ladbible logo

To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

You Might Have Been Singing 'Three Lions' Wrong Your Whole Life

You Might Have Been Singing 'Three Lions' Wrong Your Whole Life

There seems to be one lyric that people just don't know.

Tom Wood

Tom Wood

If you've been anywhere in England in the past few days, you will have heard the constant, beery refrain of 'it's coming home, it's coming home, it's coming...'

The Lightning Seeds' enduring football anthem, featuring the... erm, 'untrained' voices of 90s comedy double act David Baddiel and Frank Skinner, is everywhere at the minute, so good luck if you're already fed up of it.

As long as England remain in the World Cup - so one more match at the very least after they edged past Colombia - we'll have to put up with it. Well, it wasn't voted the country's greatest World Cup song for no reason whatsoever. And anyway, it's coming home, isn't it?

But does anyone actually know the lyrics? It seems as if a lot of people have never taken the time to understand what the song actually says.

The most common misheard lyric in the Euro '96 anthem is 'Jewels remain still gleaming'.

Twitter

The actual lyric is, as every schoolboy knows, 'Jules Rimet still gleaming'. However, it would seem that boozy England fans aren't exactly au fait with French football administrators of yesteryear.

They should probably know that Jules Rimet was the man that the old World Cup trophy was named after

Twitter


Twitter

You know, the trophy that England won in 1966, because that was the year that England won the World Cup, in 1966, England won the World Cup, remember?

Anyway, Jules Rimet was the president of FIFA for 33 years, which is still the longest time that anyone has been FIFA president. Presumably the offices didn't get raided quite as frequently back in those days, and maybe he wasn't a money-grabbing tyrant.

Twitter


I mean, where to begin with this...
Twitter

The trophy was named after him in 1946 and it continued to honour him until 1970. It was actually stolen in 1966 (which was the year that England won the World Cup) but returned seven days later after having been found by a dog called Pickles.

It stopped being used as the trophy in 1970 because Brazil won it for a third time (that's two more than England, who - of course - won it in 1966) and got to keep it forever.

It was then stolen again and is thought to have been melted down.

Anyway, Rimet was immortalised in song alongside legends who've worn the Three Lions such as Nobby Stiles, Gary Lineker, and Stuart Pearce.

via GIPHY

So, the next time you're celebrating an England penalty being awarded by inexplicably chucking your beer into the air, soaking everyone around you in warm Carling, remember that the words you are singing are important, and that the lyric is not 'jewels remain still gleaming', but 'Jules Rimet still gleaming'.

Also, stop throwing beer.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: SPORT, Russia 2018, Football, Music, three lions, England, World Cup