"Put 'Em Under Pressure" was the official song to the

Republic of Ireland national football team The Republic of Ireland Men's national football team () represents the Republic of Ireland in men's international Association football, football. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI). The team made their debut at the Ir ...

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...

campaign in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Background

Produced by U2's

Larry Mullen Laurence Joseph Mullen Jr. (; born 31 October 1961) is an Irish musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the rock band U2. A member of the band since its inception, he has recorded 15 studio albums with U2. Mullen's distinctive, ...

, it featured an intro by

Moya Brennan Moya Brennan (born Máire Philomena Ní Bhraonáin on 4 August 1952), also known as Máire Brennan, is an Irish folk singer, songwriter, harpist, and philanthropist. She is the sister of the musical artist known as Enya. She began performing pr ...

. The song was created by Mullen, Denis Woods, John Donnelly and engineered by John Grimes. The song features 'spoken-word' mash-up taken from the film ''Que Sera Sera''. The guitar riff takes inspiration from the song "Dearg Doom" by

Horslips Horslips are an Irish Celtic rock band that compose, arrange and perform songs frequently inspired by traditional Irish airs, jigs and reels. The group are regarded as "founding fathers of Celtic rock" for their fusion of traditional Irish ...

, which features on the album '' The Táin''.

Release

The title became a

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

of then manager

Jack Charlton John Charlton (8 May 193510 July 2020) was an English professional Association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager who played as a Defender (association football), centre-back for Leeds. He was part of the England ...

, whose soundbites were sampled for the verse; the chorus was a combination of the familiar football chant "

Olé Olé Olé ¡Ole! or ¡olé! is a Spanish interjection used to cheer on or praise a performance, especially associated with the audience of bullfighting and flamenco dance. The word is also commonly used in many other contexts in Spain, and has become close ...

" and a reworking of " Ally's Tartan Army" (which was itself set to the tune of "

God Save Ireland "God Save Ireland" is an Irish rebel song celebrating the Manchester Martyrs, three Fenians executed in 1867. It served as an unofficial anthem for Irish nationalists from the 1870s to the 1910s. Composition On 18 September 1867, a group of 20� ...

"), the unofficial theme tune for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It wa ...

, and for 13 weeks the song was at number one in the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are ...

helped by a pulsating video again directed by Billy McGrath featuring footage from Que Sera Sera and the team recording the song in Windmill Lane. The song is regularly played in celebration at Irish homes matches. It was used as the opening theme for the compilation episode of

BBC Switch BBC Switch was the brand for BBC content aimed at UK teenagers. The brand was launched on Saturday 20 October 2007 on BBC Two and ceased broadcasting on 18 December 2010. It included a block of television programmes on BBC Two, an online portal ...

series ''

Chartjackers ''Chartjackers'' is a British documentary series, produced by Hat Trick Productions and commissioned by BBC Switch. It documents the lives of four teenage Video blogging, video bloggers over the course of ten weeks, as they attempt to write, rec ...

''. In 2011,

RTÉ One RTÉ One is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by RTÉ. It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís Éireann'' on 31 December 1961, it was renamed ''R ...

aired a quiz show titled ''

Put 'Em Under Pressure "Put 'Em Under Pressure" was the official song to the Republic of Ireland national football team's 1990 FIFA World Cup campaign in Italy. Background Produced by U2's Larry Mullen Jr., Larry Mullen, it featured an intro by Moya Brennan. The song w ...

'', presented by

Gráinne Seoige Gráinne Seoige (; born 5 November 1973) is an Irish people, Irish journalist, news anchor and documentary and entertainment television presenter. A noted Irish language supporter, Seoige is the only television personality to have worked with a ...

. The phrase ''Put 'Em Under Pressure'' is to this day used in relation to the Ireland national football team.

References

{{FIFA World Cup music Irish rock songs Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Republic of Ireland national football team songs Chartjackers Republic of Ireland at the 1990 FIFA World Cup Association football songs and chants London Records singles 1990s in Irish music