In an irresistible rumble, the chorus crashes down. You may not have any clue what the words mean, but that’s OK. Many people who sing it don’t know either.
The name of the tune is “Yma o Hyd.” Dafydd, a Welsh folk singer and nationalist, released it in 1983. Its title is translated to “Still Here.” Now, wherever the Welsh soccer team goes it seems to follow.
“I don’t know every single word because I don’t speak fluently in Welsh,” Gareth Bale, captain of team, said the song is often played in their locker room. and Take the bus to the games and Its fans will serenade them with it today in Al Rayyan. “The song is starting to become our anthem, behind the national anthem — one that everybody loves to sing.
“It’s very catchy. It means something to us all and engages the players with the fans. It’s been a big hit.”
The song’s path to jock jam status was an unlikely one. After being adopted into the sports clubs’ repertoire, it has steadily grown in popularity. and pro-independence groups. One such campaign for Welsh independence saw the song reach No. 1 on the United Kingdom’s iTunes chart in 2020.
Iwan was invited by the Welsh team earlier this year to perform the song on the field in advance of two crucial qualifying matches. The performances were captured on video and circulated worldwide. The song reached No. It reached No.1 on the iTunes Chart again shortly afterward, ahead songs from Kate Bush and Harry Styles and Lady Gaga
“It’s difficult for me to explain the appeal, but obviously there is a patriotic appeal from the Welsh point of view,” Iwan stated. (The defiant and A proud Welsh chorus is translated to “We’re still here.”) “But also it’s quite a stirring song, an anthemic song. A lot of people who’ve never heard it before, when they hear it for the first time in the stadium, they’re quite taken by it.”
Moments later Wales Qualified for the World Cup in June with a win over Ukraine in Cardiff, the entire team — with Bale front and center — sang the song together again with Iwan on the field. Iwan, who traveled with the team in Qatar to the World Cup, said the sight of a player of Bale’s stature singing a song in Welsh at the top of his lungs was invaluable for promoting Welsh identity. He praised the Welsh Football Association for more conspicuously integrating elements of the nation’s culture and Language “into the whole ethos of the team” In recent years.
“My support for the Welsh football team is an extension of my Welshness. They are all intertwined,” Iwan said.
Iwan, like many of his compatriots, went out that night in June to celebrate the team’s World Cup berth. He recalled that the city was riling with joy.
“The first pub I walked into, everybody stood up and cheered as if I had scored the winning goal,” He laughed.
