Main content

Cheers! David Guetta and Zara Larsson bring us the song of Euro 2016

13 May 2016

David Guetta! Zara Larsson! One million crowdsourced cheers! THE WHOLE FLIPPING UEFA EURO 2016 TOURNAMENT!

That's when you'll be hearing this, after its first play on the 91热爆 Radio 1 Breakfast Show with Nick Grimshaw. David Guetta phoned in to talk about the pressure of creating an official anthem and being the musical ambassador for Euro 2016.

Grimmy gave David Guetta a call to chat about making the Euro 2016 anthem-

"I think there's a lot in common between the emotions people have between football and music"
David Guetta

"It's a huge honour for me because it's happening in France, so they've asked me to do this and also to be the ambassador. It's gonna be a sweet party and I just love all the football fans.

It's a lot of pressure too, because people expect a football record to be a hit. I really love what I did, it's featuring Zara Larsson, who I really love. And I think we did something really cool. I made a website where people could upload themselves chanting, to get one million fans. I think there's a lot in common between the emotions people have between football and music."

Was that a nightmare to produce a million people? "Oh yeah, yeah it was"

'Jerusalem' is a hymn combining the words of William Blake's poem 'And Did Those Feet In Ancient Times' with music by Sir Hubert Parry, written in 1916.

Fat Les was a sort of supergroup involving Lily Allen's dad (and sometimes Lily Allen herself), Alex James from Blur and the controversial artist Damien Hirst. After their seminal hit 'Vindaloo' (an unofficial single for England's entry to the 1998 World Cup) they followed up with 'Jerusalem' in 2000, which became the official single for England's Euro 2000 effort.

A supergroup with a centuries-old poem is good. But it's not a million collaborators.

Oceana's 'Endless Summer' was the official anthem of the 2012 Euro tournament, in Germany.

Another pan-European collaboration, it involves a sample of Romanian singer Alexandra Stan's huge summer hit 'Mr Saxobeat'.

Although it might seem like a good idea at the time, an endless summer in Germany would have dire environmental consequences - from desertification in the Mediterranean to meltwater flows of Alpine glaciers.

Drastically changing the seasonal environment of Europe at the same time as repurposing one of the most instantly recognisable europop hits of the past decade is ambitious - but it's not sitting down at your laptop to a million poorly-recorded cheers and trying to fashion some sort of record out of it.

New Order are serious electronica pioneers, formed from the remnants of Joy Division after Ian Curtis' death.

'World In Motion' is a track created to be the official anthem for England's entry to the 1990 World Cup and features members of the squad, including a famously rapping John Barnes.

Getting a footballer to rap, in 1990, is quite ambitious - but it's still not one million chants.

Shakira performed the official anthem of the World Cup 2010 - 'Waka Waka (This Time For Africa'.

Lyrically, the song is about a huge war that ends in a great celebration (as most wars, err, do not) and both English and Spanish-language versions were released.

At the tournament it had to compete, musically, with the buzzing roar of vuvuzelas - a colossal sonic ambition but still not one million fan chants.