Which Premier League manager will get fired first

Monday 17 May 2010

World Cup Theme Songs

This week marks the commemoration of the event that inspired England's most well known International theme tune - The Dam-Busters.

While the song was originally meant to commemorate the brave men of 617 squadron it has become universally known as a tune to taunt the Germans with at international matches, But what other World Cup songs have we had? Here I take a look at the past and give my opinion on if they were good or awful.

World In Motion - Probably the best England song ever. Fresh from their success with True Faith, Blue Monday and Bernard Sumner's Electronic collaboration with Johnny Marr and Neil Tennant New Order tried their hand at writing an England Football song with Comedian Keith Allen and came up with an inspired dance-floor hit. Combining Sumners earnest singing with a John Barnes rap was the perfect recipe for a number 1 hit. - OUTSTANDING

Three Lions - The Lightning Seeds and Baddiel & Skinner tried to replicate New Order's success for Euro 96 and were in general successful however subsequent new remixes of it have been a bit repetitive and it is released again this year with Robbie Williams lending his vocals. - GOOD BUT OVERPLAYED

Jerusalem - Released by Keith Allen (this time as Fat Les) he teamed up with Alex James from Blur and Damien Hurst to produce a rousing version of this classic hymn. A Remix By Pet Shop Boys was released to clubs with great success. - OUTSTANDING

Back Home - The first official song was a fairly standard sing-along affair from the England squad setting a precedent for less than harmonic communal singing - CATCHY BUT CHEESY

Vindaloo - Another Fat Les offering it was another catchy anthem for World Cup 98. The song was inspired by an incident on a BBC politics show when Keith Allen said to a minority spokesperson It's not a chip you've got on your shoulder, it's a vindaloo!" explaining to press reporters that a vindaloo is as faux ethnic (this piece of Goan cuisine actually originated from Portugal) as those who masquerade as self-appointed spokespeople for ethnic minority communities' rights in order to censor arts and culture according to their own pet prejudices. The song reached #2 with some conspiracy theorists claiming that it sold more than the Three Lions remake but was kept off the number 1 spot deliberately by the BBC - CATCHY BUT REPETITIVE

All Together Now - This re-working of The Farm's classic 1990 anthem was well-received and commercially successful. Originally produced by Suggs (Madness) it was re-edited by DJ Spoony. NICE, CATCHY ANTHEM

World At Your Feet - absolutely AWFUL. This shocker by Embrace was the theme tune for 2006 and although it reached #3 in the charts most England fans hated it. - AWFUL.

This year there will be no official theme tune but I suspect their will be several unofficial anthems to sing along to. What we really need is a remix of GO WEST to round it off but can't see it happening.

Together We will go away
Together We will win some day
Together Do something new
Together This is what we'll do

Go South
Win a trophy there
Go South
Give everyone a scare
Go South
Wear with pride the shirt
Go South
End all those years of hurt

Go South
Bring the cup back home
Bring the Cup
back where it belongs
Bring the Cup
Home to Wemberley
Win the cup
With Rio and Rooney

Anyway we have a good chance this time as the squad will not be distracted by recording chart-topping singles (unless Tennant/Lowe get hold of these lyrics and finish them) and hopefully we will be seeing Rio holding that trophy aloft in July.

25 comments:

  1. Afternoon Adam, good blog and proof that when you try you are able to string a series of coherent sentences together.
    What we really need is a song that represents how England usually performs at these big tournaments. It would have to start slowly with a couple of stumbles but pick up towards the end of the first verse (group stage). In the second verse (last 16) it would be great and raise everyone's expectations before cruelly crushing those hopes and dreams at the next stage (quarter final)

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  2. Hey Adam :)

    Haha, I had an idea you'd mention PSB here and there when you said today's blog wouldn't be a political one.

    My vote has to go to Vindaloo, mainly because I was thirteen at the time and we were all incessantly belting it out in the middle of class just to piss the teachers off.

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  3. Now then. How could you forget the majestic 'This Time We'll Get It Right' - utter cack. Me, I'll go for World Cup Willie by Lonnie Donegan.

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  4. Could be worse - how about "Don't Come Home Too Soon", Del Amitri's obviously prophetic Scotland Anthem in 1998? Living here in Scotland it was all I could do to prevent myself laughing out loud every time it came on.

