Football is our life is a World Cup song of the German national football team , composed and produced by Jack White in 1973 in the run-up to the 1974 FIFA World Cup and sung by the then current players of the A-national team of the German Football Association .
background
The 1974 FIFA World Cup was held in West Germany. Leading up to the tournament, the German national team, victorious at the 1972 European Championship, had reached a new peak in popularity in Germany. Musically, 1973 saw a golden age of German Schlager music ; both football and Schlager benefited from the widespread adoption of television sets in West German households since the late 1960s and the corresponding television programs.
album
White produced an album entitled “Football Is Our Life,” which, in addition to the title track, contained eleven other songs in the style of contemporary pop hits and some folk melodies. The LP was released by Polydor in 1973 and contained the following tracks:
Side A:
Football is our life (3:45)
Come, give me your hand (2:48)
We are at home all over the world (3:04)
I’ll catch the sunshine for you (3:25)
Mohikana Shalali (Instrumental, 4:20)
…and at home (3:00)
B-side:
I’ll serenade you today (3:28)
The gentian blooms blue (3:50)
Olala l’amour (3:26)
Cheerfulness and coziness (2:50)
Show me the place in the sun (Instrumental, 3:53)
Beautiful Maid (3:00)
The album was re-released on CD for the 2006 FIFA World Cup .
singing
The 1973 squad of the German national team sang. The following players can be heard: Bernhard Franke , Bernhard Cullmann , Hans-Hubert Vogts , Erwin Kremers , Franz Beckenbauer , Gerhard Müller , Georg Schwarzenbeck , Heinz Flohe , Helmut Schön (coach), Herbert Wimmer , Horst Höttges , Horst Köppel , Josef Kapellmann , Josef Heynckes , Jürgen Grabowski , Klaus Wunder , Paul Breitner , Josef Maier , Uli Hoeneß , Wolfgang Kleff and Wolfgang Overath . [ 1 ]
Most of the players had no singing experience; only Franz Beckenbauer had already charted in 1966 with the release of “Gute Freunde kann niemand auseinander” (Good Friends Can’t Be Separated ). Gerd Müller also tried his hand at singing in 1969 with the song “Dann macht es bumm” (Then It Goes Boom) . [ 2 ]
Single releases
The title track, “Football Is Our Life,” was released in 1973 as a 7″ vinyl single, coinciding with the album’s release. It celebrates the way football positively dominates the players’ lives and portrays it as the most important thing in the world. The line “King Football rules the world” became particularly well-known. As intended by the producers and the German Football Association (DFB), the song became the anthem of the 1974 FIFA World Cup and Germany’s title win. It continues to be played and enjoyed at football events to this day.
Besides “Fußball ist unser Leben” (Football is our life), ” Frohsinn und Gemütlichkeit” (Cheerfulness and Coziness) was also released as a single, but enjoys far less fame and cult status than this one.
Further publications from the German national team
→ Main article : German national football team/Discography
Following the success of Football Is Our Life, it became a tradition, maintained until the 1994 FIFA World Cup , that each team recorded a music album and released a “World Cup song” before World Cup tournaments.
The national team of the DFV of the GDR also recorded the football anthem ” Ja, der Fußball ist rund wie die Welt” together with the pop singer Frank Schöbel in 1974 on the occasion of the country’s only participation in the World Cup .
The Qataris must be thinking, “at least they’re not talking about all the people we killed to get the stadiums built for our World Cup. Good thing we didn’t qualify for this one.”
