"Underdog" is the third single released from the album ''

West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum ''West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum'' is the third studio album by British indie rock band Kasabian, which was released on 5 June 2009. It was the band's first album not to feature Christopher Karloff, the band's lead guitarist and songwriter wh ...

'' by

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

band

Kasabian Kasabian ( ) are an English rock band formed in Leicester in 1997 by lead vocalist Tom Meighan, guitarist and occasional vocalist Sergio Pizzorno, guitarist Chris Karloff, and bassist Chris Edwards. Drummer Ian Matthews joined in 2004. Karlof ...

. It peaked at number 32 in the

UK Singles Chart 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-s ...

on the week after the album's release. Despite this, it became a widely popular song.

Popular culture use

"Underdog" was used in the credits of the 2010 film ''

Takers ''Takers'' (formerly known as ''Bone Deep'') is a 2010 American heist action thriller film directed by John Luessenhop from a story and screenplay written by Luessenhop, Gabriel Casseus, Peter Allen, and Avery Duff. It features Matt Dillon, Pau ...

''. Snooker player

Mark Selby Mark Anthony Selby (born 19 June 1983) is an English professional snooker player, who is a four-time World Snooker Champion. Ranked world number one on multiple occasions, he has won a total of 21 ranking titles, placing him eighth on the ...

has used "Underdog" as his walk-on music. "Underdog" is currently used as the run out music by English

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

football teams Colchester United and Peterborough United, until Dave Robertson took over in February 2015, with the first match without "Underdog" being played a 2–0 win over Bradford City. The music also featured in the Carlsberg England team talk advertisement for the 2010 World Cup, as did the band themselves. During the

2011 Rugby League Four Nations The 2011 Rugby League Four Nations tournament (also known as the 2011 Gillette Rugby League Four Nations due to sponsorship by Gillette) was the third staging of the Rugby League Four Nations tournament and was played in England and Wales during O ...

, an instrumental version of the song was used as music during

video referee Instant replay or action replay is a video reproduction of something that recently occurred which was both shot and broadcast live. The video, having already been shown live, is replayed in order for viewers to see again and analyze what had j ...

decisions. The song was played during the fourth episode of the first series of the

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...

sitcom ''

Mongrels A mongrel, mutt or mixed-breed dog is a dog that does not belong to one officially recognized breed and including those that are the result of intentional breeding. Although the term ''mixed-breed dog'' is sometimes preferred, many mongr ...

''. The song, like many other Kasabian tracks, is also used in at least one episode of BBC Two's ''

Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...

''. It was also used on a highlight video for the 2009 European Grand Prix on the official

Formula 1 Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

website. The song was also featured on an episode of ''

The World's Strictest Parents ''The World's Strictest Parents'' (or ''World's Strictest Parents'') is an international television franchise reality series developed by Twenty Twenty with its original broadcast in the United Kingdom by BBC Three. There are also many other i ...

'' in Australia. "Underdog" has been used by

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

in a commercial for their

BRAVIA Bravia (stylized as BRAVIA) is a brand of Sony Visual Products Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation, and used for its television products. Its backronym is "Best Resolution Audio Visual Integrated Architecture". All Sony high-defi ...

televisions. The advert also features

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player

Kaká Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (; born 22 April 1982), commonly known as Kaká () or Ricardo Kaká, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. In his prime as a playmaker at AC Milan, a period marke ...

while he was with his former team

AC Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seasons ...

wearing their home kit. The track is also included in the 16-track playlist of the 2009 racing simulator '' Need for Speed: Shift''. The song is part of the soundtrack of car racing game '' Asphalt 8: Airborne''. "Underdog" also features in the background of a scene in ''

Misfits Misfits or The Misfits may refer to: Film and television * ''The Misfits'' (1961 film), a film starring Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, and Montgomery Clift * ''The Misfits'' (2011 film), a Mexican film * ''The Misfits'' (2021 film), an American ...

'', season one, episode four. It was also covered by international superstar

Kelly Rowland Kelendria Trene Rowland (born February 11, 1981) is an American singer, actress, and television personality. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of Destiny's Child, one of the world's List of best-selling girl groups, best-selling girl ...

during her BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge session in 2010. It was used in the regional competition scene of the 2011

docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television and film, which features dramatized re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of documentary and drama and "a fact-based representation of real event". Docudramas typic ...

Soul Surfer A soul surfer (term invented during the 1960s) is a surfer who surfs for the sheer pleasure of surfing. Although they may still enter competitions, winning is not the soul surfer's main motive, since they scorn the commercialization of surfing. T ...

'', the true story of

Bethany Hamilton Bethany Meilani Hamilton (born February 8, 1990) is an American professional surfer and writer who survived a 2003 shark attack in which her left arm was bitten off and who ultimately returned to professional surfing. She wrote about her exper ...

. This song is also used by

Cancer Research UK Cancer Research UK (CRUK) is the world's largest independent cancer research organization. It is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man, and was formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and t ...

Race for Life Race for Life is a series of fundraising events, organised by charity Cancer Research UK. They involve running, jogging or walking a 5-kilometre, 10-kilometre or 'Pretty Muddy' course and raising sponsorship for doing so. The money raises funds fo ...

campaign, appearing in television and radio advertisements, and played at the start of each event. "Underdog" was also used as the entrance music for George Groves in his boxing match against Carl Froch at Wembley Stadium. An instrumental version of the song is featured in Toyota Australia's television commercial that premiered in July 2016.

Track listing

*Digital EP # "Underdog" – 4:36 # "Julie & the Moth Man" – 5:38 # "Underdog (Sasha remix)" – 10:27

Personnel

* Tom Meighan – lead vocals * Sergio Pizzorno – guitars, synthesizers, backing vocals * Chris Edwards – bass * Ian Matthews – drums * Jay Mehler – additional guitar

Music video

The music video features a live performance by the band in black and white.

Chart performance

Following the release of Kasabian's album, "Underdog" managed to enter the

at number 32. However, on the single's physical release in October 2009, "Underdog" only managed to reach number 45, meaning it failed to beat its original peak of number 32.

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Underdog (Kasabian Song) Kasabian songs 2009 singles Songs written by Sergio Pizzorno 2009 songs RCA Records singles Columbia Records singles