You know when you haul yourself out of bed in the morning and you have a spring in your step? Remarkable only for me, because it is so bloody rare. Lets just say I’m not a morning person. Never have been, never will be. This morning was different though. My radio went on, and I almost bounced out bed with a huge smile on my face.
No, I didn`t spend all of last night relentlessly banging Anna Friel like a barn door in a storm (unfortunately). There was no cocaine on my cornflakes. Much more simple than that. The radio played my all time favourite song; ‘Everybody Wants To Rule The World` by Tears for Fears. This song has been it for me for so long. Some of you may remember a video called Chelsea – The Pain And The Glory out about ten or twelve years ago. It was just footage of Chelsea through the years to a soundtrack, with songs like ‘Reward` by The Teardrop Explodes, and ‘Don`t leave me this way` by Jimmy Somerville and The Communards. It was bloody good actually. One of those things that sounds daft in principle but was good in practice. Anyway, the Tears for Fears record was the first up, with the highlights of our majestic 1970 two-legged FA Cup win over dirty Leeds. Since that time, I’ve associated it with seeing Houseman, Webb, Cookie, Eddie Mac, Chopper, Bonetti, Hutch, Hollins, Dempsey, Baldwin, and that diving Peter Osgood header. Cooke crosses, Charlton is nowhere, and Ossie dives low to hammer it past Sprake to equalise – you`ve all seen it a hundred times, and I still put it up there as one of the all time great Chelsea goals. It puts the hairs up on the back of your neck just thinking about it doesn`t it? Everytime I hear that song, it brings a smile to my face as I remember the scenes from that replay at Old Trafford. It`s a great song anyway, but with that added pathos, it is a thing of beauty.
This morning though, I listened to the words, and realised that the song has implicit relevance to today’s team too.
Welcome to your life.
There’s no turning back.
Even while sleep,
We will find you.
Acting on your best behaviour,
Turn your back on mother nature.
Everybody wants to rule the world.
It’s my own design.
It’s my own remorse.
Help me to decide.
Help make the most,
Of freedom and of pleasure.
Nothing ever lasts forever.
Everybody wants to rule the world.
There’s a room where the light won’t find you,
Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down.
When they do I’ll be right behind you,
So glad we’ve almost made it,
So sad they had fade it.
Everybody wants to rule the world.
I can’t stand this indecision,
Married with a lack of vision.
Everybody wants to rule the world.
Say that you’ll never never never need it.
One headline why believe it?
Everybody wants to rule the world.
All for freedom and for pleasure,
Nothing ever lasts forever.
For me, it`s about an obsession, something that you can`t get away from. It`s a rage against something, a need for expression. It`s about the fragile thing that being a Chelsea fan is. The title is right. Everybody wants to rule the world, and we`ve dreamed about doing it for so long, and doesn`t it feel good to be the ruler of the world right now?
We are it. We are the top dogs. We’ve waited for years and years, and now were here, firmly at the top of the pile – all for freedom and for pleasure. Everybody else wants to be where we are, and I don`t care what the Scousers say about not wishing they were us, they would love it. Anyone would. We most certainly do. We’ve done our time in the lower leagues in the 70s and 80s, to horrible, sh*tty Northern hick towns where all we would get up there was the train home, and more than likely a hail of bricks. No, we’ve arrived, and it feels fantastic.
The establishment hate us, and I love that. I thrive on it. Indeed, most of my pieces on here tend to have that as a theme – that everyone hates us, and I hate Liverpool and Dirty Leeds. I fully appreciate that I`m a hate-filled ball of anger and sarcasm, but at least I`m not bitter! Doesn`t it feel great to be hated? Does the bitterness and bile from everyone make me smile? Of course it does. Means we are doing something right. We are top dogs. Top of the pile. The Daddies. The Don. Top Boys. Back-to-back Premiership Champions.
This leads me to almost my last point. I cannot f*cking wait for the new season. I am almost giddy with excitement. We have a great chance of being the Three in a Row Boys. That`s a hell of a feat if we can pull it off. It`s going to be tighter than the proverbial Duck’s backside, but we have to fancy ourselves. Arsenal have strengthened with Rosicky and I expect better from squeaky-clean Van Persil and an increasingly impressive back line, whilst Liverpool will be their normal unbelievably lucky, whining selves, but with Gerrard in the team they will be a threat, and I think Bellamy will do alright for them if he doesn`t end up in Prison. Man United will be a threat again and concede far fewer with Heinze back for a full season, and (whisper this very, very quietly), I think Sp*rs could surprise some people this season. They have a very good manager, and if they can hold onto Carrick, then they have the basis of a pretty good side. But if you look at us, with Bridgey back, and the best striker in the world up front in Sheva, with Ballack, Obi-Mikkel, and Kalou, and a seemingly rejuvenated Essien, we will be very, very tough to beat over the course of the season. Hopefully we will see a more fluid, attacking football from Jose this season, and I think if we start really dishing out some five or six goal hidings, then we will build up that aura of invincibility that we had season before last, and lost a bit towards the end of last season. We have the best manager in the World, and in Ballack, Lampard, Terry, Cole, Shevchenko, Robben, Cech, Carvalho, and Gallas, we have some of the very finest players in the World. Not bad is it? I can`t wait for the new season.
But here is my final point, a cautionary note if you will.
Take a look at the last line of the song above. Nothing ever lasts forever. This dreamland, this Chelsea wonderland will not last forever. It may last a long time, or it may end tomorrow – the truth is none of us know. It`s a bit like a metaphor for life isn`t it? You don`t know how long you’ve got, and the only certainty is that it will all end someday. Just as none of us are getting out of this life alive, the Roman Chelsea domination will fall one day, just as the Romans did. Life is cyclical, and we are nearly at the top right now. So let`s just enjoy it, lap up the bitterness and hatred, and get on with the serious business of retaining our Title, and having a laugh. We are the best footie fans in the World, and we deserve this.
Lets enjoy it.
CAREFREE!!!!
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