Natasha Hamilton has shared footage of herself and fellow Atomic Kitten member Liz McClarnon singing their 2001 single ‘Whole Again’, borrowing the football-themed lyrics appropriated by England fans in praise of manager Gareth Southgate.
The hit started being sung by travelling supporters during the 2018 World Cup in Russia, as the England national team progressed to the tournament’s semi-finals.
The lyrics to the original ‘Whole Again’ chorus were adapted, however, with new lines referencing ‘Three Lions’ by David Baddiel, Frank Skinner and The Lightning Seeds: “Looking back on when we first met / I cannot escape and I cannot forget / Southgate, you’re the one / You still turn me on / Football’s coming home again”.
Posted on Instagram yesterday evening (July 3) on the night that saw England convincingly beat Ukraine 4-0 to reach the semi-finals of Euro 2020, the footage shows Atomic Kitten – a duo since Kerry Katona left the group for a second time in 2017 – performing the song to a group of England fans, who enthusiastically sing along.
Hamilton captioned the post: “When you and your Bessie mate of 20+ years do a gig with new words adopted by England fans!…very surreal but so much fucking fun!”
Watch the clip below.
Atomic Kitten performed a Footballs Coming Home version of Whole Again last night?
RELEASE IT!!!! pic.twitter.com/H394soewqq
— Bally Singh (@putasinghonit) July 4, 2021
The group considered officially re-recording the song back in 2018, although a new version was never released.
The track’s original songwriter Andy McCluskey told The Guardian at the time: “The Kittens are really chuffed and are actually considering remaking the single with the England lyrics.
“Any time something you’ve created becomes widely accepted is humbling and touching. I wonder who made that first connection by starting to sing it, and suddenly everyone was doing it.”
Liam Gallagher, Yungblud, Gorillaz, and Ed Sheeran, meanwhile, were also at the forefront of the entertainment world’s reaction to England’s win in Rome last night, with the latter sharing a video of himself telling fans: “Guys, I don’t know if you’ve heard the news: it’s coming home.”
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