Help me make my soccer themed CD mix.

November 17, 2006 8:05 AM

Help me put together a CD mix of songs that make reference to football (soccer for the yanks) or football clubs. I don't want inane fan club songs sung by players. I'm looking for songs by known musicians, preferably but not necessarily with a rock bent. I can think of a Cristy McColl song in which the line "England 2, Columbia 0" is repeated, and there's the Rod Stewart song where "Celtic and United" are mentioned. There's the Scottish folk song, "Football Crazy, Football Daft." What else is out there?
posted by TheManticore to media & arts (45 comments total)

Is New Order - 'World In Motion' along the right lines?
posted by samstarling at 8:08 AM on November 17, 2006

How bout Billy Bragg Moving the Goalposts
posted by terrortubby at 8:10 AM on November 17, 2006

The Lightning Seeds - Football's Coming Home?

I'm a yank, but I like that song. I'm totally not in the know on football culture, though.
posted by sian at 8:12 AM on November 17, 2006

and Billy Bragg's God's Footballer
posted by terrortubby at 8:12 AM on November 17, 2006

er, the name of the song is of course, "Three Lions". my bad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QIAv2EoIP0
posted by sian at 8:13 AM on November 17, 2006

i thought the lightning seeds' sond was called "three lions".

die toten hosen do a song called "fc bayern" about how much bayen sucks. there's also a german comp about fc st. pauli that features real bands like turbonegro and terrogruppe. it's called der fc st. pauli ist schuld dass ich so bin.

fat les is real-ish? "vindaloo" is pretty good. unfortunately all i can think of are england songs.
posted by kendrak at 8:18 AM on November 17, 2006

The Fall - Sparta FC
Baddiel & Skinner (and the Lighting Seeds) - Three Lions
posted by afx237vi at 8:20 AM on November 17, 2006

Collapsed Lung - Eat My Goal
posted by EndsOfInvention at 8:21 AM on November 17, 2006

Half Man Half Biscuit - All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit

(Alright, the lyrics don't mention football, but the title is good.)
posted by afx237vi at 8:23 AM on November 17, 2006

Belle & Sebastian - I Don't Want to Play Football
posted by terrortubby at 8:27 AM on November 17, 2006

Another from Billy Bragg - Sexuality - 'I had an uncle who once played for Red Star Belgrade'
posted by azlondon at 8:28 AM on November 17, 2006

Bouncing Souls - Ole.

I seem to recall a similar question that was asked around World Cup time, where I gave a similar answer.
posted by Otis at 8:28 AM on November 17, 2006

air miami - world cup fever
posted by noloveforned at 8:33 AM on November 17, 2006

Here it is.
posted by Otis at 8:33 AM on November 17, 2006

oh, and the belle & sebastian song is about american football. lyrics are here
posted by noloveforned at 8:34 AM on November 17, 2006

Here's a really moldy oldie I remember from my youth, "Nice One Cyril" by the Cockerel Chorus from the early '70's
Tottenham's impressive musical repertoire was strengthened further by the very successful and catchy "Nice One Cyril" by the Cockerel Chorus, which peaked at 14 in the charts, although all this success was not mirrored on the pitch..

Other than that maybe check out the famous cockney duo of Chas and Dave as I seem to recall they made a few football-themed records.
posted by 543DoublePlay at 8:35 AM on November 17, 2006

But of course neither of those I mentioned could possibly fall under the heading of "known musicians"......
posted by 543DoublePlay at 8:37 AM on November 17, 2006

DC-based Barcelona - Kasey Keller.

It's available as a download from Insound.
posted by god hates math at 8:41 AM on November 17, 2006

Barcelona's "Kasey Keller" is about the American goalkeeper of the same name. More football songs here.
posted by jjg at 8:42 AM on November 17, 2006

Stereophonics - "As Long As We Beat the English"
posted by Robot Johnny at 8:42 AM on November 17, 2006

"The Sporting Life," The Decemberists
posted by adipocere at 8:42 AM on November 17, 2006

Joxer Goes To Stuttgart by Christy Moore.
posted by Hartster at 8:45 AM on November 17, 2006

In Billy Bragg's "Greetings to the New Brunette", he asks:
How can you lie back and think of England
When you don't even know who's in the team, and it's a fair bet that he's talking about the football team (the video backs this up, IIRC)
Belle and Sebastian do make a reference to playing football in "Another Sunny Day":
...pick elevn fo football/We're playing for our lives, the referee gives us fuck-all.
Both fleeting references, I know, but references nonetheless.
posted by bunglin jones at 8:48 AM on November 17, 2006

Please, 543DP, Chas and Dave are the bestest. Perhaps 'Ossie's Song' bout Spurs going to Wembley doesn't really count, but classics like Gertcha and That's What I Like are full on football referencing rockney wonderment -

taking my dad for a pint or two
on a Sunday morning stroll
licorice pipes and baggy suits
Glen Hoddle scoring a goal

