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| It is sung by Youssou N'Dour, who wrote it, and who is accompanied by Axelle Red. An anthem in French to the colours of the world, it is called: | ||
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"Do You Mind if I Play ?" |
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| Listen to an excerpt from the Official Anthem of the 16th Football World Cup! (Real Audio) |
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| Youssou N'Dour is destined to become one of the stars of the World Cup, in his own right. The Senegalese singer - songwriter composed the Official FRANCE 98 Anthem entitled "La Cour des Grands" (Do you mind if I play), which he performs as a duet with Axelle Red. A pioneer of World Music and a friend of Peter Gabriel, Youssou N'Dour, 38, is also a big football fan; the ideal person for the job in fact. | ||||||||||
In one game, an important match I remember, I got brought down from behind and broke my leg. I enjoy watching Dutch football, specially Ajax. And I like AC Milan too, probably because they try to play the same way. No surprises in my personal list of all-time greats: Pele, Cruyff, Maradona and Platini. I never dreamed of becoming a professional footballer myself. I was never really good enough. Events took their course and in fact music came into my life pretty early. When I was twelve I was already singing in a group called Star Band, which became very popular. Nowadays I watch football more than I play it. Except on tour, and then I play with my musicians from the group Super Etoile. When I'm in the studio I arrange the sessions so they don't clash with games on TV. Something else I love doing is watching matches with a group of friends at home. It's fun to talk football, which we usually end up doing long after the match is over. African football I think has a rosy future. When you look at the big European clubs, African players feature prominently in their ranks. I love the African Nations cup, it's a magical event, I never miss it. And I've even been to some games in Senegal and the Ivory Coast. But I think it's better when it doesn't fall in the same year as the World Cup finals. When this happens the teams are too cautious and less concentrated. Still it's a great competition, all about skill, improvisation, sharpness and appreciation of the African game. It's all about feeling, in fact.
You can imagine, I was very flattered when I heard it had been chosen. Michel Platini made a special trip to the studio. He talked to me about music and I picked his brains about football. I didn't really want to sing the song on my own. I wanted Axelle Red (who played football in school and whose father managed a Belgian Division one sideED) to sing alongside me. It seemed like a great idea to have a black man and a white woman sing a World Cup anthem together. We sang it for the first time in public in Marseille for the finals Draw in front of 30,000 people. I've sung in stadiums before but that night was very special, I really had shivers of excitement running up and down my spine. The song is addressed mainly to children, so the message is one of fraternity and humanity. Kids should follow their dreams. It's really for them that I sing. Naturally I won't be working during the World Cup at all. I'll stop everything so I can follow it. Africa is better represented than ever before but unfortunately Senegal won't be there. It's too bad, especially as this generation of Senegalese footballersBocande, Youm, Simba, Mendy and the restare very talented. When the news broke that my song had been chosen for the event, the papers made a big thing about the fact that Senegal would, after all be playing its part in the proceedings because of me. I heard that it was even discussed during a governmental cabinet meeting. And the Senegalese President called me in person to congratulate me! La cour des grands Quatre années ont passé Chorus : Lémotion et la passion Chorus Chorus |
The Official Anthem of FRANCE 98 is manufactured under license by Sony Music
