The Olympics are nigh and there are no less than five pop songs commissioned to mark the occasion but do songwriters normally pen tunes about sport?
News that the famous Vangelis’ tune Chariots of Fire has been remixed no less than five times for the London Olympics should put an extra pep in the step of competitors at this year’s games. That rousing refrain of tschss, tschss, tschss. dah, dah with big booming synth bit was originally the soundtrack to the noble exploits of British medal hopefuls at the 1924 Paris Olympics and it’s good to see it make a comeback.
Inspirational stuff for sure and for the London games (which start tomorrow, right?) there are five different versions to be used during the medal ceremonies. Jolly good show and all that and while we don’t doubt that British and possibly Irish athletes will be humming “tschss, tschss, tcshss. dah, dah with big booming synth bit” as they comet around the track over in London, there are also five separate and original songs being released to commemorate the whole sporting event.
It’s all part of the Rock the Games music program and the acts and songs are The Chemical Brothers with Theme for Veldodrome, Delphic (remember them? Anybody?) with Good Life, Dizzee Rascal with Scream, Elton John vs. Pnau's with Good Morning to the Light, and good old bonkers Muse with Survival.
So that’s the music sorted but other than that lot, there isn’t a hell of a lot to choose from when it comes to pop stars banging on about sport. There are plenty of (mostly dire) footie anthems commissioned for championship tournaments and a worrying amount of tunes penned in honour of baseball, the most boring sport ever.
Then there are the songs played over stadium speakers to get fans pumped up for action – in America they dig the truly objectionable Nothing’s Going to Stop Us by Starship while, in sharp contrast, Gerry and The Pacemakers’ version of You’ll Never Walk Alone is a lump-in-the-throat moment every time for Liverpool fans. The Irish, meanwhile, have adopted The Fields of Athenry – a cheerful little ditty about being transported to Botany Bay during The Famine – as our unofficial terrace anthem
Maybe I’m missing something (I’m not a sports fan, sports fans) but other than that lot, have today’s singers ever had much to say about sport or will love, bling, love of bling and nights on the town always be the main concern for pop stars?
Plenty of rappers have name checked basketball and baseball players in their songs although never to the same brilliant effect as that Joe DiMaggio line in Mrs Robinson. House of Pain dropped John McEnroe’s name in Jump Around while boxing does get a good look in with LL Cool J’s peerless Mama Said Knock You Out and Bob Dylan’s Hurricane. And why not? Wasn’t Mohammad Ali the world’s first rapper?
Hotrod racing is also a fine subject for a debauched rock tune as Ministry proved with Jesus Build My Hot Rod. Today’s rock stars play a lot of golf but do you know many songs about teeing off? Director Gus Van Sant did release a whole album of songs about wasting a good walk but we don’t think Tennis by Chris Rea was actually a concept album about tennis.
What we really want to hear is this - One Direction’s thoughts on archery, Katy Perry on synchronised swimming, and Florence Welch on rhythmic gymnastics. All of this would be infinitely better than the usual guff they bang on about, especially Florence who wins gold in the world bellowing marathon every time.
Anyway, my favourite songs about sport are The Distance by Cake, Johnny Cash doing Campdown Races, and Centerfield by John Fogarty. Other than Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé’s Barcelona back in 1992 and this year's slew of new tunes, official Olympic Games songs have been pretty poor but what we’d like to know is why nobody in the Olympics committee has ever thought to use Peter Gabriel’s brilliant commentary on the dangers of nationalism, Games Without Frontiers?
Alan Corr