That's what I like.
posted by einekleine at 8:54 AM on November 17, 2006

Obscure, but the first time many Yanks (such as myself) heard the action at a British 'football' game -- the end of "Fearless" on Pink Floyd's "Meddle" gradually fades into a crowd of fans somewhere singing "You'll Never Walk Alone".
posted by Rash at 9:09 AM on November 17, 2006

Bouncing Souls - Ole


Bouncing souls: no one can beat us
we drink beer and wear adidas.
Anywhere we get the itch
we're off to find a proper pitch.
Lace your sambas get on out
off we go to kick it about
posted by chrisamiller at 9:16 AM on November 17, 2006

Goal by Depth Charge last.fm.
posted by handee at 9:32 AM on November 17, 2006

How did I forget Black Grape's "England's Irie"?:
Raise a glass, a perfect pass,
and dribble around my socks
Check my shirt and drink my shots
And squeeze me in the box
It's a digital football thing,
It's a football thing
I live in a land of class hypocracy,
We're going to win the National Lottery,
E I Adio, I don't think so
posted by bunglin jones at 9:34 AM on November 17, 2006

I don't know if you consider this a "known" band, but... Slade "Give Us A Goal" (1978)
posted by bda1972 at 10:05 AM on November 17, 2006

Oasis -- "Round Are Way" (sic)... one of the verses is about playing football in the park with your friends.
posted by modernnomad at 10:52 AM on November 17, 2006

It's kinda sad, but Jim Noir's "Eanie Meany" was the first thing to come to mind. Damn that World Cup marketing bombardment!
posted by terrapin at 10:56 AM on November 17, 2006

Ah, the 1998 World Cup. England fans had the Lightning Seeds and 'Vindaloo' by Fat Les.

Scotland? "Don't come home too soon", sang Del Amitri.

Fat chance.
posted by genghis at 10:57 AM on November 17, 2006

The name of the Housemartins' album "London 0, Hull 4" seems to be related to football. At least it's in the form of a scoreline.
posted by mikel at 11:20 AM on November 17, 2006

the end of "Fearless" on Pink Floyd's "Meddle" gradually fades into a crowd of fans somewhere singing "You'll Never Walk Alone"

Liverpool fans and Celtic fans (you tube) sing this. Along with some others, apparently. It sounds good when the fans do it, but the original Rogers and Hammerstein recording is slightly mawkish.

The bloc party song 'Waiting for the 7:18' contains the line 'can still kick a ball a hundred yards'. It's an oblique reference, admittedly, but a good song.

Also: Ten Songs with Football in the Title.
posted by Robot Rowboat at 11:46 AM on November 17, 2006

I can't believe no one has mentioned Copa de la Vida. Ricky Martin goodness. I've yet to hear a poor cover of this song, too. Actually, I have one cover I like even better than the original.
posted by frecklefaerie at 11:54 AM on November 17, 2006

Cockney Rejects - War on the Terraces
posted by DieHipsterDie at 12:10 PM on November 17, 2006

DieHipsterDie is right on. Weren't there a million soccer-obsessed punk & oi bands from the late '70s/early '80s? Besides Cockney Rejects, Sham 69, Angelic Upstarts, Cocksparrer and Macc Lads all come to mind.
posted by huskerdont at 1:34 PM on November 17, 2006

To add a bit of silliness, how about Football from Neil Innes & Eric Idle. Couldn't find an MP3, but it's from the Rutles album Rutland Weekend Songbook.
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 1:47 PM on November 17, 2006

Musica de Futebol is a fantastic collection of Brazilian football music put together by a British label. It includes Mas que nada, Filho Maravilho and Ponta de Lanca Africana and is interspersed with some classic "Gooooooooooollllllllll!!!!!!!!!s" Highly recommended if you are looking for some international flavour.
posted by sagwalla at 2:39 PM on November 17, 2006

All Kinds of Time by Fountains of Wayne is about American football -- specifically, what the quarterback thinks while he has the ball, before he throws it.
posted by LobsterMitten at 4:38 PM on November 17, 2006

Del Amitri - Don't Come Home Too Soon was Scotland's WC theme song a few years back.

and I know it goes against the team singing you wanted, but Far Away in America was the German team with the Village People.
posted by vagabond at 4:41 PM on November 17, 2006

sagwalla mentioned Ponta de Lanca Africano, also known as Umbabarauma by Jorge Ben. Lyrics are in Portuguese. You may have heard it on one of the Intel commercials.
posted by forrest at 6:26 PM on November 17, 2006

More Billy Bragg - The Girl Done Good is full of football references.
posted by andraste at 11:39 PM on November 18, 2006

Erm, that's The Boy Done Good. Gendermixup!
posted by andraste at 11:41 PM on November 18, 2006

Obscure, not sure where you'd get it from, but the Sultans of Ping, back in the days when they were called the Sultans of Ping FC, had a song called "Give him a ball and a yard of grass" dedicated to the then Nottingham Forest player Nigel Clough.

"Give him a ball and a yard of grass/
He'll give you a move and a perfect pass/
Give him a ball and a yard of space/
He'll give you a move with double the grace"

Quality.
posted by csg77 at 4:30 PM on November 21, 2006