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| The Joy of Six: songs about sportspeople | The Joy of Six: songs about sportspeople |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| 1) Sun Kil Moon – Salvador Sanchez | 1) Sun Kil Moon – Salvador Sanchez |
| Boxing lends itself beautifully to lyricists. Struggle, glory, tragedy, violence … what more do you need? Few songwriters can match Mark Kozelek for pugilistic preoccupation. His nom de plume is an homage to former lightweight world champion Sung Kil-moon and his work is shot through with boxing references. The opening lines of the opening track of his Ghosts of the Great Highway album begin with his feelings on a couple of fighters: “Cassius Clay was hated more than Sonny Liston; Some like K.K. Downing more than Glenn Tipton; Some like Jim Nabors, some Bobby Vinton. I like ‘em all.” | |
| Later on you get a 14-minute epic entitled Duk Koo Kim in tribute to the South Korean boxer who died after his fight against Ray Mancini in 1982, but before that you get Salvador Sanchez, another ode to a fighter who died tragically young: “Salvador Sanchez, arrived and vanished, only 23, with so much speed, owning the highway. Mexico City bred so many, but none quite like him, sweet warrior, pure magic matador …” | Later on you get a 14-minute epic entitled Duk Koo Kim in tribute to the South Korean boxer who died after his fight against Ray Mancini in 1982, but before that you get Salvador Sanchez, another ode to a fighter who died tragically young: “Salvador Sanchez, arrived and vanished, only 23, with so much speed, owning the highway. Mexico City bred so many, but none quite like him, sweet warrior, pure magic matador …” |
| “I remember one journalist asking: ‘What the hell are you singing about in Salvador Sánchez?’” Kozelek told Boxing Scene in 2012. “Ironically, it’s one of my most requested songs. I imagine that most of fans aren’t dialled into the facts about the man, but it’s the emotion that people connect with.” | “I remember one journalist asking: ‘What the hell are you singing about in Salvador Sánchez?’” Kozelek told Boxing Scene in 2012. “Ironically, it’s one of my most requested songs. I imagine that most of fans aren’t dialled into the facts about the man, but it’s the emotion that people connect with.” |
| 2) Billy Bragg – God’s Footballer | 2) Billy Bragg – God’s Footballer |
| You can’t really imagine it today. One of the brightest attacking midfield talents in the country, a decent outside bet for the World Cup squad in a year’s time, giving up the game to spread the good news door-to-door. But in 1969 Peter Knowles did just that. The winger had been a key part of Wolves 1966-67 promotion squad but his priorities had changed by the summer of 1969. | You can’t really imagine it today. One of the brightest attacking midfield talents in the country, a decent outside bet for the World Cup squad in a year’s time, giving up the game to spread the good news door-to-door. But in 1969 Peter Knowles did just that. The winger had been a key part of Wolves 1966-67 promotion squad but his priorities had changed by the summer of 1969. |
| “I shall continue playing football for the time being but I have lost my ambition,” he said. “Though I still do my best on the field I need more time to learn about the Bible and may give up football.” He played just eight more league games before doing just that and quitting to follow his beliefs as a Jehovah’s Witness. | “I shall continue playing football for the time being but I have lost my ambition,” he said. “Though I still do my best on the field I need more time to learn about the Bible and may give up football.” He played just eight more league games before doing just that and quitting to follow his beliefs as a Jehovah’s Witness. |
| Knowles is immortalised in Bragg’s God’s Footballer: “God’s Footballer turns on a sixpence and brings the great crowd to their feet in praise of him; God’s Footballer quotes from the gospels while knocking on doors in the black country backstreets; He scores goals on a Saturday, he saves souls on a Sunday …” | Knowles is immortalised in Bragg’s God’s Footballer: “God’s Footballer turns on a sixpence and brings the great crowd to their feet in praise of him; God’s Footballer quotes from the gospels while knocking on doors in the black country backstreets; He scores goals on a Saturday, he saves souls on a Sunday …” |
| 3) Duckworth-Lewis Method – Boom Boom Afridi | 3) Duckworth-Lewis Method – Boom Boom Afridi |
| This Joy of Six wouldn’t really be complete without a contribution from the Duckworth Lewis Method. For those unaware of their work, the DLM are Neil Hannon, of the Divine Comedy, and Thomas Walsh of Pugwash. And their genre? Sparkly guitar-fuelled pop … exclusively about the game of cricket. | This Joy of Six wouldn’t really be complete without a contribution from the Duckworth Lewis Method. For those unaware of their work, the DLM are Neil Hannon, of the Divine Comedy, and Thomas Walsh of Pugwash. And their genre? Sparkly guitar-fuelled pop … exclusively about the game of cricket. |
| A three-minute ode to Shane Warne’s ball of the century written from the perspective of Mike Gatting? Check! (“How such a ball could be bowled I don’t know but if you ask me, if it had been a cheese roll it would never have got past me …”). A squelchy funky trip through the Twenty20 revolution? Check! (“Always denied entry, by the English gentry, now we’re driving Bentleys, playing Twenty20 …”). A surprising number double entendres about sweet spots and sticky wickets? Check! And check! | A three-minute ode to Shane Warne’s ball of the century written from the perspective of Mike Gatting? Check! (“How such a ball could be bowled I don’t know but if you ask me, if it had been a cheese roll it would never have got past me …”). A squelchy funky trip through the Twenty20 revolution? Check! (“Always denied entry, by the English gentry, now we’re driving Bentleys, playing Twenty20 …”). A surprising number double entendres about sweet spots and sticky wickets? Check! And check! |
