The thrill of anticipation is building to fever pitch as we prepare to shout the boys to victory tomorrow against those Yankie upstarts*. I was surprised to realise this morning that this... FOOTBALL... is making me happy! Wow, I never thought I was this much of a fan, but I can't wait for the match. I've got the beers in, the crisps and dips. I've downloaded the music and danced around the kitchen to Dizzee Rascal. I would have been yelling "come and have a go if you think you're hard enough" had I not got a sore throat. I will save my voice for tomorrow in anticipation of shouting at the referee when I suddenly become a football pundit.
* with apologies to my 'Yankee' friends and readers!!
Thinking about it, this does tend to happen to me every four years or so. It would have been two years had England not managed to fail to qualify for the Euros... Shame on you boys... Shame....
I remember back in my student days... Italia '90. I lived in a house with three boys and two other girls. Worried there might be fights over the TV, the one of the lads borrowed an extra telly so we could watch girlie flicks upstairs while the boys tended to important matters. But he needn't have bothered. We were all glued to every game. Our house became the place to watch the matches with bodies crammed onto sofas and squished into gaps on the carpet. Beer was spilt, crisps trodden into the carpet but no one noticed. All eyes on the game...
Remember when David Platt scored in the last minute of extra time in the 4th round against Belgium taking our boys through to the quarter finals? The entire room lifted into the air in an eruption of unbridalled joy. It was like being in a mosh pit. Victory was ours for the taking and we took it. As one, around 25 drunk patriots headed over the road to the pub to have some more beer!
And here's what has been putting me in the mood this week. Second time I've shared it on my blog... Well, why not I say? Why not? As much as it's a song for the footie, I think it's also an unashamed celebration of being English - something we don't do enough of in this country!
"Shout"
by Dizzee Rascal and James Corden
DIZZEE: Come on England we need to sort it out,
Put the champs down,
Pull your finger out,
Leave the wags alone,
Set aside your ego,
We're tired of bragging about 40 odd years ago,
We need a victory, quick, fast,
Tired of getting a kick - oi!,
World cup 2010,
Don't wanna see ya slip past,
Think about the future,
Surely it's the right time,
I wanna see you win it in my lifetime,
1966 Bobby Moore and that Geogg Hurst put it to the turf - we applauded that,
There was no ignoring that,
Nobody could stop him,
I gotta myself an England shirt I'm gonna rock it,
Cos there's so much to play for,
But we've got to come together [Ay oh, ay oh, ay oh, ay oh],
You know we've got to come together now [Ay oh, ay oh, ay oh, ay oh],
1... 2... 3... Everybody sing
JAMES AND ENGLAND: Shout, Shout, let it all out,
Come on England!!!
These are the things I could do without,
Come on,
I'm talking to you - come on,
Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough!
Ay oh, ay oh, ay oh, ay oh
And all the people sing
Ay oh, ay oh, ay oh, ay oh
Come on England!!!
DIZZEE: Pull your socks up let's get physical,
We need team work - we don't need a miracle,
We need Rooney iin tip top condition,
Aaron Lennon down the wing like he's on a mission,
It ain't no superstition, its not a luck thing,
Rio Ferdinand nobody can !@$% With him!,
Hope we get stuck in, on't get caught out,
And stop trying to hog the ball,
Knock the ball about,
So much to play for
But we've got to come together [Ay oh, ay oh, ay oh, ay oh],
1... 2... 3... Everybody sing
JAMES AND ENGLAND: Shout, Shout, let it all out,
Come on England!!!
These are the things I could do without,
Come on,
I'm talking to you - come on,
Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough!
(COMMENTARY: Steven Gerrard with the shot,
It's in the net for England,
Well there's been some doubts,
But those doubts have been swept away now And England are heading for South Africa.)
JAMES: Shout, shout, let it all out,
These are the things I could do without,
Come on,
I'm talking to you - come on [England... England... England... England... ]
Come and have a go if you thing you're hard enough!
JAMES AND ENGLAND: Shout, shout, let it all out,
[Ay oh, ay oh, ay oh, ay oh]
Come on England!!!
[Ay oh, ay oh, ay oh, ay oh]
These are the things I could do without Come on,
I'm talking to you - come on
Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough!
En-ger-land!!! En-ger-land!!! En-ger-land!!!