With the Cup just three days away, here are three songs for you to hum. Sing them at home, in sports bars, or if the boss permits, in office.
The fans don’t chant for nothing, you know. Here are 3 songs you might want to learn.
MUMBAI: During the last World Cup, I had a couple of Brazil enthusiasts say to me, “When Ronaldo scored the second goal against Germany, we broke into an impromptu rendition of ‘We are the champions, my friend’. It was magical.”
Agreed the Queen classic may be one of the best sports songs ever written but hey, all I did when Ronaldo beat the player of the tournament, Oliver Kahn, was scream ‘aaaaaaaaaaa…’ till I ran out of breath. I mean, how can you think of a song at that moment? It’s the simple ‘aaaaaa…’ (it might be yaaaaaaaa or waaaaaa or any other primitive babble talk) that’s most, well, ‘magical’.
But all the babble aside, the sport wouldn’t be the same without music. Fifa realised that only too soon. Since the 1966 World Cup, the tournament has had an official song. In ’66 it was ‘World Cup Willie’, a song about the first official mascot (a lion). These songs need not go on to become the most popular sport song, yet they are remembered for being part of this mega event. The 1998 WC wouldn’t be the same without the hip-gyrating Ricky Martin number ‘Cup of Life’.
So, ladies, gentlemen and children of all ages, with the Cup just three days away, here are three songs for you to hum. Sing them at home, in sports bars, or if the boss permits, in office.
We are the champions
- You have to know this immortal sports anthem by Queen. It is generally sung during the trophy presentation to the winning team. You needn’t necessarily know the entire song — just the last four lines will do. And the slow rendition sounds better if you are drunk and singing in a gruffy voice. So here goes…
‘We are the champions, my friend
And we’ll keep on fighting till the end
We are the champions, We are the champions
No time for losers, ‘cos we are the champions’
We will, we will rock you
- Ok, we aren’t doing a Queen special. But you can’t ignore this number. We’ve been singing it ever since we were kids. The stomping of the board and the clap of the hands add to the addiction of this song. So getting clapping people…
‘Buddy you’re a boy make a big noise
Playing in the street gonna be a big man some day
You got mud on yo’ face, you big disgrace
Kicking your can all over the place
Singing
We will we will rock you
We will we will rock you’
Baar baar haan (from Lagaan)
- We can’t leave out the Indian flavour, can we? Agreed the song is associated with cricket, but it’s motivating enough and sure gets the adrenalin going...
Baar baar haan, bolo yaar haan, Apni jeet ho, unki haar haan
Koi humse jeet na paave
Chale chalo, chale chalo
Mit jaave jo takraave, chale chalo
Bhale ghor andheraa chhaave
Chale chalo, chale chalo
Koi raah mein na thaam jaawe, chale chalo
Toot gayi jo ungli utthi
Paanchon mili to ban gaye mutthi
Eka badhta hi jaawe
Chale chalo, chale chalo
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