{"id":636623,"date":"2026-06-13T12:20:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T12:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/636623\/"},"modified":"2026-06-13T12:20:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T12:20:09","slug":"del-amitri-frontman-justin-currie-recalls-backlash-over-scotlands-1998-world-cup-anthem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/636623\/","title":{"rendered":"Del Amitri frontman Justin Currie recalls backlash over Scotland’s 1998 World Cup anthem"},"content":{"rendered":"

The frontman of Scottish alternative rock band Del Amitri says their infamous song \u201cDon\u2019t Come Home Too Soon\u201d was never intended to be the official anthem of Scotland\u2019s trip to the 1998 World Cup.<\/p>\n

Justin Currie recorded it having watched Craig Brown\u2019s side qualify for the tournament in France, but had no idea it would enter Scottish football folklore.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wrote it as a love song to the Scotland football team because I had just watched them qualify,\u201d he told STV News.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe night I wrote it, they had qualified for the 98 World Cup. I was very jubilant and I decided to write this song, which could be interpreted by American audiences as being some European family wishing their relative good luck and going out to the States.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I secretly knew it was about the Scotland men\u2019s football team, which is quite an embarrassing thing that I didn\u2019t really want to admit. I played it to my flatmate and he said \u2018you should put that out during the World Cup\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought \u2018really\u2019 and then our manager heard it, and he and a record company lobbied hard to make it the official thing. Personally, I think it was a bit of a mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n

Currie recalls the song being controversial at the time, with some fans getting in touch to complain that he was creating a negative atmosphere around the side.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cIt\u2019s the only thing I\u2019ve ever done where it completely divided the nation in half and I got a lot of people taking issue with me, saying I was letting the whole side down and the country down and all that sort of stuff, which is just very strange because when you write a song you just expect it to be judged on its merits \u2013 not on it having another purpose, to help a team win a football match, which was never my intention.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy songs would normally have the opposite effect. Put it this way, there isn\u2019t a dressing room in the world that plays a Del Amitri song before they go on the pitch, in any sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the song would have done better if it wasn\u2019t an official song, but at the time nobody else wrote one and there was a terrible rush to select the official song, whatever that means. I don\u2019t think they really do it anymore.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey just plumped for our song, knowing that it wasn\u2019t a rousing anthem in any way, it was quite a sad, ironic little thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking forward to going to US<\/p>\n

Del Amitri are currently touring the United States and are playing a gig in Boston on June 18, the night before Scotland face Morocco in Massachusetts in their second World Cup group game.<\/p>\n

Currie is looking forward to the atmosphere the Tartan Army will bring to the occasion.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were in France for the 98 World Cup, the atmosphere and the Tartan Army and all that was brilliant, so I\u2019m looking forward to that aspect of it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m slightly dubious about mixing sport and music, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn\u2019t. We\u2019ll see if we can pitch it right, so it\u2019s kind of a party but also just a gig.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always enjoyed playing live. It gets more difficult as you get older, just the physical side of it is a lot more difficult but we wouldn\u2019t do it if we still didn\u2019t really love it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still performing despite Parkinson\u2019s<\/p>\n

Currie revealed several years ago that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson\u2019s disease, and he is aware the condition means he will have to stop performing.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt my age and in my condition, every gig I finish is a bit of a victory,\u201d he explained. \u201cBecause I\u2019ve got Parkinson\u2019s disease, I\u2019m obviously going to have to stop at some point and as that date approaches, I celebrate the gigs more and more \u2013 almost to the point I\u2019m punching the air and going \u2018yeah, I got away with that one\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s one-nil.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got a point (in mind) beyond which I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll be able to muster enough sort of physical energy to be performing the way I want to perform. But you never know, with something unpredictable like a degenerative brain disease, you never know when you might have to stop very suddenly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been feeling really well. I feel better now than I did four years ago, so I\u2019m pretty confident I won\u2019t have to stop in the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019ve got a kind of date in mind, which is a way of sort of relaxing a bit and going \u2018right, well I can stop at that point.’\u201d<\/p>\n

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