With no official anthem for the English team at this year’s FIFA World Cup in Moscow, Bognor musicians Dan Williams and Chris Woolley decided to get their own song together, while at the same time raising awareness and funds for mental health.
The track, ‘England Gets Better’, is an upbeat singalong tune, and focuses on England’s football teams of the past, in particular the team which made the semi-final at Italia 1990 – while at the same time cheering on the current team to even better in Russia. The FIFA World Cup kicks off in Moscow on 14 June.
There’s a deeper message behind ‘England Get Better’ however, one about mental health, and also the consequences attached to it, such as suicide. Shockingly in the UK and Ireland it’s the highest cause of death among males aged 20-49. Dan and Chris know all too well about this, their friend Alfie “Aelf” Morris took his own life almost exactly 5 years ago, and they know of others who have committed suicide since.
Speaking of the project to Spirit FM, Dan said,
“It’s been five years since his (Aelf’s) passing coming up in two weeks’ time. We’ve come up with a song and obviously it’s got the spirit of my mate in it so we thought, why not? – let’s do something to raise awareness.
There’s also been another casualty in Bognor recently, very sadly – a friend of our brother’s, Danny Johnston, has recently passed. He also suffered mental health issues, after serving for our country.
We thought this is the most poignant time ever to really do something and get the voice out there, so hopefully we can recognise it in the future and not lose anyone else.”
Chris added,
“Everybody that you speak to is in this situtation, they can relate to it – ‘it happened to my friend’, ‘it happened to my sister’ – it’s becoming too common.
It’s everywhere and I think there’s more we can do.”
All profits from the music video will go to mental health charity SANE, as will 50% of sales from current and future releases. You can download and stream ‘England Get Better’ on Spotify, iTunes and Amazon.
Watch the video for ‘England Get Better’:
