Those of you who know me already know how I feel about this topic. Without a doubt, 1990's "World in Motion" by New Order (rebadged as England New Order in support of their home side) is not just the best World Cup Anthem of all time, but the only one you can actually listen to. There's nothing not to like about it, unless - like me - you stumble upon the myriad occasions when John Barnes performs his rap. He's apparently willing to do it anywhere, anytime. Here he is at Mark Wright's 50th birthday party:
And here he is in a tight bathing suit sitting poolside last month in Dubai. No joke -- someone with a camera asked him to rap, and he obliged.
Barnes may be a good sport, but that's just embarrassing for everyone involved.
But even that's not as bad as Germany's 1994 effort -- the one that enlisted the Village People to sing about all the great things that happen in America, where that year's Cup was held.
At least that has kitschy charm. And if Juergen Klinsmann succeeds with the USA team, the song and video can be forgiven.
The songs that deserve the title of worst World Cup anthem ever are the typical run-of-the-mill dreck that the corporate entities try to feed us. Take "We Are One (Ole Ola)", this year's collaboration between Pitbull and Jennifer Lopez.
Pure garbage. Ditto for 2010's "Waka Waka" by Shakira.
I much prefer this year's "England's Heartbeat" by Shuttleworth featuring Mark E. Smith of The Fall. It sounds promising....
But no. And then there was this 1998's official England anthem "(How Does it Feel) To Be on Top of the World" featuring the ill-conceived pairing of the Spice Girls and Echo and the Bunnymen.
What were they thinking?
This was a well though out post. I thought I remembered Robbie Williams having some sort of World Cup Anthem. I also found another link doing much of the same: http://metro.co.uk/2014/06/09/worst-world-cup-official-anthems-england-germany-usa-and-scotland-battle-it-out-for-the-prize-4754989/
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