On This Day – 21st May
New Order’s ‘World in Motion’ was released on this day back in 1990 and was used as the England anthem for the World Cup that year.
The song was New Order’s only Number 1 record, staying top of the charts for two weeks at the beginning of the tournament in Italy.
Comedian Keith Allen had a main part to play in the song as he had helped to co-write the song. He appeared in the video with a few of the England players, who had turned up to the recording before an afternoon squad get-together.
The players credited with involvement were: John Barnes, Peter Beardsley, Paul Gascoigne, Steve McMahon, Chris Waddle and Des Walker.
John Barnes had the most memorable input from the squad, famously rapping midway through the song. He wrote the words himself and they were:
You’ve got to hold and give
But do it at the right time
You can be slow or fast
But you must get to the line
They’ll always hit you and hurt you
Defend and attack
There’s only one way to beat them
Get round the back
Catch me if you can
‘Cause I’m the England man
And what you’re looking at
Is the master plan
We ain’t no hooligans
This ain’t a football song
Three lions on my chest
I know we can’t go wrong
The song was much more uplifting than the previous England World Cup songs and had a modern day feel about it. You definitely wouldn’t have seen Bobby Moore rapping on ‘Back Home’, England’s 1970 World Cup song!
The song has stood the test of time and is regarded as one of the greatest football songs of all-time. This along with the song ‘Three Lions’ released for Euro ’96 by David Baddiel, Frank Skinner and the Lightning Seeds have to be the best, in my opinion.
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