You’ve probably heard “it’s coming home” repeated time after time now along with the events of this year’s World Cup, and you’ve either been saying it yourself, or you’re already sick to death of it.
Well, if it’s the latter, then I’m afraid we have some rather bad news for you, as the song itself “Three Lions” looks as though it’s going to go to number ONE in the charts. So you may be hearing “it’s coming home” for a while until it’s no longer number one, or at least until the World Cup is over, or perhaps forever if England win the World Cup on Sunday,
The song, written by The Lightning Seeds and comedians Frank Skinner and David Baddiel which was streamed and downloaded massively over the weekend after England’s win over lacklustre Sweden side by two goal to nil. The Official Charts Company says the song has taken over a 30% lead over its nearest rival “Shotgun” by George Ezra.
It’s famous line “football’s coming home” has been revived as England have progressed through the World Cup. However, its popularity rose even more after England progressed to the Semi-Finals.
After the Sweden match, the song topped the iTunes download chart and was streamed 701,000 times on Spotify. In total, it accumulated 24,000 downloads and 2.6 million streams since last Friday, when the song originally re-entered the top 40.
Bobby Moore lifts the World Cup in England 1966. Source: The Telegraph
Along with “Three Lions”, other football songs are also on course to reappear in the top 40, such as Fat Les’ “Vindaloo” at 28 and New Order’s “World In Motion” at 34. England has gone football mad again and probably no more so than right now.
Despite soon being replaced in the number one spot, even George Ezra urged fans to ensure the song ends his chart domination and is replaced with Frank Skinner and David Baddiel’s “it’s coming home” jingle.
“Thanks to you lovely people, Shotgun has been number one for two weeks running,” The singer stated. “Of course that is amazing. But I think it’s time we knock it off the number one spot with Three Lions.”
He also posted a short video on Twitter, urging fans to retweet the post to “knock Shotgun off number one with Three Lions”
🚨THIS IS NOT A DRILL 🚨RT & SHARE. LET’S KNOCK SHOTGUN OFF NUMBER ONE WITH THREE LIONS 🦁🦁🦁
— george E Z R A ()
Chart analyst James Masterton told the BBC that British people have a “proud history of sending songs flying up the charts in spontaneous outpourings of joy.”
“Witness the way Ant and Dec ended up at the top of the charts five years ago after doing ‘Let’s Get Ready To Rhumble’ on TV” he continued. “It seems only right that we’ve rediscovered a love of “Three Lions” at the same moment we are all rallying behind the England team. Music and football are the two things which unite us all, it appears.”
Also talking about the football hit, David Baddiel told The Sun that the song’s lyrics had been re-planned by England’s unexpected success in Russia.
Ian Broudie of The Lightening Seeds with comedians Frank Skinner and David Baddiel. Credit: The Independent
“When we wrote the song, the refrain ‘football’s coming home’ referred both to the fact the tournament was being held in England, and to the more mystical idea that we might win.”
“But now the song seems to mean only ‘we might win’, and as [last] week went on, and the jubilation rose, ‘Yes, we are going to win’.”
So, what do you think of “Three Lions” possibly becoming number one in the charts? Will you be chanting along, or will you covering your ears instead? Please tell us what you think in the comments section, “is it coming home?”
Story by Emily Clark
Featured Photo Credit: ShortList