{"id":10948,"date":"2023-11-13T06:00:30","date_gmt":"2023-11-13T00:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/the-man-who-gave-england-fans-something-to-sing-about-music-entertainment\/"},"modified":"2023-11-13T06:00:30","modified_gmt":"2023-11-13T00:30:30","slug":"the-man-who-gave-england-fans-something-to-sing-about-music-entertainment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/the-man-who-gave-england-fans-something-to-sing-about-music-entertainment\/","title":{"rendered":"The man who gave England fans something to sing about | Music | Entertainment"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Ian<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/p>\n

\u201cFootball\u2019s coming home\u201d has been a ubiquitous chant at England stadiums (Image: )<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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The ultimate football terrace anthem, Three Lions and its infectious chorus of \u201cFootball\u2019s coming home\u201d has been a ubiquitous chant at stadiums throughout the country ever since its release for the Euro 96 tournament held in England.<\/p>\n

Made by The Lightning Seeds with comedians Frank Skinner and David Baddiel, England fans have helped give it a unique place in chart history \u2013 the only single to reach No 1 on four separate occasions: twice in 1996 and, again, around international tournaments in 1998 and 2018.<\/p>\n

Last year, England\u2019s triumphant Lionesses memorably interrupted manager Sarina Wiegman\u2019s press conference after their historic European Championship victory by belting out Three Lions as they danced around parading the trophy.<\/p>\n

No song has so perfectly encapsulated the feelings of hope and disappointment shared by football fans as Three Lions, which Lightning Seeds mainman Ian Broudie wrote 27 years ago after being approached to write England\u2019s official tournament anthem.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Don’t miss… <\/strong> Gary Lineker drops hint about next Match of the Day host while live on BBC <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Yet Broudie did such a good job the song was almost never released \u2013 as the FA wanted something more triumphant, in the vein of previous over-optimistic naff official England songs like Back Home and This Time.<\/p>\n

It was only the determination of Broudie, Skinner and Baddiel that meant Three Lions got released, as Broudie reveals in his hilarious and touching new memoir, Tomorrow\u2019s Here Today. \u201cIt was the fans who got behind Three Lions, not the FA,\u201d Broudie tells the Daily Express. \u201cI\u2019d been very reluctant to do England\u2019s official song, because I didn\u2019t want to make a typically laddish, triumphant song about how we\u2019re the best team in the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was only when I thought about making a football song that was realistic about our chances that I said yes to the song. The FA were horrified when we gave them Three Lions. They wanted it rewritten to say how great England were, and they wanted to get England\u2019s players to sing about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, the trio stuck to their guns and the FA, in Broudie\u2019s words, \u201creluctantly\u201d released the single. It took off immediately. The songwriter had approached Skinner and Baddiel to write its lyrics as he was a fan of their cult BBC2 show Fantasy Football.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Ian<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/p>\n

The song was almost never released because the FA wanted something more “triumphant” (Image: Shirlaine Forrest\/ Getty)<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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\u201cFrank and David are proper football fans,\u201d explains Liverpool supporter Broudie, 65. \u201cThey understood what Three Lions should be about. Football fans suffer more than we celebrate, and that\u2019s what Three Lions captures. I wanted it to be like You\u2019ll Never Walk Alone is to Liverpool fans, about a shared sentiment that\u2019s not just \u2018We\u2019re the greatest.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The comedians\u2019 singing has been mocked over the years, but Broudie insists: \u201cTheir voices are perfect for the song. They sound like fans. As much as I love Whitney Houston, I wouldn\u2019t want to hear her sing a football song. A voice that perfect just doesn\u2019t fit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once Three Lions echoed around the grounds, the FA wanted in. Broudie laughs: \u201cI\u2019ve seen the guy from the FA who tried to get us to change it say, \u2018Oh yeah, Three Lions was my idea.\u2019 That just makes me laugh.\u201d Despite being proud of the song\u2019s resonance with fans, for years Broudie refused to perform it at Lightning Seeds shows. It was only recently, when it was revived again for the Euro 2020 tournament held in England, that the singer realised what it meant.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    Broudie explains: \u201cThree Lions is everyone else\u2019s song, not mine. And that\u2019s great. I\u2019ve always been very grateful for Three Lions. I\u2019m glad I did it, but it comes with a lot of baggage. For a long time, it overshadowed The Lightning Seeds. It doesn\u2019t really fit with the rest of my songs. I don\u2019t play it at every gig and, when we do it, it\u2019s at the very end \u2013 it\u2019s slightly separate. But don\u2019t get me wrong, I\u2019m very happy with Three Lions.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Broudie\u2019s complicated relationship with his biggest song echoes his complex attitude to his career in general. The Lighting Seeds is effectively a solo project for the songwriter. Throughout the 1980s, he was a successful producer for post-punk bands including Echo And The Bunnymen and The Fall. He began recording as The Lightning Seeds rather than under his own name because he dreamed of finding the right singer.<\/p>\n

