Essex musicians release Christmas World Cup song
The single is inspired by Band Aid’s ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’
A group of Essex musicians have released a Christmas single about the World Cup, and its profits are going to the Band Aid Trust.
Terry Tyler is a DJ from Harlow, and he came up with the idea for the song last Christmas, while on a walk with his family.
He said: “My son said, ‘Next year the World Cup will be during Christmas season, will we have Christmas music on or are we listening to football songs?’
“As a family, we love Christmas and football, so we started combining the two and did the ’12 Days of Christmas’ but with football players.
“And then my wife said, ‘How about ‘Do They Know It’s Coming Home’?’, and I thought that was a great idea!”
Terry then started re-writing the words of ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’ and soon created his own version of the hit.
He contacted some musician friends and formed Fans Aid. In just two months, they finished the track and decided to do a videoclip, which was filmed at Harlow Rock School.
Terry added: “I wanted to do something more with it because I was immensely proud of what we had done.
“So, we filmed the video in the summer, and it was a bit surreal. There were no games going on, and we had England t-shirts and flags, and Christmas decorations up. People passing by must have thought it was a bit strange.”
Now, the song already has more than 10,000 views on YouTube, and it is on other streaming platforms, such as Spotify and iTunes.
This month, Fans Aid performed at the Harlow Christmas Lights switch on, and in December they'll go to Parliament to discuss the fundraising project.
Terry said: “Whether one person hears it or a thousand people, I am proud that we made it, that it physically exists. So, when my son's older, he can be watching England with his friends in a pub and say, ‘my dad made a World Cup song’.”
Terry added that the Essex community has been amazing, even playing the track in pubs.
“Both me, my son and my wife are getting stopped in the street to talk about the song. My little boy is loving it as when he goes to school, all the parents and teachers are talking about it and playing the song in his class. The local community has been really great!”, Terry said.
‘Do They Know It’s Coming Home’ has already raised a few thousand pounds to the Band Aid Trust, from their profits and merchandise.
Terry said: “The Band Aid song is one of the most recognizable singles ever made, so I thought straight away, if we can do it justice, people are going to sing along and notice our song.
“It’s a great song for a great cause and I wanted to do it justice, so I hope we have and hope that anyone that hears the track thinks it’s well done… for a bunch of amateurs.”
Terry hopes the song gets more exposure, potentially nation-wide.
He said: “I would love it to go nationally. People all over the country to hear it and sing it and share it, it would be incredible!
“We’re just trying to reach new people now, that's the challenge we face at the moment in trying to get to the next level of exposure.”
You can listen to the single on YouTube: https://youtu.be/kuHCZsEe00M
You can donate to Fans Aid here: https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/fundraising/fansaid2022