Disappointment, missed opportunities and a sense of humanity all wrapped up into a 3-and-a-half minute football anthem. But there’s still that lingering sense of hope.
Vulnerability’s sparsely captured in football culture, creating poignant moments when it does occur. For instance, Paul Gascoigne with tears streaming down his cheeks as the referee’s yellow card rules him out of a potential World Cup Final. A vivid picture for those who bore witness, even 36 years on.
As a 1998 baby, it was always a difficult task to picture the wave of emotion that engulfed the nation during Italia 90. Particularly when I witnessed the lacklustre campaigns of 2006 and 2010. There was always that pang of bewilderment. “You’ve seen us play semi-finals”.
However, now I’ve been on the other side. I’ve witnessed heartbreak in the 2018 World Cup semi-final and the Euro finals of 2020 and 2024. The pain difference is tenfold. I look back on Bukayo Saka’s missed penalty and Mikel Oyarzabal’s late winner with the same heartfelt wrench as generations before saw Gazza.
Occupying the space somewhere between indie guitar music and club dance floor grooves, now, Good Health Good Wealth and Joseph J Jones have captured that very English mix of hope, self-deprecation and disappointment.
The spoken word, indie and dance of Good Health Good Wealth joins forces with the soulful, expressiveness of Joseph J Jones to create an emotional and heartfelt plea to the national team and their fans.
The track opens with a bellowing pub chorus of “England” before Bruce Breakey’s opening line portrays the nations feeling “Just imagine if we win”. It’s a mellow, soulful feel in comparison to some of their previous body of work.
Good Health Good Wealth have an innate ability to relate to the working class. Quips like “Working out which days to pull a sicky” and “Can’t afford a new shirt, might get a tattoo instead.” As well as referencing flying the England flag for the right reasons.
For the next five weeks I’ll have this on repeat, looking through a rose-tinted lens at tournaments of old, pint in hand and full of that ever-growing hope and lust for the boys to “Bring it back”.
Written by Brad Halcrow for The Songbird HQ