Rik Mayall's 'lost' World Cup song looks set to enter top ten
The late comedian's 'Noble England' has been brought back from obscurity
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Your support makes all the difference.Rik Mayall’s ‘lost’ World Cup song “Noble England” has climbed an impressive 27 places overnight to sit at number 11 on the UK Official Singles Chart.
The British comedian, who died on Monday from as-yet-unknown causes, released the football anthem ahead of England’s 2010 onslaught.
Following his death aged 56, a social media campaign was launched to catapult his song to number one after it failed to chart four years ago. To date, nearly 18,000 people have ‘liked’ the Facebook page.
Mayall’s track includes lines “respectfully taken” from Shakespeare’s Henry V (“Once more unto the pitch, dear friends”) and is set against a catchy football chant.
The video sees The Young Ones star dressed as the monarch and motivating his “troops” to bring home the trophy and “win for St George”.
Mayall said at the time that chants are “one of the great traditions of following football”.
“I’m doing my bit, just like every other Englishman, as we stand shoulder-to-shoulder, doing out bit, stiff upper lip – apart from when you’re screaming out the lyrics to ‘Noble England’,” he continued.
Martin Talbot, chief executive of the Official Charts Company, said: "Rik Mayall's death this week was a shock to a whole generation of comedy fans - and their reaction in pushing his 2010 single is a reflection of how much he was loved."
England do not have an official World Cup 2014 anthem after Gary Barlow and Michael Owen’s rendition of Take That’s “Greatest Day” was dropped ahead of the tournament.
Unofficial contributions include Monty Python’s “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”, while the official FIFA World Cup song is “We Are One (Ole Ola)” by Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull.
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