Talk:Three Lions (song)

Official Song?
Greetings. A Dutch band called Hermes House Band in their 2004 album "Get Ready for Party" recorded a cover of the Three Lions with a different lyrics. This is the video of the song direction []--Nekko09 (talk) 04:23, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

I made the bold claim that Three Lions was not the official song of Euro 96 (essentially from memory), although the evidence around on the net seems slightly contradictory. Is it possible that it was the offical song of the England team, while the tournament had Simply Red as its offical song?

Relevant pages I found are:


 * http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/436689.stm
 * http://www.lightning-seeds.co.uk/biography.htm (navigate to page 7)
 * http://www.simplyredshop.com/shop/product.php?productid=16300&cat=0&page=1
 * http://www.everyhit.com/football/

--RitKill 19:32, 7 June 2006 (UTC)


 * There is a difference between a teams official song and that of the tournament. The tournament song in 1996 was by Simply Red, but Three Lions was definitely' the official song of the England team in '96. This can be verified by a simple look at its cover - not only does it state that it was the official England team song, but it uses the FA-trademarked "Three Lions" badge, which Baddiel/Skinner/etc wouldn't have been allowed to otherwise use (indeed, they couldn't use it for the cover of Three Lions '98, but the badge did appear on the official Ian McCulloch/Spice Girls record). Seb Patrick 15:51, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

"We'll go on getting bad results"
Is that really Motson? I always thought it was Jimmy Hill... Angmering 21:52, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

It certainly sounds like Motson to me.. although my mom thinks it's Hill..


 * My memory may be failing me here &mdash; it's been ten years, after all! &mdash; but in the video aren't they watching the various pundits say these things on TV at the start? Could someone who's seen the video confirm whether it's Hill or Motson? (If indeed the video does run as I vaguely remember it). Angmering 19:54, 21 June 2006 (UTC)


 * Since the very first time I heard it I've thought it was Des Lynam. --Ross UK 04:40, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

It's definitely Jimmy Hill, Motson is a commentator not a pundit and probably wouldn't say that kind of thing anyway. However with regard to the video, there is a bit with Jimmy Hill and other pundits but that isn't sync'd to the thr bit with the words "We'll go on getting bad results". Jooler 12:38, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

Not it's not Motson. But I don't think it Hill. I agree with Ross UK, there's never been any question in my mind that it's Lynam.--Buc 16:03, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

I don't think it's Lynam - the one that Trevor Brooking says sounds more like Lynam to me 62.30.77.61 13:43, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

2006
I know for a fact that this was played in Germany, i was in Munich when England defeated Ecuador, saw this being played by the offical fan fest band.

Myabe some mention of it in the aritcle


 * it was very popular here in Germany last year. At our Uni cafeteria, it was played imediately on the completion of each German match, before the officual German team song. Thehalfone 18:29, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

Who is Psycho? '98
I's like to see a sentence explaining the line "Psycho screaming" in the '98 version. KXL 18:39, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Psycho was the nickname of Stuart Pearce. DublinDilettante 08:50, 29 April 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Three Lions.jpg
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Fair use rationale for Image:Three Lions (2006).jpg
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Fair use rationale for Image:Three Lions (2002).jpg
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Fair use rationale for Image:Three Lions '98.jpg
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Fair use rationale for Image:Three Lions.jpg
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Fair use rationale for Image:Three Lions (2006).jpg
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Fair use rationale for Image:Three Lions (2002).jpg
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Fair use rationale for Image:Three Lions '98.jpg
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Parodies
should some of the more famous parodys be mentioned in the article? The C of E (talk) 16:00, 19 September 2008 (UTC)
 * If there are famous parodies, I see no reason why not. -moritheil Talk 22:59, 3 May 2009 (UTC)

