Is there going to be a World Cup tune for England? Sure. Of course. No two ways about that one. England have just launched their official World Cup song “We’re On The Ball”, described by the record company as a “flag-waving, terrace-chanting, sing-along monster of a footie anthem”.
The song is performed by Ant and Dec who present the hugely successful TV talent show Pop Idol.
The video, shown to reporters at the FA headquarters on Thursday, shows Ant and Dec disguising themselves as Sven-Goran Eriksson and Tord Grip, in order to get to the World Cup in South Korea and Japan next month. Ant, who played the role of Sven in the video, said he thought England had a good chance of success at the World Cup “provided everybody’s fit.”
“Everyone we’ve mentioned on the record has got injured,” the handsome lad added.Asked about competition from other World Cup songs and from Pop Idol winner Will Young, who releases his new single on the same day, May 27, Ant said: “Will’s a great guy, so we’re even more determined to kick his skinny little ass.”
The Football Association hope their choice will be as popular as the 1990 World Cup anthem ‘World in Motion’ by New Order, featuring a rap sequence by winger John Barnes, which is one of the few football songs to have won critical acclaim.
Previous efforts, which were sung by the England squads themselves, include “We’ve Got The Whole World At Our Feet” in 1986 and ‘This Time (We’ll Get it Right)’ from 1982.
The England song in 1998, “On Top of the World” by the squad and featuring artists including the Spice Girls, flopped.
“Back Home” was the first official England World Cup song in 1970 and, as has often been the case, did better than the team, reaching the top of the charts.
The defending champions’ World Cup dream came to a bitter end that year, with England knocked out at the quarter-final stage by Germany, losing 3-2 after leading 2-0.
One of the most popular unofficial songs was The Lightning Seeds’ “Three Lions”, featuring David Baddiel and Frank Skinner, which was first released for the European championships in 1996.
It was remixed for the 1998 World Cup in France and is still chanted by fans during England games.
Fat Les, a group featuring actor Keith Allen, Alex James from Blur and artist Damien Hirst, had a hit with “Vindaloo” in 1998. But their follow up for Euro 2000, a version of the hymn Jerusalem, was a little bit less successful.
Anyway, I hope Ant & Dec return to the music scene. Not just with this cut, but with more new offerings from them. Maybe a full-length LP perhaps?