July 14, Bastille Day, may well be the birthday of modern France, but modern Frenchpeople prefer to celebrate July 12. On that date ten years ago France won the World Cup, beating Brazil 3-0 in the final in Paris.
First they were afraid, they were petrified: Robert Pires, Bixente Lizarazu and Zinedine Zidane with the World Cup.
Even for non-football fans, the date now has enormous emotional resonance. The French side that night was a multicoloured mix of black, white and north African origins – an accurate cross-section of French society today. Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the extreme-right Front National, had bemoaned the excess of non-white players in the French squad – completely misjudging the mood of the moment. There were optimistic hopes that the exploits of Zizou and co. would slay the beast of French racism.
This optimism was cruelly shattered in 2002. In that year’s presidential election, five million French people voted for Le Pen and put him into the second round run-off against Jacques Chirac. As for les bleus, their World Cup defence was a disaster and they came home from South Korea after the first round, without even scoring.
For French people, one piece of music evokes those dizzy heights of le douze juillet. Yes, football fans here get all misty-eyed when they hear that old disco classic, “I Will Survive”.
Why has a feminist anthem from the 1970s become the theme to France’s 1998 World Cup win? Well, it’s really down to a 1995 cover version by the Hermes House Band. Their version of the song features a trumpet arrangement of the song’s middle section and fade-out, which throws in a few “Olé!” flourishes and slows to a can-can rhythm before speeding up again. It was played in the French stadia before many matches, and fans took to its party vibe and what musicologists no doubt call its singalongability.
It captured the imagination of French people in the mysterious way that pop songs often do. Soon French fans were singing along in ”la la la” style and repeating that one line all through the night. By the time Didier Deschamps lifted the trophy, that single line had come to embody the joy and celebration of a nation.
Even today, if you find yourself at a French party or campsite and you want to break the ice, just start singing the instrumental break from this:
