A councillor who argued that Land of Hope and Gloryshould be banned from a city's Remembrance Day celebrations said he had withdrawn the proposal yesterday.
Peter O'Neill's motion to Wolverhampton City Council, and a view that it should be replaced with Rod Stewart's 1975 hit Sailing, sparked fierce opposition from veterans' groups and the public.
But the Labour councillor, who suggested the work may have "political connotations", admitted the resulting furore had forced him to rethink.
He also apologised for any offence the proposal may have caused.
"In my own personal view, and it is my own personal view, that that one song, Sailing, reflects the era of the Falklands conflict and some people might identify with that," he said.
"But I didn't mean to be offensive to anybody and if the Festival of Remembrance working party wish Land of Hope and Glory to be played this year, that's what will happen."
Land of Hope and Glory comes from the first march of Sir Edward Elgar's 1901 work Pomp and Circumstance.
Although not intended to have words set to it, lyrics were provided following a suggestion by the then-king Edward VII some months after the premiere of the orchestral version.
The words were provided by Arthur C Benson.
Sailing spent four weeks at number one in 1975.
Wolverhampton's Festival of Remembrance is due to be held in November.
