5 iconic tracks about soccer: Queen, Kasabian… Mushrooms?

Soccer, bars and rock music. That’s the holy trinity of British culture. Since the second item is not our format, we combined the other two in a joint special project with Japanese music equipment manufacturer Audio-Technica. And we asked five of our authors to evaluate the sound of their favorite soccer tracks in the new ATH-ANC500BT headphones. And at the same time tell us why they love them.

Survival and Popcorn

Performed by: Muse
Narrated by: Eugene Kustov, editor of the “Auto” section.

“To choose a couple of the best Muse songs is almost unreal for me: it’s one of two or three bands from which I will listen with pleasure to almost all compositions (well, except for those from the grayish pre- and pre-sequel albums). So, for this material I chose and played two songs that are not the most popular, but directly related to sports.

Survival, if you don’t know, is the official song of the London Olympics. So when at the 2012 Games I entered the arena about 5-10 minutes before the start of the next competition, I got a great chance to listen to my favorite band once again. I was lucky enough to get a ticket to the closing ceremony of the Olympics – and there I could listen to Survival once again, but now live. Of course, there were other bands there, but I remember only Muse and Spice Girls – the latter reunited for one night only.

As for Popcorn, you know this tune very well, albeit in a different arrangement (there are hundreds of them, and the original was written back in 1969). Have you seen “Well, Wait!”? That’s where one of the versions of the composition was in the series at the construction site. Well, the melody is connected with sports in a peculiar way: it was used in the “Sportloto” screensaver. As for Muse, they did a cool Popcorn cover for a French TV program and then performed it at concerts for a while. It’s a shame they don’t do it anymore – I’m left to revisit the recordings on YouTube.”

Let nothing else distract you. The most important advantage of the updated model is the patented QuietPoint active noise reduction technology, which significantly reduces the impact of ambient noise.

Wonderwall

Performed by: Oasis
Narrated by: Valeria Barinova, Lifestyle Editor

“One of the songs that I have the warmest feelings and memories of. I immediately imagine a long car ride from city to city on weekends and music from the speakers at full blast. Or one of the evenings in Paris, when young musicians played right in front of the Eiffel Tower, so that I listened for hours. The song became so popular that it is no longer primarily associated with soccer. And the lead singer of the band, Noel Gallagher, is a big Manchester City fan. I remember in spring I saw a video from the club’s locker room after one of the matches, when he and Noel performed Wonderwall and made a big present to the fans. It was awesome!

By the way, it’s interesting that the musicians themselves are not very impressed with the song. Noel said: “Outside of England it’s our most famous song and that annoys the hell out of me. It’s not rock ‘n’ roll at all. It’s quite touching. When people come up to me and say it’s one of the best songs ever written, I think, ‘Have you even heard Live Forever?’ But City fans love it, and they’re not the only ones. There are tracks you can listen to endlessly.”

Impressive resilience. Listen to your favorite tracks on repeat for as long as you want! The ATH-ANC500BT’ s built-in lithium-polymer battery provides up to 20 hours of continuous Bluetooth use with noise-canceling enabled.

Underdog

Performed by: Kasabian
Says: Maxim Yeremin, correspondent of “Championship”

“Usually Kasabian are associated with some Club Foot from the old Fifa or Fire, which used to be the anthem of the APL. For nothing. I remember a time when I was wildly tempted to believe that the word “underdog” entered the Russian language because of them.

See the local loves a fighter
Loves a winner to fall.

What if it was this track that inspired Srivaddanaprabhu to buy out Leicester the year after the album was released? Another one came out in 2014, and that’s when Leicester reached the APL. And a couple of years later, the Kasabas were giving a lavish tribute to the perennial underdogs’ first championship at their home stadium.

“When I imagine Leicester scoring in the Premier League, and the fans jumping in the stadium to Fire composed by us, I realize that nothing better will happen in my life,” – once said the soloist Serge Pizzorno. It went even further: Ranieri would play their tracks in the locker room – to set the mood for the game.

Underdog is one of those songs you want to shout (not sing) in the pub in the morning. It also never loses its relevance. By the way, what’s Leicester’s current position in the table?”.

“The ice is melting”

Mushrooms
Narrated by: Daniil Salnikov, Tennis Editor.

“What, this song is not about soccer? Come on. It’s an anthem for our warming relationship with the Russian national soccer team – in the summer of 2018. That’s where there’s been real ice since about 2008.

The track itself is a real virus that gets into your head and doesn’t want to get out. When the song was first born, it captured the minds of millions, it topped the charts and broke all records of YouTube views. Then, on the wave of hype, memes and parodies began to appear. And even these parodies began to gain millions of views. “Melting Ice” was sung in its own way by Ivan Urgant, Philip Kirkorov, guest workers, schoolchildren and even at that time the main fan of “Lokomotiv” Olga Buzova.

Psychologists tried to explain the phenomenon of the popularity of this work of the band “Mushrooms” and concluded that the endlessly repeated sounds in one modulation were arranged in order for people to have an inner meditation, when there is a kind of calming, balancing of the psyche. But not everything is so simple. In addition to the melody, there are also words, and the poetry of “Melting Ice” is very deep, although, at first glance, everything seems to be simple and clear”.

Feel the rhythm. Listen to your favorite music and feel the depth of the beat and the clarity of the sound. With the ATH-ANC500BT headphones, this is made real with 40mm drivers that deliver the most accurate reproduction and exceptional sound.

We are the champions

Performed by: Queen
Says: Andrey Pankov, correspondent of Exclusive News Service.

“This is the most arrogant and narcissistic song I’ve ever written,” was how the great Freddie Mercury described one of his greatest songs. Queen wanted to come up with a song that the whole stadium could pick up on, that everyone could understand. They succeeded. We are the champions is probably the main song of the whole sport.

It is played literally after every final competition, whether it is the final of the school district soccer tournament or the final of the World Cup. Its charm is that it is also suitable for life situations. For example, it is nice to go home to it after successfully passing an important exam, which I do quite often. We are the champions is a great song and absolutely the main song for the whole sport.

I myself first heard this song when I was five years old. My dad turned it on for the whole apartment one day. When I heard it, I said: “What are they singing about?” Dad replied, “This song is about great things and I hope you hear it many more times in your life.”

Try hearing your favorite song like you never have before. What tracks do you associate with soccer?