On the ears of football fans: EM songs are booming

Updated June 20, 2021 at 9:57 p.m.

• Songs and hymns for major tournaments already have a tradition.
• Most of the songs fail though.
• But above all a song shows what makes a football song.

You can find out more about EM 2021 here

The number of those who failed is huge. Almost as large as the number of those who have tried to write a successful football song or to compose an official tournament “anthem”. The problem with this is that soccer songs are a very special art in themselves. An art that very few have mastered, because in many cases these would-be hits are an acoustic nuisance or insult.

In front major soccer tournaments There is traditionally a musical boom, but almost all of them fail because of the right mix. Because it is tricky. The secret recipe is something between catchy, melodic, but also suitable for football. So something to bawl along without drifting into the Ballermann level. When it comes to partying, the fan soul may be relatively simple, but songs imposed by the music industry are initially faced with a major hurdle per se.

25 years under my belt

Hence the question: can you remember a soccer hit that survived generations? We are happy to help: Yes, it really does exist. And it is now at least 25 years old and can still be heard through the stadiums, even at the current European Championship.

Especially when England is playing. Because the well-known “Football’s coming Home” from the song “Three Lions” by the “Lightning Seeds” from the EM 1996 is something of a national cultural asset. The perfect mix that plays with painful longings, long-ago successes and hopes for the future and does not take itself too seriously. The catchy chorus is the icing on the cake.

Perfect cult composition

The song didn’t even need sporting success – for example at the 2006 World Cup “This Way” by Xavier Naidoo or “’54, ”74,’ ’90, 2006″ by “Sportfreunde Stiller” and Andreas Bourani’s “Auf uns” at Winner of the title in 2014. A perfect cult composition, completely successful. A direct hit. Timeless.

And thus a real treasure. Because phonetic “pearls” have been around in abundance for years at every major tournament, as is now the case with the European Championship. But from experience we already know – hardly any song will survive the four weeks of the tournament, regardless of whether it is an official EM anthem or an unofficial attack on the fan favor.

U2 doesn’t guarantee a hit either

The song is official from UEFA, which has spared no effort to attract real celebrities by name. The Dutch star DJ Martin Garrix as well as Bono and The Edge from “U2” are responsible for “We are The People”. But there is no room on the sampler for the best football songs for Bono and Co. – so even a band like U2 is no guarantee of a football hit in this difficult environment.

The ARD also has its own song that accompanies the broadcasts. “The good times” comes from Wincent Weiss and Johannes Oerding. With a little luck, the German national team could well grow with a success, as the TV viewers can’t get past the song for four weeks. Long term potential? Rather no.

Telekom is also doing its best and has had a song produced for the broadcasts on “MagentaTV”: “On the Field of Dreams” by Daniel Hall. Unfortunately also interchangeable and pale.

Players also take part

Even gamers come up with something. The previous Gladbach loaner Valentino Lazaro has released his personal EM song entitled “Immer wieder” together with the Vienna-based musician Meydo. But it is more intended for the charts than for the stadium.

The participants themselves also have their own songs. North Macedonia is supported by the rock sounds of the group “Vis Risovi”, Goran Pandev and Co. look quite determined into the camera in the video. An international breakthrough is not expected, however.

The Scots did it the way it should be done: They celebrated the successful qualification, the first for a major tournament since 1998, in the dressing room with the classic “Yes Sir, I can Boogie” by the Spanish duo Baccara.

Scotland can boogie

And of course the song is now the official team anthem for the European Championship, was used in the first group game against the Czech Republic, but was not lucky in the 2-0 draw.

Repurposing old hits is a popular and tried-and-tested means anyway. The Slovaks are therefore given an EM version of the partisan song “Bella Ciao” (“Daj gola, daj”).

The Czechs get a punk song from the punk rock band “Tri Sestry”, of course, which is accompanied by a video that irritates a man’s visit to the bar in Corona times, but thanks to the supporting actor Nedved (a turtle) amused too. But it will only have a short half-life.

Complete gaga?

Brilliant? Or gaga? The Belgians let themselves be pushed by “Deviltime”, a, shall we say, idiosyncratic cover version of the hit “U Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer. But it sticks in the ear.

Fun fact: the English also have their own official song. Krept and Konan perform it, a BBC documentary even shows the creation, because it deals with an important topic, with racism.

The problem with that: As a rap song, it is only partially capable of roaring along. It’s good that the English have had the perfect song for a quarter of a century.