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  5. Good one Adam. World in motion is the best by far although i still remember the 82 england world cup album! I had that "LP" and the title song was This Time.....and its still stuck in my head.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0kgg5tWhY8

    Ah takes me back.....Robson scoring after 27 seconds (an assist by my hero at the time - Steve Coppell, well he did take the throw in)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJio5ZcBLLA

    The first world cup that i watched - a classic!

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  7. Nice effort Adam.

    One of the first LP's (that's one of those big black vynil cdish thingys kids, check my userprofile picture to see what they look like) I bought was a 2nd hand Best of 1970 album which included great tracks from the Kinks (Lola) and Mungo Jerry, that name still makes me laugh (Summertime) and the not so great but as you said cheesy and catchy, Back Home.
    I'm not really into those kind of "theme tunes" although "Footballs coming Home" or whatever it was called wasn't too bad.

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  8. Hi Adam

    Footballs coming home seems to have become universal. Certainly I hear it played and find it on most juke boxes in Germany

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  9. Star I can imagine Vindaloo annoying most teachers to be fair. When I was 13 the World Cup song was the extremely awful We've Got the Whole World at Our Feet.

    Robbo I didn't include world Cup Willie as it wasn't an official song (but was annoyingly catchy) and before you point out that Vindaloo wasn't either I never claimed to be consistent

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  10. Morning Adam.Back Home for me,if only because there were some Ipswich players on it...

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  11. Ipswich players singing for England. DIdn't that happen in 86 & 90 as well? Quock call up that Connor Whickham lad for singing duties

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  12. from Baggie Mike.....
    'As repetitive as it was, 3 Lions will always be my favourite, however, for the unofficial songs this year i have to champion 'Fabio' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjZYGISbx2A lyrical genius, and bonus points to the first to spot what's wrong with his BBQ. Thanks to Jacks for facilitating my ability to post'

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  13. No mention for my personal favorite world cup song - We're on the Ball by Ant and Dec? Brilliant!

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  14. Sorry about that lad. Ant & Dec were missed off but only due to that musical crime Let's Get Ready To Rhumble.

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  15. Adam as a rule sport and music dont go together, and i say this as a retired (failed) musician. I did a gig once whilst doing keep me ups, no one was impresed then i did another using my guitar as a make shift tennis racket... even less people were impressed... music good sport good, together though you have a chocolate steak....

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  16. adampsb said...

    Ipswich players singing for England. DIdn't that happen in 86 & 90 as well?
    ____________________
    We got relegated in 86,Butcher hadn't quite signed for Rangers.So technically I suppose that counts.We were "in transition" in 1990...

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  17. Can't look further than 3 lions. Shame we didn't actually win it though - only really made the pain worse, especially when the Germans went and nicked it for themselves...

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  18. From Baggie Mike...
    'Adam, just got round to listening to PSB Jerusalem, and at no point in the past have I derided you for being a PSB fan but this remix is truly dreadful, its just putting some dancy music over the top of the actual hymm.
    Jerusalem is a great hymm, but not the best football song - more of an ale fest song, and whatever happens no dance music should be mixed with it.'

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  19. Mike You are correct in that it is just dancy music on top of teh hymn but it is still better than the Fat Les 7" version.

    I actually think World In Motion is the best one

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  20. courtesy of Baggie Mike....
    'Aye that’s true the Fat Les version is no better, it needs a large group of people, preferably a brass band and copious amounts of ale to be sung to its full potential (plus lyrics on projector for the uncultured).
    I do like world in motion, it comes a close second but would be even further behind if it wasn’t for good ol' Barnsey - you can be slow or fast but you must get to the line'

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  21. problem is Amy Winehouse took that advice a bit too literally

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  22. I don't listen to other countries songs as they are probably rubbish

    This is reputed to be the worst ever

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOXIiMVuPVQ

    Along with http://www.myvideo.de/watch/6826740/Village_People_Far_Away_In_America

    Horrific - mental scarring will result

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  23. from Baggie Mike....
    'Really should of paid more attention to that last sentence, i am scarred to my soul :)
    Those songs are dreadful - translated some of the lyrics and they are pretty weird (and nothing to do with footy), and the 'America' on was just strange.'

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  24. 80 votes on WC song - are u gunna put out a press release when voting ends Adam :)

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