| And a tribute to the big-hitting Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi, with David Lloyd intoning “If you’re gonna flash, flash hard! If you’re gonna go, start the car!” in the background? Well, see for yourself … | And a tribute to the big-hitting Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi, with David Lloyd intoning “If you’re gonna flash, flash hard! If you’re gonna go, start the car!” in the background? Well, see for yourself … |
| 4) The Real Sounds of Africa – Tornados v Dynamos (3-3) | 4) The Real Sounds of Africa – Tornados v Dynamos (3-3) |
| This is a bit of a cheat really, as it’s not about a single sportsperson but 22. It is, though, nearly 13 minutes of remarkable Zimbabwean rhumba-pop documenting a 3-3 draw between two sides. Moses Chunga emerges as man of the match. | This is a bit of a cheat really, as it’s not about a single sportsperson but 22. It is, though, nearly 13 minutes of remarkable Zimbabwean rhumba-pop documenting a 3-3 draw between two sides. Moses Chunga emerges as man of the match. |
| 5) Super Furry Animals – Venus and Serena | 5) Super Furry Animals – Venus and Serena |
| The Super Furry Animals have always had a predilection for the unusual in their songs both literally (Receptacle for the Respectable features the Sir Paul McCartney chewing celery in time) and lyrically (take your pick here: Ice Hockey Hair, The International Language of Screaming, Fuzzy Birds, Guacamole …). | The Super Furry Animals have always had a predilection for the unusual in their songs both literally (Receptacle for the Respectable features the Sir Paul McCartney chewing celery in time) and lyrically (take your pick here: Ice Hockey Hair, The International Language of Screaming, Fuzzy Birds, Guacamole …). |
| A look at the track listing for 2003’s Phantom Power suggested they had outdone themselves again with Venus and Serena. Was this going to be an ode to the Williams sisters? A ditty paying homage to the family that have dominated women’s tennis for pretty much the entirety of the 21st century? Um, not quite … | A look at the track listing for 2003’s Phantom Power suggested they had outdone themselves again with Venus and Serena. Was this going to be an ode to the Williams sisters? A ditty paying homage to the family that have dominated women’s tennis for pretty much the entirety of the 21st century? Um, not quite … |
| “It uses tennis vocabulary to make the point,” says SFA frontman Gruff Rhys. “Venus and Serena have beautiful names and they seem to have exemplary powers. I think it’s about making pictures in people’s minds.” | “It uses tennis vocabulary to make the point,” says SFA frontman Gruff Rhys. “Venus and Serena have beautiful names and they seem to have exemplary powers. I think it’s about making pictures in people’s minds.” |
| OK, OK, so it’s not really about the Williams sisters – it’s actually about two tortoises called Venus and Serena who a disenfranchised child looks to for guidance and inspiration. No, really. But it also contains the line “Holy bombs make holy holes, Holy holes make homeless moles”, so you can’t complain too much. | OK, OK, so it’s not really about the Williams sisters – it’s actually about two tortoises called Venus and Serena who a disenfranchised child looks to for guidance and inspiration. No, really. But it also contains the line “Holy bombs make holy holes, Holy holes make homeless moles”, so you can’t complain too much. |
| 6) John Stewart – Let The Big Horse Run | 6) John Stewart – Let The Big Horse Run |
| The bulk of songs about sportspeople are homages and that’s understandable. If you’re going to write a protest song about a live issue then you may as well raise your sights higher – wars, human rights, revolution. Bob Dylan had combined the two in Hurricane, a song that called for the release of boxer Ruben “Hurricane” Carter, who had been wrongly convicted of murder in 1966. | The bulk of songs about sportspeople are homages and that’s understandable. If you’re going to write a protest song about a live issue then you may as well raise your sights higher – wars, human rights, revolution. Bob Dylan had combined the two in Hurricane, a song that called for the release of boxer Ruben “Hurricane” Carter, who had been wrongly convicted of murder in 1966. |
| John Stewart, though, had other ideas. He had written Daydream Believer for the Monkees, so he knew how to pen a tune, and now he wanted to see Secretariat run in the Santa Anita Derby in California. “Oh the sun shines bright over old Kentucky, over old Kentucky on the derby day. They let him run, they let the big horse run. Please Mrs Tweedy, I saw him on the TV, send him out to run in the California sun.” | John Stewart, though, had other ideas. He had written Daydream Believer for the Monkees, so he knew how to pen a tune, and now he wanted to see Secretariat run in the Santa Anita Derby in California. “Oh the sun shines bright over old Kentucky, over old Kentucky on the derby day. They let him run, they let the big horse run. Please Mrs Tweedy, I saw him on the TV, send him out to run in the California sun.” |
| Sadly for Stewart his pleas fell on deaf ears. The horse’s owner, Penny Tweedy, put Secretariat out to stud, a fate that the singer-songwriter had feared: “Spending his time in the field with the ladies. In the field with the ladies he can’t complain. But let him run, oh let the big horse run. One more time. Out on the track. Saddle the wind and get up on his back …” | Sadly for Stewart his pleas fell on deaf ears. The horse’s owner, Penny Tweedy, put Secretariat out to stud, a fate that the singer-songwriter had feared: “Spending his time in the field with the ladies. In the field with the ladies he can’t complain. But let him run, oh let the big horse run. One more time. Out on the track. Saddle the wind and get up on his back …” |
| With thanks to Bryan Graham and Michael Hann. | With thanks to Bryan Graham and Michael Hann. |
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