretthatcheryears/1895878/Margaret-Thatcher-inspiration-to-New-Labour.html “Margaret Thatcher, inspiration to New Labour”
5. Are ageing lefties in denial? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-10633782
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
11. The Larks http://www.facebook.com/maggiemaggiemaggieoutoutout
12. Web site: Letters: Protest ban. 2006-07-05. The Independent. en. 2019-07-12.
13. Book: O'Farrell, John.. Things can only get better : eighteen miserable years in the life of a Labour supporter, 1979-1997. 31 October 2010. 978-1409020776. London. 1004975264.
14. News: Some Liverpool fans celebrate Baroness Thatcher's death with derisory chants. The Daily Telegraph. 2019-07-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20180122235058/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/9992118/Some-Liverpool-fans-celebrate-Baroness-Thatchers-death-with-derisory-chants.html. 2018-01-22. live.
15. News: Margaret Thatcher's death greeted with street parties in Brixton and Glasgow. The Guardian. 2019-07-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20190523152450/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/apr/08/margaret-thatcher-death-party-brixton-glasgow. 2019-05-23. live.
16. News: Daily Mirror. Margaret Thatcher dead: Street parties held across the UK to mark passing of PM. 2019-07-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20180122181712/https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/margaret-thatcher-dead-video-cheering-1818888. 2018-01-22. live.