Over the years and all these tournaments I’ve had to suffer many terrible homemade England songs.
Doesn’t matter if the FA put out an official tune, because of YouTube anyone can do it and we end up with, as I said some terrible songs. Not all of them, but a majority are just unlistenable. But because I would take a bullet for you, dear reader, it is my duty to listen to all of them.
Coming into this tournament then and the prospect of even more tuneless songs ahead of me….
But then Wales qualified for the Euro 2016 finals and finally, finally there would be a different voice. Would these new Welsh voices be any better or worse than the all other bedroom recordings though ? The answer to that is… mostly yes.
Maybe because they’ve had to wait since 1958 for a chance to sing, but I knew we would get some very decent tunes coming out of Wales.
– We’ve already seen some good songs from a couple of the biggest Welsh bands: Manic Street Preachers with the official song – and a reformed Super Furry Animals back on form.
– There’s also Argument City who didn’t mind that their song sounded like their heroes in the end.
They though are only the tip of the iceberg and so below I present to you, in my opinion, the best of the rest. These songs, presented in random order, are worth a few minutes of your time. Give them a listen.
Chris Phillips – Let The Good Times Roll
With the Argument City song it was an accidental thing that it sounded very like the Manic Street Preachers, but they went with it anyway because it was a very decent tune. With this Chris Phillips song as you will hear, it is very Oasis-like. Was this also accidental or on purpose though ?
The lyrics do the same as the Manics and Argument City have done. He sings of the history of the Wales team and the frustration of getting close but never quite there. But now, let the good times roll:
You can get this one via Amazon UK or iTunes GB.
Y Sybs – Mint Sôs
I got this from their record label website:
Iestyn Jones, singer with Welsh band Rebownder has brought together a galaxy of Welsh stars under the name “Y Sybs” to record the track ‘Mint Sôs’ after watching the Wales football team qualify for the European 2016 football championship last year:
“I was living in Cardiff at the time and was very excited for Welsh football…. I teamed-up with local musicians and recorded the track before moving home to North Wales,” says Iestyn.
“The English outfit ‘Fat Les’ had a big hit with ‘Vindaloo’ so I guess ‘Mint Sôs’ is our Welsh equivalent”. “…We’ve written it in Welsh and English and there’s even an instrumental version to singalong to!”.
You can buy this EP/mini album via Amazon.com
Tiguna – Dyddiau Coch
‘Dyddiau Coch’ means Red days. Additional point of interest in this one which find yourself singing along to, even if you don’t speak Welsh – there’s a guest voice from none other than Bryn Law. If you’ve watched Soccer Saturday you’ll have seen him reporting from a match somewhere in the country.
Yet another chant for Hal Robson-Kanu in the song (See also the Manics and Argument City).
You can purchase this via their Bandcamp page.
– A quick side mention for this one:
The Pollen Count – Abergofiant
The video has footage of the Wales team. Apart from that though we can’t find any real connection. It’s possibly jumping on the bandwagon but I love, love, love the song and still wanted to give it a mention:
Find out more about the band via their Facebook page.
Candelas – Rhedeg i Paris
Last one for now is this one which looks like it was commissioned by BBC Radio Cymru for their coverage of Euro 2016. They got this five-piece band from Llanuwchllyn/Bala who have done a cover of an old Anhrefn song. The song itself isn’t strictly about Wales at Euro 2016, but there is a link to France. The lyrics are about running away to Paris, only to reflect on one’s homeland and ultimately come back home to Wales.
It’s thanks once again to our expert TheRobster from Is This The Life? blog for his input.
» As mentioned please go this Wales Online article to watch and listen to all the songs. I’ve only chosen a few.