Baddiel, Skinner and The Lightning Seeds release new festive version of ‘Three Lions’
David Baddiel, Frank Skinner and The Lightning Seeds have released a new version of their classic football anthem – listen to ‘Three Lions (It’s Coming Home for Christmas)’ below.
The original song – titled ‘Three Lions (Football’s Coming Home)’ – was recorded ahead of England hosting the Euro ’96 tournament more than 25 years ago. A subsequent updated version then came out to mark the 1998 World Cup in France.
‘Three Lions’ has since become the defining tune of the England team in every major tournament.
This summer, The Lightning Seeds and Baddiel delivered a special performance of the track celebrate the England women’s team reaching the Women’s Euro final. The Lionesses later belted out the song at a press conference following their victory over Germany.
Today (November 18) sees the arrival of ‘Three Lions (It’s Coming Home for Christmas)’ to mark the start of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar this Sunday (November 20).
Baddiel, Skinner and The Lightning Seeds revisited the iconic tune having been inspired by the England women’s team huge Euros win. At the start of the festive reimagining, we hear a snippet of the Lionesses’ impromptu rendition from this year.
The lyrics also nod to the women’s success, with Skinner singing: “Loving that Lionesses win/ But thoughts of last year’s final kick in/ And Moscow/ And Turin/ The blokes seem cursed.”
Elsewhere, there are numerous festive references and a children’s choir. “Three Lions on a Sleigh/ Yule Rimet still gleaming/ A football Christmas song/ Not at all demeaning,” one of the choruses goes.
In a statement, Baddiel said: “At last it’s between me and Mariah Carey for who really is the voice of Christmas.”
Skinner added: “We just had to do it. Christmas World Cup songs are not like buses. If we’d let this opportunity pull away, it would have been a very long wait for the next one.”
In the official music video, Sir Geoff Hurst swaps his England kit for a Santa Suit; Lionesses Jess Carter and Beth England recreate their victory dance; while Baddiel, Skinner and The Lightning Seeds decorate the tree. Tune in above.
Fans can also purchase ‘Three Lions (It’s Coming Home for Christmas)’ on a signed limited edition white vinyl, standard 7″ vinyl, cassette, and CD single – you can order here.
David Baddiel previously said that his football classic with Frank Skinner and The Lightning Seeds could be “put to bed” after the England Women’s team’s Euro 2022 win.
England’s first 2022 World Cup game is against Iran on Monday (November 21) before they face USA next Friday (November 25).
Earlier this month, England manager Gareth Southgate promised that his players will speak out about human rights abuses in host nation Qatar during the tournament.
“We have always spoken about issues we think should be talked about, particularly the ones we feel we can affect,” he said.
“Regarding the LGBT community, we stand for inclusivity and we are very, very strong on that. We think that is important in terms of all our supporters.”
The post Baddiel, Skinner and The Lightning Seeds release new festive version of ‘Three Lions’ appeared first on NME.
Tom Skinner
NME
