England’s chances of winning the World Cup in South Africa will be given a massive musical boost this year, thanks to inspiration from the most unlikely of sources.
Over the moon
If things go to plan as English supporters hope, then Charlie Chaplin, a First World War zeppelin and the Potters Bar Band will play their part in ensuring Fabio Capello and the lads will be over the moon and not as sick as a parrot — all thanks to a brilliant World Cup winning song.
Blighty
The song, called 'Bring it back to Blighty', started life as a community project, whose inspiration harks back to the trenches of the First World War.
Even though there is a fun element to it all, the backstory is fascinating and very poignant. The story behind the film is a real connection to Potter’s BarStuart Fearn
Facinating story
Stuart Fearn, one of the driving forces behind it all told 4BR the fascinating story.
"The idea came about after we saw a documentary on a rare Charlie Chaplin film that was recently discovered – believed to be one of the rarest pieces of film in the world.
"The silent movie shows a title card from 1916 that would have instructed the local cinema pianist to play the song, 'Take me back to dear old Blighty', whilst also making reference to a German zeppelin that was shot down in Potters Bar."
Bizarre
The rather bizarre connections to the local town gave Stuart and friends the idea to explore the story further, and after gaining permission from EMI recordings, who owned the rights to the old song, they set it to music with a signing group and asked the band to join in.
Spectacular success
The result has been a spectacular success, with Talksport radio taking a real interest in trying to promote it as the unofficial World Cup song for Fabio and the lads in South Africa.
Stuart added: "Even though there is a fun element to it all, the backstory is fascinating and very poignant. The story behind the film is a real connection to Potter’s Bar."
See and hear the song