Baddiel, Skinner and The Lightning Seeds release new festive version of ‘Three Lions’ song

Baddiel, Skinner and The Lightning Seeds release a new festive version of the well known ‘Three Lions’ song ahead of the World Cup.

The original song – titled ‘Three Lions (Football’s Coming Home)’ first came out ahead of England hosting the Euro ’96 tournament over 25 years ago.

A subsequent updated version then came out to mark the 1998 World Cup in France, going on to become the defining tune of the England team in every major tournament.

This summer, The Lightning Seeds and Baddiel produced a special performance of the track to celebrate the England women’s team reaching the Women’s Euro final, and the Lionesses themselves emerged at a press conference and sang the song after their victory over Germany.

On the 18th of November, ‘Three Lions (It’s Coming Home for Christmas)’ was released to mark the start of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar on Sunday (November 20).

Baddiel, Skinner and The Lightning Seeds revisited the iconic tune having been inspired by the England women’s team huge Euros win.

Some will love it, some will cringe, but overall the reaction is a positive one. You can watch the music video below or even listen to it on Spotify with it expected to climb high in the charts…

LYRICS IN FULL

♪ It’s coming home It’s coming home ♪

♪ It’s coming Football’s coming home ♪

♪ It’s coming home It’s coming home ♪

♪ It’s coming Football’s coming home ♪

♪ It’s coming home It’s coming home ♪

♪ It’s coming Football’s coming home ♪

♪ It’s coming home It’s coming home ♪

♪ It’s coming Football’s coming home ♪

♪ Loving that Lionesses win ♪

♪ But thoughts of last year’s final kick in ♪

♪ And Moscow ♪

♪ And Turin ♪

♪ The bloke seems cursed whatever they try ♪

♪ And I think I know why They’re just jinxed in July ♪

♪ But it’s December ♪

♪ Three Lions on a sleigh ♪

♪ With She-Lions inspiration ♪

♪ Santa says let’s play ♪

♪ The Christmas tree formation ♪

♪ When they decided on Qatar ♪

♪ Should have checked VAR ♪

♪ It’s too hot ♪

♪ And too far ♪

♪ So we’ll be snowflakes watching it here ♪

♪ This is our time of year We’ll be having a beer ♪

Actually I won’t because I’ve got alcohol issues

♪ Three Lions on a Sleigh ♪

♪ Yule Rimet still gleaming ♪

♪ A football Christmas song ♪

♪ Not at all demeaning ♪

What a cracker of a game…

England are giving them a real good stuffing…

Ding Dong Merrily on Sky…

Oh no it’s not on Sky…

It has to be on terrestrial doesn’t it… for legal reasons

♪ All I want’s the World Cup Don’t bother wrapping it up ♪

♪ It’s coming home for Christmas ♪

♪ Football’s coming home ♪

♪ It’s coming home It’s coming home ♪

♪ For Christmas ♪

♪ Football’s coming home ♪

♪ It’s coming home It’s coming home ♪

♪ For Christmas ♪

♪ Football’s coming home ♪

♪ It’s coming home It’s coming home ♪

♪ For Christmas ♪

♪ Football’s coming home ♪

♪ It’s coming home ♪

♪ Three lions on a shirt ♪

♪ Jules Rimet still gleaming ♪

♪ 56 years of hurt (For the men’s game!) ♪

♪ Never stopped me dreaming ♪

♪ Three lions on a shirt ♪

♪ Jules Rimet still gleaming ♪

♪ 20 weeks of hurt ♪

♪ (For the women’s game, obviously) ♪

♪ Never stopped me dreaming ♪

♪ Three lions on a shirt ♪

♪ Jules Rimet still gleaming ♪

♪ (It’s Englaaaaaaand!) Several years of hurt ♪

♪ Never stopped me dreaming ♪

♪ Three lions on a shirt ♪

♪ Jules Rimet still gleaming ♪

♪ Quite a lot of years of hurt ♪

♪ Never stopped me dreaming ♪

♪ Three lions on a shirt ♪

– SONG ENDS –

In a statement, Baddiel said: “At last it’s between me and Mariah Carey for who really is the voice of Christmas.”

