
Almost like the World Cup itself, there are 30 England World Cup songs (count ‘em) currently vying for glory and a place in history. Sometimes those songs, in aiming for the sky, land somewhere among the stars. New Order’s World In Motion and The Lightning Seeds’ Three Lions, are remembered years after the memory of missed penalties has faded. These songs triumph because they are great songs in their own right. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case with Sing It For England.
Young Stanley are five builders from Bromley with a brass section, and they’re not afraid to use it. “Will it be a 4-4-2, that brings the trophy home to you?” it goes. UK Music has no doubt Young Stanley are a great bunch of lads, but Sing It For England is too formulaic musically, and earnest lyrically to lift itself above the standard pub rock platitudes of “long walks home disappointed.” In short, it can’t be boomed from the terraces, and that’s what this is all about. It’s a pity it never gets out of third gear. The b-side, Take Me Home is a fine song though. As British as a t-shirt suntan, it’s like Billy Bragg at his most wistful and will leave a smile on your face long after Owen Hargreaves has put his penalty over the bar against Germany.
Words By: Alex Donohue