The Power of Four

"The Power of Four" is a joint anthem composed for the British & Irish Lions rugby union team. It was written by Neil Myers in 2005.[1] It was commissioned by the Lions head coach, Sir Clive Woodward for the 2005 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand as the official song. It was intended to be a universal anthem for the British & Irish Lions to be sung before every game. However it was criticised as being uninspiring as members of the Lions squad did not engage with it and it was also noted that the fans did not like it. It was dropped as the Lions anthem after the 2005 tour and led to changes in the way music would be chosen in future Lions tours.

"The Power of Four"
Song by Melody Music Lions Choir
LanguageEnglish
Published2005
Songwriter(s)Neil Myers
Composer(s)Neil Myers

Background

The Lions were originally a representative team of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, but players from the Irish Free State remained eligible after it left the U.K. in 1922. Donal Lenihan recalled his dissatisfaction that the U.K. anthem "God Save the Queen" was played during the 1989 tour to Australia.[2] Later Lions teams lacked any anthem.[3][4] There was similar discontent among Northern Ireland players about the use by the Ireland national team of "Amhrán na bhFiann", anthem of the Republic of Ireland. This led the Irish Rugby Football Union to commission "Ireland's Call" in 1995 as an alternative.

2005 Lions Tour

The Power of Four was commissioned by Sir Clive Woodward for the 2005 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand and was written by Neil Myers. It was recorded by the Melody Music Lions Choir. The song is a classical composition[5] played in a high key.[6] It was first performed live by Welsh singer Katherine Jenkins before the British & Irish Lions rugby union match against Argentina at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales in 2005.[7] it was performed despite suggestions of either God Save the Queen, the Welsh national anthem Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau or a combination of the anthems of the Home Nations of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland being played instead of The Power of Four.[3] It is always sung in English.

Before the British & Irish Lions squad was selected, Woodward sent out bracelets with "The Power of Four" printed on them to potential British & Irish Lions players to try and create a sense of unity and to make them think about the upcoming tour to New Zealand. This was criticised as being "crazy".[8] The Power of Four was also used as a motivational slogan in some of the Lions' team building activities.[9]

The lyrics of The Power of Four were circulated to all of the members of the British & Irish Lions tour squad and the song was pre-added to the playlists on their tour iPods. The song was not released as a single however it was permitted to be broadcast by radio stations and it was made available to download on the Internet. The British & Irish Lions players were shown the words of The Power of Four on the Saturday before their first game and it was expected that they would know the words by the time they had arrived in New Zealand; however, it was mentioned by a British & Irish Lions spokesman that the players were under no obligation to sing it.[10]

Reception

The BBC opined during the Lions' warm-up game against Otago that it was not inspiring for the Lions supporters to sing.[11] Austin Healey observed that the players did not appear to like "The Power of Four" ("Power") when it was performed.[12]

Before the first Test match, it was noticed that despite Lions fans being filmed singing "Power", none of the players did sing it when it was played as the Lions anthem before God Defend New Zealand.[13] It was also noted that Lions fans felt that "Power" was not catching on and some even suggested that Axel F would be better than "Power".[14] It was also suggested that due to a perceived selection bias towards English members of the Lions, that Land of Hope and Glory should be used instead of "Power".[15] The Lions' acting captain Martin Corry said that he did not attempt to sing "Power" because he felt that he would not be able to reach the correct notes.[16] In 2009, Lions lock Alun Wyn Jones said that "I'd rather sing "The Power of Love" [lower-alpha 1] when asked if he would want to sing "The Power of Four".[17]

The song experienced a mixed response in the media. In July 2005, following the Lions tour, a journalist on the BBC Sport website, James Standley, commented that "Power" is "hollow and disliked by fans."[18] However, Lions coach Sir Clive Woodward said he hoped it would "stir the passions".[1] It was also described in The Independent as an "excruciating mix of politburo and classical pop".[19] However Danny Stevens in The New Zealand Herald said that "Power" was not a bad song but unfortunately nobody actually knew the tune or the words."[20] The words of "Power" were also compared to be similar to the New Zealand Māori rugby union team's "Timatanga" haka in The Telegraph.[21]

The anthem did not return for the 2009 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa, which received a positive reaction from Sky Sports reporters.[22]

Legacy

The negative reception of The Power of Four was listed as one of the issues used to criticise Woodward for the failures of the tour.[23] It was also pointed out that Woodward and team manager, Bill Beaumont used The Power of Four whenever they entered into a press conference which led to the press conferences being referred to as possibly being "mistaken for a revivalist meeting".[24]

After 2005, The Power of Four became largely forgotten.[25] During the 2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia, ESPN jokingly suggested that The Power of Four would be remixed into a hip hop song for the third test by Pharrell Williams and would be performed by Snoop Dogg.[5]

See also

Notes
  1. Reports do not say which specific song Jones may be referring to, and there are several with this title. See: The Power of Love (disambiguation) § Songs

References
  1. Harlow, Phil (23 May 2005). "Sing when you're winning". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  2. Lenihan, Donal (2016). Donal Lenihan: My Life in Rugby. Random House. p. 214. ISBN 1848272251.
  3. "Lions still mulling stadium anthems". Cardiff: Western Mail (archived at The Free Library). 21 May 2005. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  4. "Roar of the four". Yorkshire Evening Post. 25 May 2005. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  5. "Lions reveal re-mixed 'Power of Four' anthem". ESPN. 4 July 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  6. Hitt, Carolyn (25 June 2005). "Lions have the habit of hitting a winning note". Wales Online. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  7. "Lions announce new official song". BBC Sport. 23 May 2005. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  8. Austin, Simon (21 May 2005). "The wacky world of Woodward". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  9. Henson, Gavin (2005). My Grand Slam Year. HarperCollins UK. p. 240. ISBN 0007216866.
  10. "News article – Style E 4600". IRFU. 22 May 2005. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  11. "Clockwatch: Otago 19–30 Lions". BBC Sport. 18 June 2005. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  12. Healey, Austin (19 June 2005). "Boot that anthem into touch – but less so the ball". Guardian. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  13. "First Test match". 2005 British & Irish Lions tour. Christchurch. 25 June 2005. Anthems minutes in. SKY TV.
  14. Smith, Paul (22 June 2005). "Lions Tour blog, June". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  15. Frank Keating (17 June 2005). "Rugby Union: Frank Keating". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  16. "Nightmare start for Captain Corry". Wales Online. 9 June 2005. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  17. Staff writer (19 June 2009). "The Pride of the Lions". Sky Sports. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  18. Standley, James (12 July 2005). "Legend or loser?". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  19. "Pace and power can help Lions reach giddy heights". The Independent (archived at World News). 19 April 2009. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  20. "Strictly kiwi music, not Tom Jones, for Lions games". New Zealand Herald. 17 June 2005. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  21. Brendan Gallagher (10 June 2005). "Maori traditions rooted in the never-ending tour". Telegraph. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  22. "Match Commentary – South Africa v British & Irish Lions – 20th June 2009". Sky Sports. 20 June 2009. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  23. Rugby Union. "Saints can save clever Clive from ruck bottom". Telegraph. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  24. "Tour brought more talk than action". New Zealand Herald. 9 July 2005. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  25. Rees, Paul (17 October 2008). "Rugby Union: Unity the priority as Lions opt for familiar faces". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  • MP3 file archived from the British & Irish Lions' site. Note: here the lyrics are slightly different: "our countries' call" rather than "our lions' call".

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