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Let’s get real

Simon Parker

Monday, May 8th, 2006

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 It’s time to fly the flags on high
Come on England, do or die!
The nation knows you are the best
It’s up to you to do the rest

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 We haven’t won since sixty six
And when we take the field to mix
With “lesser” nations, same old tale
We flatter to deceive, then fail

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 Who’s lifted gold and silver since
That Russian linesman made Fritz wince?
Of course there is the Argentine
“But that’s the hand of God!” we whine.

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 The French, who scarcely seem to care
Have laid “les mains” on silverware
Twice crowned the European Kings
“And once world champs!” the cockerel sings

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 Passionate Italians claim
A crown in Europe to their name
They were world’s best in eighty two
Plus two finals in azure blue

6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 And what of the defeated Hun?
Prostrate the day that we last won.
Five world finals, three of glory
Thrice champs of Europe is their story

7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 And then of course there is Brazil
Three times world masters, how they thrill
The surging dashing yellow shirts
They win at will, and how it hurts

8 Leave a comment on verse 8 0 Let’s add some others to the lists
Who’ve reached the brink, the finalists
Of Europe and of the World Games
Forgotten teams, forgotten names

9 Leave a comment on verse 9 0 Belgium, Russia, Denmark, Spain
Some football hotbeds, then again….
Yugoslavs & Greeks and Dutch
Oh had England done as much!

10 Leave a comment on verse 10 0 Three Lions? What is their proud boast?
Three semi finals at the most
Lisbon, Turin, Wemberlee
Extinction was their penalty!

11 Leave a comment on verse 11 0 We paint the country red and white
Expectation out of sight
Of course we’re favourites! we insist
The truth ignored, the history missed

12 Leave a comment on verse 12 0 Get drunk, fill pubs, belch bellicose
Let’s punch the truth smack in the nose!
Lets lose a month in footied booze
And wreck the town the day we lose

13 Leave a comment on verse 13 0 Enough, the myth so long repeated
We know they’ll all troop home defeated
Remove the flags from cars and vans
Accept our lot as also rans!

© Simon Parker

Notes

World cup frenzy both depresses and amuses me. Every four years (at least when England qualify!) the nation turns to an amorphous mass. As at the death of Diana, dissent from the prevailing mood is at best viewed as semi insanity and at worst dealt with by violence, real or imagined. Since 1966 the team’s dismal record should have dampened such feelings, but instead, fueled now by commercial imperative, expectations grow with each tournament. The fans are convinced that their team dines at world football’s top table, despite all evidence to the contrary.

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/lets-get-real/