Sure, most Australians stopped pretending to care about soccer as soon as the Socceroos were out of World Cup contention but chances are you’re aware that England are doing better than expected. The biggest clue is how many of them are singing that goddamn refrain “It’s coming home, it’s coming home, it’s coming / Football’s coming home” after the merest sniff of alcohol.
And it’s about to make two comedians and an little-remembered Liverpool musician very, very rich. Well, richer. They’re probably already doing pretty well, actually.
And that’s because ‘Three Lions’ is looking set to hit the UK top ten yet again, despite being 22 years old, and very possibly go to number one.
Back in 1996 – oh, it was a more innocent time! – the presenters of Fantasy Football League, David Baddiel and Frank Skinner, teamed up with Ian Broudie who recorded under the name the Lightning Seeds and had already had several minor hits including ‘Pure’ which you either know as “Pure And Simple Every Time” or don’t know at all because it’s a million years old.
Anyway, it’s a great song. FACT.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6myNbk15sMs
So: they wrote and recording this song called ‘Three Lions’ which was celebrating the fact that finally, FINALLY, after “thirty years of hurt” the English team were going to bring the World Cup back to Britain. Spoiler: they did not.
The team did, however, make the song their official anthem and that endorsement sent it to number one in the charts – and its refrain was resurrected for each of England’s doomed sport-sorties. And now that they’re in the semi-finals it’s become the talismanic chant of the ever-hopeful – rather than the current semi-official song which is, let’s be clear, utterly shite.
And the Lightning Seeds? Well, they sort of fizzled out in the early 00s, not least because they seemed horribly uncomfortable with… everything. Which the ‘What If…’ video attempted to make adorable, with middling success. They’re still about, though. So that’s nice.