Move Three Lions to Three Lions (Song)
This article Three Lions should be move to Three Lions (Song) as the term Three Lions is a more popular term for Lions passant Mr Taz (talk) 21:01, 11 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Hi, you should really have waited for a response before moving, as there are now lots of articles which are now on a redirect. I'm going to request it be placed back where it was and then see what people think, as it's just as easy to place a hatnote at the top. Bob talk 00:31, 22 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Why not make a Three Lions disambiguation page, which could direct users here or to the other use of the term? -moritheil Talk 22:58, 3 May 2009 (UTC)
 * I'm not sure that's any help - why not just put a hat-note on the top of this article? I'll do it now, in fact. Bob talk 23:01, 3 May 2009 (UTC)
 * I suppose. Of course, the real issue is that Mr Taz claims another use of "Three Lions" is more important, which if true would mean we would have to consider which one should be on top and which one should be in the link. But I don't have any means of judging that, so I think for now the hat-note seems like the most reasonable course of action. -moritheil Talk 05:23, 4 May 2009 (UTC)

Not lions at all
It was reported on the BBC's QI programme (Season I, episode 3), on which Frank Skinner was a guest, that the '3 lions' of the song (and England shirt) are not, in fact, lions at all, but leopards - in heraldic terms lions are quite different. Frank Skinner noted that "that would have caused him some scanning problems". Worth including? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.6.188.63 (talk) 17:57, 24 September 2011 (UTC)

SALES
how many copies were sold in the UK and germany ?

it was 6 times in the German top 100 and reached the top 20 i guess it has surpassed the 500,000 mark — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.247.241.2 (talk) 15:25, 15 June 2017 (UTC)

Baddiel and Skinner
This article begins by saying that the song was by the Lightning Seeds, but was not the song by Baddiel, Skinner and the Lightning Seeds? Vorbee (talk) 17:47, 28 July 2018 (UTC)
 * You're right, the credit is "Baddiel & Skinner and Lightning Seeds" on the original or "Baddiel, Skinner and the Lightning Seeds" on most subsequent issues. Either way, Baddiel and Skinner are certainly credited. I do not know whether there's some cabal bent on not allowing this to be acknowledged in the lede. Sometimes Wikipedians get it into their heads that the lede absolutely must be made inaccurate; that may or may not be the case here. --Walnuts go kapow (talk) 22:35, 28 July 2018 (UTC)
 * Vorbee and Walnuts, this has been changed to 'Baddiel, Skinner and the Lightning Seeds' in the introduction -- 12:15, 4 June 2021 (UTC)

Can the references be explained?
The lyrics of the original song say: "But I still see that tackle by Moore / And when Lineker scored / Bobby belting the ball / And Nobby dancing". Can someone add sourced explanations of which players these are and what events are being referenced? The parallel references in "3 Lions '98" are explained but not the original lyrics. --Metropolitan90 (talk) 21:02, 3 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Also, to what does the "thirty years of hurt" refer? It can't mean since the England World Cup win in 1966, because they won - the hurt couldn't start until the first subsequent loss, in 1970.  But that would only be 26 years of hurt, maximum. So what is the "hurt" that started in 1966?  2.31.162.90 (talk) 11:45, 12 July 2021 (UTC)
 * 1966 to 1996 when the song was released = 30 years.--Egghead06 (talk) 11:49, 12 July 2021 (UTC)

"Thirty years of hurt" is just plain wrong. To me it's an obvious error, but few people seem to notice it. It could be argued that it was 28 years of hurt (starting with England's failure to win Euro 68), but 30 years is a palpable error. Brevitate (talk) 16:37, 27 July 2021 (UTC)


 * You could raise this with David Baddiel and Frank Skinner?--Egghead06 (talk) 17:05, 27 July 2021 (UTC)

To see all the 1996 song references explained, just Google Three Lions lyrics inews.co.uk Brevitate (talk) 17:06, 27 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Thanks, I have added them. --Metropolitan90 (talk) 22:26, 24 October 2021 (UTC)