Skinner added: “We just had to do it. Christmas World Cup songs are not like buses. If we’d let this opportunity pull away, it would have been a very long wait for the next one.”

Fans can also buy ‘Three Lions (It’s Coming Home for Christmas)’ on a signed limited edition white vinyl, standard 7″ vinyl, cassette, and CD single – you can order here.

David Baddiel previously had mentioned that his song with Frank Skinner and The Lightning Seeds could be “put to bed” after the England Women’s team’s Euro 2022 win.

“The women have reset the clock,” Baddiel told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme (via The Guardian) after the win, which erased 56 years of England failing to secure a trophy.

When asked if it was now time to retire the song as well as decades of gloomy expectations, Baddiel said: “I’m very happy to think the song would, in a way, be put to bed.” He added, however, that fans may feel differently the next time England loses.

“It was beautiful to hear it sung out of Wembley [on Sunday] as we finally clinched a final, I really did think that would never happen,” Baddiel added. “It’s so amazing to actually think, ‘Oh, we’ve won, this doesn’t happen, it’s actually happened.’

“We talk about football, we just assume you mean men’s football. Football is not default owned by men – that is something I think is only made clear very recently.

“It’s the same game, played by women or played by men. What’s totally brilliant in the last few weeks is a sense that the country can get behind it in entirely the same way,. We’ve won, not the women have won. We’ve won.”

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Twitter users reacted as Baddiel, Skinner and The Lightning Seeds release a new festive version of the ‘Three Lions’ song…

@FalsePositive6: If that’s the last thing I see on here, please know it made me happy

@MrBinks: This just made me cry. Wonderful, chaps. Bloody marvellous!

@jackfaulkner: Ah man I was doing well not getting World Cup fever this year.

@Lisa_Marie_68: “56 years of hurt, for the mens game” 😂😂😂

@SteveUnofficial: So nice to see you’ve maintained the spirit of the original by not trying to sing in tune! Making it feel real now.

@matt_gillow: Brilliant. My entire personality for the next month unlocked.

@IanGregory: That’s actually made me cry. How’d you do that 😳

@lillirosa: Woke up at 4am, checked to see if Twitter was still standing, and saw this piece of sheer brilliance ❤️⚽️

@TimOnTheTwit: I hope that in years to come when they do the talking heads documentary on the death of Twitter someone mentions this was released on the final day….

@samphlett1: The song itself will never age, still sounds fresh today.

@fergus_emily: I’m not crying… 🦁🦁🦁

@RevivedRadios: First thought, Oh no. Then I watched it, bloody brilliant!

@duckett_mike: I really didn’t want to like it, i have great memories of the original, but this actually had me laughing out loud good work.

@gillez1: This is utterly brilliant. Congratulations to all involved. And love that you celebrate the lines win do well.

@KeithAdamTaylor: This song has never once not sent a shiver running down my spine. In a good way.

@HowarthCharles: That song has such an emotional tug. I love the updates, but it still sends me back to my 20s, thinking “this time, they are definitely going to do it!” Nothing changes. I still think that and it doesn’t happen.

@helenjpower: That’s cheered me up in a crappy week. Thanks guys. Never stop recreating it!

@BenDylan: I don’t understand how you all managed to make this brilliant. It should be awful. It has absolutely no right to be so good.

@toady: It made me cry. Life passing before our eyes. The “Christmas tree formation” line was inspired. Thank you!

@petershaw1984: Wow. Thats not only got me in the mood for the world cup but also for christmas. What a fantastic update to a classic. Bravo guys. #footballscominghome

@beakerson: Not an England fan but gonna give that like because, well, well done. Love the new bits you’ve added in.

@BooksBeatles: Easy to be rose tinted – but I had the time of my life that summer and a lot of it was down to your song. Hearing it again, when so much of life seems worse, and seeing Geoff in the shirt when so many of his team mates have left us is so moving. Thank you.