John Barnes rap

The song wasn't originally going to feature a rap, it was the brainchild of Allen after he had been recruited to help inject some humour into the song.[2] In doing so it broke one of the football song genre's "rules", that footballers shouldn't rap, although this fit with New Order's approach to the project of doing the opposite everyone recommended they do when writing a football song.[1] Barnes had in fact previously rapped on another football song, titled "Anfield Rap", for his club side Liverpool F.C.'s 1988 FA Cup Final appearance.[3]

The FA had requested members of the squad be involved in recording the song, and six turned up on the day, Barnes being joined by Peter Beardsley, Paul Gascoigne, Steve McMahon, Chris Waddle and Des Walker. On the day of the recording, the lyrics had yet to be finalised, with players, band members and others all collaborating on parts. Former player and co-writer of the Anfield Rap Craig Johnston came up with the line "we ain’t no hooligans, this ain’t a football song", which dovetailed New Order's wish that the song be genre breaking, and the FA's need for it to distance the team from tribalism or hooliganism. A plan to have each player take turns to sing a line of the rap was abandoned, and instead it was decided to audition each player to perform the rap in its entirety. Jamaican born Barnes ended up being selected after Beardsely, Gascoine, McMahon and Walker were all deemed unsuitable either due to their broad northern English accents or inability to keep the required rhythm. Waddle was not auditioned as Barnes was selected before he was trialed.[1][4] As such, Barnes was the only player given a leading vocal on the song, the others being restricted to backing vocals.[5] A remix on the song's B-side does feature a shorter version of the rap with each player singing a line.[4]

For the video of World In Motion, Barnes mimes the rap in a black and white piece to camera, holding a football under his right arm, while Allen messes around and the band dances and sings "Ing-Ger-Land" in the background.[6] The segment was filmed at Liverpool's training ground, leading to Barnes featuring wearing a red Adidas tracksuit (Liverpool's kit sponsor) rather than the Umbro sponsored England gear.[4]

In live performances of the song by New Order, such as at Reading and Glastonbury, Allen has performed the rap.[4] Barnes is often coaxed into making impromptu performances of the rap, such as during an appearance on Family Fortunes,[6] at public appearances.,[7] or when bumping into celebrity football fans such as Ed Sheeran.[8]

According to Peter Hook of New Order, Tony Wilson had arranged for David Beckham to perform the rap with New Order's re-recording of the song as the official 2006 England World Cup anthem, only for the FA to veto it as they planned a project with Ant and Dec instead (the song ultimately chosen being World At Your Feet by Embrace).[9]

Confectionery company Mars re-recorded the rap as part of a 30 second television advert as part of their 2010 World Cup campaign, amending the last word of penultimate line, "Three lions on our shirt", to "Mars".[6]

As a thank you to Barnes for expressing his support for the Remain side of the 2016 UK-EU referendum, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron posted his own performance of the rap.[10][11]

The song reached number 1 in the UK music charts, with the simplicity of the lyrics of the rap leading to thousands of fans mimicking Barnes' performance.[12] The rap has since gone on to achieve iconic status among football fans and earn a place in English football history.[1][3][5][13] The rap became the most remembered part of the original song, being talked about at each subsequent World Cup, with new generations of fans not even born in 1990 being able to recite the lyrics.[1] According to Greg Heffer of The Daily Express, "every respectable football fan knows the words".[8]

According to BBC News entertainment reporter Chris Leggett, while Barnes' rap in the FA cup song was "one of the worst pre-Vanilla Ice raps of all-time", his 1990 effort was the first time a footballer had managed a respectable performance in a World Cup song, all previous efforts having marked by out of tune recordings and mimed performances on the likes of Top of the Pops.[14]

According to Mark Sweeney of The Guardian, Barnes's rap was "cringeworthy" and he appeared "uncomfortable" in the video.[6] Oliver Pickup of The Daily Telegraph calls the lyrics "rather nonsensical", adding "Barnes' cameo is certainly unique".[15]

• List of England football team songs