2006 was year of "climactic highs and terrible lows" in which the west dealt with the triple blows of "floods, earthquakes and terrorism" with a "shit-eating grin". At least, that's according to US indie band We Are Scientists, who have paid homage to our very own Queen with the release of their own version of her Christmas speech.
In a seven-minute New Year's message addressed to the people of England, bassist Chris Cain and lead singer Keith Murray do their bit to strengthen the "special relationship" by reflecting on the events of the year past.
The pair show an all-American appreciation for the accomplishments of the British people by touching on the key themes of 2006, such as terrorism, tanning and masturbating animals. Cain says that although "more than ever, humanity lives in pissed-stained fear", the many achievements made in the fields of maths, geometry and flight are worthy of proud attention.
He goes on, stating that for England "forward motion has never been more real", while Murray seems impressed by how England has "learned to harness the power of the sun for the growing of crops, and for tanning".
This isn't the first time that the members of We Are Scientists have involved themselves in the affairs of the British people, last year Keith Murray helped the Arctic Monkeys accept their Brit award for Best Newcomer in a live address to the audience because he felt the lads needed a "certain panache" to their speech.
Despite a busy schedule of creating highbrow indie, the band always find time for their British counterparts, particularly our head of state. Bassist Chris Cain took time out from his busy schedule to tell the Guardian of his admiration for Her Majesty.
"Every year my family would gather round the TV and watch the Queen deliver her speech - oh yes, we watch it in America - and it frequently occurred to me that the Queen seemed almost offensively ignorant of what had been going on in my private life over the previous 12 months."
The pair close their new year address by offering a quote from perhaps the most famous Britain of all, "Jonathan Churchill", by saying that 2006 "was not a box of chocolates" but that nevertheless there is cause to turn to 2007 with a sense of hope.
