"Don't Mention the World Cup", also titled "Don't Mention the War", is a 2006 song written by

Dean Whitbread Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

and

Ashley Slater Ashley Slater (born 1961) is a British trombone player and best known for his narration on the television series Boo! as well as his work with Norman Cook (a.k.a. Fatboy Slim) in the band Freak Power. Career In 1983 after leaving the army, Sl ...

and performed by The First Eleven with John Cleese. Released to coincide with the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

, it was intended to dissuade supporters of the

England national football team The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affilia ...

from referring to the Second World War while in Germany for the tournament.

History

The song references Cleese's ''

Fawlty Towers ''Fawlty Towers'' is a British television sitcom written by John Cleese and Connie Booth, broadcast on BBC2 in 1975 and 1979. Two series of six episodes each were made. The show was ranked first on a list of the 100 Greatest British Televisio ...

'' character

Basil Fawlty Basil Fawlty is the main character of the 1970s British sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'', played by John Cleese. The proprietor of the hotel Fawlty Towers, he is a cynical and misanthropic snob, desperate to belong to a higher social class. His attemp ...

's line in "

The Germans "The Germans" (named on some releases as "Fire Drill") is the sixth episode of the BBC sitcom '' Fawlty Towers''. In the episode, while suffering the effects of concussion, Basil Fawlty repeatedly offends some German guests. Despite warning ...

" episode: "Don't mention the war. I did but I think I got away with it". Cleese released this song as a way to try and change English feelings towards Germans and to move people away from associating Germans with the Second World War. Cleese recorded his lines for the song as Basil Fawlty. German authorities supported the song as a way to dissuade supporters of the

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and Australia national football teams from displaying

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

symbols or gestures during the World Cup. The song was also intended to get England fans to refrain from using rude words towards Germans. The song also made an allusion to comedian Stan Boardman's German jokes with the line, "They bombed our chip shops". Boardman, who also wrote a World Cup song, " Stan's World Cup Song", stated that he felt Cleese's use of his joke was "very cheeky" and didn't believe that Cleese had a chip shop in his hometown of

Weston-Super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmix ...

Reception

"Don't Mention the World Cup" was released on 12 June 2006; however, it failed to chart in the

UK Singles Charts The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top- ...

. The song was also criticised in '' 3:AM Magazine'', which gave it two stars and stated that "Cleese's flat delivery is Fawlty". Nonetheless, despite lack of UK chart success, press and television coverage was generally favourable. The song was featured on ITV News in a segment on football violence.

References

External links

The official music video
{{authority control England national football team songs 2006 songs Fawlty Towers England at the 2006 FIFA World Cup England–Germany football rivalry