A parody group’s re-versioning of Baddiel, Skinner and The Lightning Seeds‘ ‘Three Lions‘ song for a ‘take the knee’ spoof has gained traction online.
The Iain Duncan Smiths’ song places right-wing personalities Laurence Fox, Nigel Farage and Tommy Robinson at the centre of the 1996 hit song, imagining what the three figures have to say about footballers taking the knee against racism in sport.
Some of the lyrics in the song, which comes with a video showing the personalities’ heads stuck on to existing bodies, read: “Everyone seems to know the score / We’re calling for a race war“, and: “You can stick your Karl Marx / […] Don’t take the knee“.
Watch the parody below:
Fox is an actor who last month failed in his bid to become Mayor of London with 1.8 per cent of the vote share.
Farage is a former British MP and MEP whose party UKIP campaigned for the UK to leave the EU in the run-up to the 2016 referendum. Robinson, meanwhile, is a far-right and anti-Islam activist who was found guilty of contempt of court in 2019 and served a prison sentence, for which he has since been released.
The parody has been released as England’s national football team prepares to demonstrate more ‘take the knee’ protests ahead of their games throughout the Euros 2020, which were postponed from last year until this summer due to the coronavirus pandemic.
‘Take the knee’ originates from US sports games. Since August 2016, some American athletes including former NFL player Colin Kaepernick have protested against police brutality and racism by kneeling on one knee during the US national anthem playout.
England manager Gareth Southgate has said his team is “more determined than ever” to ignore any boos from fans in the stands who are against the protest.
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