    \u201cI wanted to be the guitarist, part of a Lennon and McCartney-type partnership, but I never found my Lennon,\u201d ponders Broudie, whose hits include Pure, The Life Of Riley and Marvellous. \u201cThe line-up of The Lightning Seeds has been stable for a while, and they\u2019re great musicians. It\u2019s only because they\u2019re so good that my fear about being the singer has gone. I\u2019m hardly Freddie Mercury, but I\u2019ve now learned to enjoy the experience of being the frontman at our gigs.\u201d<\/p>\n

    The closest Broudie came to finding his ideal singer was with Terry Hall, frontman of ska legends The Specials. The two regularly wrote songs together before Hall\u2019s death from cancer last year and Broudie reveals: \u201cNot long before Terry\u2019s death, we spoke about making an album together, that it was finally the moment for us to do a project. We were close and we always worked well together. I\u2019d love to have done that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    The two friends shared an uncompromising attitude. Although Broudie is friendly and shows a ready self-deprecating humour during our interview, he\u2019s been viewed as difficult in the music industry \u2013 which was brought home when the infamously difficult Hall told Broudie: \u201cYour problem is that you\u2019re awkward.\u201d Broudie grins: \u201cWhen Terry Hall calls you awkward, you\u2019re definitely awkward. Terry saying that, it was like I was top of the awkward league.\u201d<\/p>\n

    That awkwardness was brought home when Broudie botched the chance to write songs with George Michael. They were brought together by a mutual friend, music business exec Dick Leahy, to discuss collaborating over lunch. It didn\u2019t go well. Broudie recalls: \u201cAs a producer, I\u2019d been having a difficult time with a band where there were a lot of drugs in the studio. I blurted out to George, \u2018I just don\u2019t think I want to work with someone who\u2019s stoned all the time\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Michael was known for smoking cannabis and naturally took offence. Broudie continues: \u201cI sometimes lack a filter, and I was so wrapped up with what was going on producing this other band, I didn\u2019t think anything of what I said to George. It was only when I was thinking about stories for my book that I realised how stupid I\u2019d been.<\/p>\n

    \u201cI\u2019m sure I could have told Dick a week later, \u2018Sorry, I didn\u2019t mean anything bad against George\u2019 and set up another meeting. But it took me the 20 years since that lunch to realise, \u2018What a stupid thing to say.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    \"The<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/p>\n

    The song reached No.1 on four separate occasions: twice in 1996, and in 1998 and 2018 (Image: Jeff Spicer\/ Getty)<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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    The lunch occurred when Broudie was going through a tough time.<\/p>\n

    In the space of a few years, both his parents and two of his siblings died. He also endured the end of his long marriage to wife Becky \u2013 the inspiration for songs including Pure. It resulted in Broudie\u2019s songs drying up, with a 13-year wait between albums until last year\u2019s comeback with the typically infectious See You In The Stars.<\/p>\n

    \u201cEveryone has these hard times in their life,\u201d he reflects today. \u201cI\u2019m aware what I went through was no different to most people. The effect on me as a songwriter was strange, though.<\/p>\n

    \u201cWhen you write songs, you delve into yourself all the time. But every time I tried to do that, what I came up with didn\u2019t sound like The Lightning Seeds. I just couldn\u2019t get back to that place.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    \"Tomorrow's<\/source><\/source><\/picture>There was a 13 year wait between albums [ ]<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    Broudie\u2019s creative rebirth is helped by being managed by his son Riley \u2013 the boy celebrated in The Life Of Riley. Riley also plays guitar in The Lightning Seeds.<\/p>\n

    Proud dad Broudie beams: \u201cThroughout my career, I fumbled from one thing to another and never had a plan. Riley is brighter than me and sees things more clearly. He\u2019s given me clarity and direction.<\/p>\n

    \u201cBut as he\u2019s my son, I can\u2019t get away with anything. He tells me exactly what he thinks, and I know he\u2019s always got our best interests at heart. It means that right now is the best period I\u2019ve ever had.\u201d<\/p>\n

    It took a long time and a lot of hardships to get there but, finally, The Lightning Seeds are coming home.<\/p>\n

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    • Tomorrow\u2019s Here Today: Lightning Seeds, Football and Cosmic Post-Punk by Ian Broudie (Nine Eight Books, \u00a322) is out now. Visit expressbookshop.com or call 020 3176 3832. Free UK P&P on orders over \u00a325<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n[ad_2]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      [ad_1] \u201cFootball\u2019s coming home\u201d has been a ubiquitous chant at England stadiums (Image: ) The ultimate football terrace anthem, Three Lions and its infectious chorus of \u201cFootball\u2019s coming home\u201d has been a ubiquitous chant at stadiums throughout the country ever since its release for the Euro 96 tournament held in England. Made by The Lightning …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10950,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[766],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10948"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}