What Makes a World Cup Song Memorable?

Olé, olé, olé, olé - What makes a memorable World Cup song?

The World Cup is in full swing and, aside from the matches, fans are enjoying an extravaganza of sights, sounds, colours and songs.

With catchy hooks and punchy lyrics, the World Cup song has been a popular pre-match aperitif for decades.

Official anthems at recent tournaments have been sung by megastars including Pitbull and Shakira.

But it is the ones from decades ago, when Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland qualified, that are remembered fondly and belted out by fans today, many not born when those cult classics were first released.

Put 'Em Under Pressure

What is it that makes a World Cup song timeless?

Fans remember those with nostalgic and blindly optimistic lyrics including World In Motion (England) and Put 'Em Under Pressure (Republic of Ireland), with its famous Olé, olé, olé, olé chorus, both released ahead of Italia '90.

The guitar hook of Horslips' song Dearg Doom was a crucial element in the Republic of Ireland's anthem, which featured the production skills of U2 drummer Larry Mullen Junior.

For Horslips' bass player Barry Devlin it was a pleasant surprise to learn that the guitar riff had been adapted for the song, alongside audio quotes from 1966 World Cup winner and Ireland manager Jack Charlton.

The County Tyrone man described it "as one of the greatest soccer anthems there has ever been".

"Certainly here, it ends the night at weddings, it has got a legendary status," he added.

"I really enjoyed the fact that Jack Charlton came on and said 'we are going to inflict our game on them', he meant impose, but as it turned out, inflict was a more accurate description.

"It's a really well put together song."

It prompts happy memories for Devlin, who produced U2's earliest demo recordings, which included a teenage Larry Mullen Junior.

"I did their first demos, they were kids in 1978, I think Larry was 17," Devlin said.

"I was recording songs that they had just written, most of which never made it in to the outer world.

"At about three o'clock in the morning, I was used to working late, Larry's dad showed up and said 'I have to take this lad home, he has got school work in the morning.'

"I said rather sheepishly 'but Mr Mullen, I haven't finished with Larry's bass drum yet'.

"He then looked at me and said 'ah you have!', so that was the end of the day's drum work."

'Italia 90 songs never bettered'

Devlin also believes 1990 was a transformational year in the history of the World Cup song, citing the technical innovation of World In Motion and Put 'Em Under Pressure.

"I think there was an attempt to be smarter and involve the actual game, I think that was a tipping point, neither of those songs have been bettered since," he added.

"I think they were stand out moments."

England fans still enjoy a good World in Motion singalong. Just last week, fans in Manchester were given a surprise when former England star John Barnes joined Peter Hook & The Light on stage to perform his famous rap from the song.

Yer Man, Dana and Elton John

Gerry Armstrong had already mingled with musical royalty before he featured on Northern Ireland's World Cup songs in both Spain '82 and Mexico '86.

Elton John had been his chairman at Watford FC and Armstrong recalls being invited to parties at his home, with the chart-topper even taking requests on the piano after arriving by helicopter.

He told BBC News NI that before recording Yer Man with Eurovision winner Dana in 1982 "there was nervousness".

"A lot of our players aren't what you would call singers and I remember after the first recording, I suggested that I go and get a few beers and let them chill out and they recorded it straight after that, there was no problem.

"They had the words in front of them on sheets and had a bit of banter and away we went.

"It was great having Dana there, she had a number one hit with All Kinds of Everything, so she was a superstar for us.

"We knew she was a professional singer, so she was a lead, I think she had her own microphone and the rest of us had a microphone between us."

Back Home and TV dinners

Northern Ireland's links to World Cup songs stretch back to 1970, when Phil Coulter was a co-writer of England's Back Home.

"And then... the Germans came back and before you know it, it's all over. I threw my dinner at the TV."