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- Three Lions (Football's Coming Home) Lyrics
- 3 Lions '98 Lyrics & Video
- What do the 'Football's coming home' lyrics mean?
Three Lions (Football's Coming Home) Lyrics & Video
It's coming home,
It's coming home, it's coming,
Football's coming home.
It's coming home,
It's coming home, it's coming,
Football's coming home.
It's coming home,
It's coming home, it's coming,
Football's coming home.
It's coming home,
It's coming home, it's coming,
Football's coming home.
Everyone seems to know the score,
They've seen it all before,
They just know, they're so sure
That England's gonna throw it away, gonna blow it away
But I know they can play.
Next Match
'Cause I remember three lions on a shirt!
Jules Rimet still gleaming,
Thirty years of hurt
Never stopped me dreaming.
So many jokes, so many sneers,
But all those 'oh so nears'
Wear you down, through the years,
But I still see that tackle by Moore
And when Lineker scored,
Bobby belting the ball
And Nobby dancing.
Three lions on a shirt!
Jules Rimet still gleaming,
Thirty years of hurt
Never stopped me dreaming.
I know that was then, but it could be again..
It's coming home,
It's coming home, it's coming,
Football's coming home.
It's coming home,
It's coming home, it's coming,
Football's coming home.
It's coming home,
It's coming home, it's coming,
Football's coming home.
It's coming home,
It's coming home, it's coming,
Football's coming home.
Three lions on a shirt!
Jules Rimet still gleaming,
Thirty years of hurt
Never stopped me dreaming.
Three lions on a shirt!
Jules Rimet still gleaming,
Thirty years of hurt
Never stopped me dreaming.
Three lions on a shirt!
Jules Rimet still gleaming,
Thirty years of hurt
Never stopped me dreaming.
3 Lions '98 Lyrics & Video
We still believe, we still believe,
We still believe, we still believe
It's coming home,
It's coming home, it's coming,
Football's coming home.
It's coming home,
It's coming home, it's coming,
Football's coming home.
Tears for heroes dressed in grey,
No plans for final day,
Stay in bed, drift away.
It could have been all songs in the street,
It was nearly complete,
It was nearly so sweet
And now I'm singing three lions on a shirt!
Jules Rimet still gleaming,
No more years of hurt,
No more need for dreaming.
Talk about football coming home
And then one night in Rome
We were strong, we had grown.
Now I see Ince ready for war,
Gazza good as before,
Shearer certain to score
And Psycho screaming.
Three lions on a shirt!
Jules Rimet still gleaming,
No more years of hurt,
No more need for dreaming.
We can dance Nobby's dance,
We can dance it in France...
It's coming home,
It's coming home, it's coming,
Football's coming home.
It's coming home,
It's coming home, it's coming,
Football's coming home.
It's coming home,
It's coming home, it's coming,
Football's coming home.
(Overlapping)
Three lions on a shirt!
Jules Rimet still gleaming,
No more years of hurt,
No more need for dreaming.
Three lions on a shirt!
Jules Rimet still gleaming,
No more years of hurt,
No more need for dreaming.
What do the 'Football's coming home' lyrics mean?
Getty Images
Both Three Lions songs are littered with references to England's past glories and failures, with certain moments highlighted as a reminder of the team's capabilities and rebuttal to those critics who suggest that England are not good enough to win the World Cup or European Championship.
"We thought, OK, let's write a song not like all the other 'we're going to win' songs that had tracked England's failure to win the World Cup for many years," Baddiel said in an interview with BBC Radio 2.
"Let's write a song about the real experience of being a fan of the England football team' - which is, we're probably not going to win, or at least lots of people are saying we're not and we're not very good. But somewhere within us there is a kind of irrational, magical hope that we might anyway.
"And that's the real condition, it felt to us, of being an England fan and that's what we tried to embody in the lyrics. I think that spirit of defiance against against experience of punching through 'we know we can play' - that spoke to England fans. We didn't know it spoke to England fans when we wrote it, but it did."
Below is a selection of the lyrics from both songs, with an explanation.
Three Lions (Football's Coming Home)
- Jules Rimet Still Gleaming - A reference to the old World Cup trophy, which was presented to the England team who won the 1966 tournament.
- But I still see that tackle by Moore - Referring to a decisive intervention made by England captain Bobby Moore on Brazil's Jairzinho at the 1970 World Cup.
- And when Lineker scored - Gary Lineker's equalising goal against West Germany in the semi-final of the 1990 World Cup.
- Bobby belting the ball - Bobby Charlton's powerfully struck long-range goal against Mexico en route to 1966 World Cup glory.
- And Nobby dancing - The memorable victory dance performed by Nobby Stiles while holding the Jules Rimet trophy in 1966.
Getty
3 Lions '98
- Tears for heroes dressed in grey - England wore a grey strip in their Euro '96 semi-final against Germany, which they lost on penalties.
- No plans for final day - The final was contested by Germany and the Czech Republic, with the Germans winning.
- And then one night in Rome - England had lost at home to Italy in the qualification phase of the 1998 World Cup, but secured a 0-0 draw in the away game, which ensured they qualified as group winners.
- Now I see Ince ready for war - Paul Ince had forged a reputation as a tough-tackling midfielder, famously finishing a game with a bandage and blood-stained shirt.
- Gazza good as before - Paul Gascoigne - a veteran of the 1990 disappointment - was 30, but figured prominently in qualifying. However, he was actually cut from Glenn Hoddle's final tournament squad.
- Shearer certain to score - Alan Shearer scored five goals in qualifying and was the undisputed best striker in the Premier League, securing the Golden Boot for three consecutive seasons.
- And Psycho screaming - Stuart Pearce was known as 'Psycho' for his exuberant and combative playing style. He was approaching the end of his playing days and, like Gascoigne, did not make the final squad.