Wen Liejimei
Martin · Garys holds the Delaunay Cup, a symbol of the top honour of European sports. /Image from the web
Unlike the past 15 editions, which have been held in one country or co-hosted by two countries, this European Cup is held throughout the continent and the British Isles, with 11 cities in different countries. From a spatial point of view, this is a tour. This also means that the radius of the theme song of this European Championship has never been larger. But, is anyone really listening?
The title of the theme song "We Are the People" is very affectionate and humanistic, which reminds people of "We Are the World" led by Michael Jackson in the 1980s to raise charitable funds for Africa. From a sports point of view, there must be Queen's "We Are the Champions", and the worldwide popularity should be the No. 1 in the "We Are the X" series.
Also "We Are the", "We Are the People" is destined to be difficult to fire.
"We Are the World" has simple lyrics, slow rock rhythms, moving melodies, sings the most empathetic compassion and the most universal care, and is the first pop music to truly connect the world.
In a sense, it's Michael Jackson's greatest work has been hailed as "purifying and sublimating the human soul."
In the 80s, M. J. organized a great music recording. /Image from the web
"We Are the World" appeared in the more peaceful 1980s for its own reasons. After decades of rapid development after the war, the gap between the rich and the poor in the world is huge, and mankind suddenly looks back and realizes the need for mutual assistance. Its Chinese translation name is "Four Seas and One Family", which is quite flavorful. Although in the current era of fragmentation, listening to this song again, there is an extra layer of feeling.
The singing form of this song is also important. Songwriter Michael Jackson and another composer, Leonard M. Richie teamed up with 45 top musicians to sing the song, including Steve Lee. Wanda, Paul Simon, Kenny · Rogers, Bruce M. Springsteen, Kenny M. Rockins, Bob M. Dylan and my favorite little pepper Cindy · Laupa. The appeal of music is invisible and powerful. This model of singer-singing was later copied to Taiwan, and the classic song "Tomorrow Will Be Better" that chinese people are more familiar with.
"We Are the World" is, after all, a highly social song, and its sociological significance exceeds that of the music itself. "We Are the Champions", which appeared earlier in 1977, is different, it expresses human nature, carries the passion and profundity of Queen, and shocks people by the music itself. It sounds like it's a celebration of the strong and the champions, but it's not, it's comforting to all of us that everyone is strong, and everyone must have that kind of power in their hearts, otherwise why would everyone feel like a champion when they hear it.
Queen's 1977 release of We Are the Champions became a timeless classic. /Image from the web
There is no doubt that "We Are the Champions" has far higher views around the world than "We Are the World" because it has both a humanity that transcends the times and can be properly embedded in the atmosphere of all sports competitions. Every athlete will tell you, "That's my favorite song to hear." On the track of life, each of us is an athlete.
Listen to the Euro Cup theme song "We Are the People" and you'll find it weak. In order to show the gesture of integration, the young electronic music star Martin Garrix co-wrote with the lead singer Of Rock Andy U2 and guitarist The Edge, but the style of the song still takes the electronic route in order to cater to the tastes of the younger generation. What is singing, just listen to this sentence:
Streets of Dublin to Notre Dame
Dublin street to Notre Dame
We'll build it better than we did before
We will do better than before
The trio's "We Are the People" had a mediocre response. /Image from the web
It's about European integration. At a time when Brexit and the epidemic have intensified multilateral contradictions, it is of course okay for the European Cup to use songs to promote positive energy values. On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the European Championship, the concept of "One Europe" is also appropriate. Left-wing intellectual Tony Judt wrote in "A History of Postwar Europe" that what really united the whole of Europe was football. Everything is so relevant, right.
However, when you let a theme song of a competition carry so many political and humanistic connotations, I am afraid it will be limited to emptiness. Competition, after all, is a game of confrontation, and the reason why football is popular is because it has the fun of primitive tribal confrontation and satisfies the animal nature of human nature. The streets from Dublin to Notre Dame are full of fans with beer and hormone excess, are you right for them to shout a slogan of "One Family in Europe" at this time? So there's no doubt that "We Are the People" is destined to be just the background music of a certain moment, and it can't really come to the stage.
终究的终究，we are not the people，we are the champions，OK？