Removal of content
Yesterday, Egghead06 removed a new paragraph, because it was "unsourced". No sources are given in the three preceding paragraphs, but that's OK apparently. Can Egghead06 explain the difference, please? Brevitate (talk) 16:06, 27 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Wikipedia claims require sources. Just because the article already has problems doesn't mean it's OK to add more problems. Popcornfud (talk) 16:22, 27 July 2021 (UTC)

The deleted paragraph was hardly making a claim. It was just pointing out a clear error. If you can tell me how "30 years of hurt" was NOT wrong I would be really interested, honestly. Brevitate (talk) 17:28, 27 July 2021 (UTC)

2022 Christmas version
A Christmas version was released today for the World Cup in Qatar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubRBLAHjkTo 82.11.206.6 (talk) 10:02, 18 November 2022 (UTC)

Requested move 23 June 2023

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: moved. The song has been demonstrated to not be the primary topic. (closed by non-admin page mover) Skarmory   (talk •   contribs)  22:38, 30 June 2023 (UTC)

– The WP:PRIMARYTOPIC for "Three Lions" is certainly the Coat of arms of England for "long-term significance". Usage and long-term significance also point to the nickname of the England national football team, which is derived from the FA crest, which is derived from the coat of arms. The song's title and lyrics are then derived from the crest/nickname. WP:NOPRIMARY would seem to apply, moving Three Lions (disambiguation) to Three Lions and moving the song to Three Lions (song). PK-WIKI (talk) 08:30, 23 June 2023 (UTC)
 * Three Lions → Three Lions (song)
 * Three Lions (disambiguation) → Three Lions
 * Comment: Malformed move request fixed; the move request template originally did not include the moving of the respective disambiguation page. Steel1943  (talk) 20:45, 23 June 2023 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
 * Surely the coat of arms of England is named after the song? :) In ictu oculi (talk) 11:11, 24 June 2023 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in WikiProject Football's list of association football-related page moves. GiantSnowman 17:20, 24 June 2023 (UTC)
 * Support - I completely disagree that the Coat of arms of England is the PRIMARYTOPIC; when you Google it, the first page if a mix of sites about the song and the England national team. As such, there is no PRIMARYTOPIC and disambiguating is appropriate. GiantSnowman 17:22, 24 June 2023 (UTC)
 * Oppose per WP:COMMONNAME. The coat of arms of England maybe made up of three lions, but is it commonly known as that? I've never heard it referred to as that. GimliDotNet (talk) 18:40, 25 June 2023 (UTC)
 * "...three lions passant guardant..." is the blazon of the coat of arms of England and has existed in such form since the twelfth century! 1840, 1910
 * WP:NOPRIMARY applies; we have at least 4 major articles for "three lions": the royal coat of arms, the coat of arms of the Football Association, the nickname of the team(s), and the song. And they derived from each other in that order.
 * PK-WIKI (talk) 19:08, 25 June 2023 (UTC)
 * Support With the Google test, it seems to be a common nickname of England's national football team, so there doesn't appear to be a primary topic. ᴢxᴄᴠʙɴᴍ (ᴛ) 20:16, 25 June 2023 (UTC)
 * Support Very common name of the Coat of Arms of England and the England football team. Song is an obscurity. Walrasiad (talk) 09:36, 26 June 2023 (UTC)

Songs to reach number one with different lyrics
"Both the original version of "Three Lions" and the updated "Three Lions '98" reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming one of only three songs to top the British charts more than once with lyric variants; the others are "Mambo No. 5" (in versions by Lou Bega and Bob the Builder) and "Do They Know It's Christmas?" (by Band Aid, Band Aid 20 and Band Aid 30)"

Are we sure these are the only ones? Btljs (talk) 16:28, 1 February 2024 (UTC)


 * I’ve thought of another one: Going to Ibiza is the same song as Barbados by Typically Tropical. Btljs (talk) 12:55, 14 February 2024 (UTC)