You may or may not be aware of the songwriting pedigree of ex Radio 1 DJ Mike Read, who in his time, has penned numbers for the Gibb brothers and Brian Wilson amongst others. The ex-jock's pedigree makes this an 'official' unofficial World Cup 2006 release.
His latest music project sees the bringing together of DEAD POETS SOCIETY who, fronted by young singer Elliot Frisby, have streamlined the work of several poets in order to come up with “A real fan’s record……..perfect for the English army of the football terraces to sing out loud and proud!”
I should say not! Despite plagiarism from the W.E. Henley poem from which the song takes its name, we sadly find that words are not enough.
Blaring along like some kind of automated karaoke nightmare, this will no doubt find favour with someone, somewhere, but to me this is just a sad sign of the times. The beautiful game itself has long since played hook, line and sinker into the hands of the marketing experts, and that is what this release symbolises to me.
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As a terrace chant, it falls way short of the mark. The aim is to take it to the bridge in an ‘Abide with me’ style that is part hymn-part anthem, but the laminated production renders the whole thing sterile. It is impossible to assess the levels of ability of any of the musicians, and the over-pompous bugle salutes merely add to the irritation.
Could you imagine this on the terraces?
www.myenglandsong.com
www.mike-read.com
www.elliottfrisby.com
www.scottmore.com
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