They formed in Hersham, UK in 1976. Sham 69 lacked the art school backgroun… Read Full Bio ↴They formed in Hersham, UK in 1976. Sham 69 lacked the art school background of many rock bands of the time, and brought in football chants, drinking songs and a sort of inarticulate political populism. The band had a large skinhead and hooligan following, which helped set the tone for the Oi! movement. Their concerts were notoriously plagued by violence, and the band ceased live performances after one of their gigs at Middlesex Polytechnic in 1978 was broken up by National Front skinheads fighting and rushing the stage.

Sham 69 released their first single, "Ulster", on Step Forward Records in August 1977, and its success in the independent charts prompted Polydor to sign the band. Their major label debut was "Borstal Breakout" in January 1978, followed by UK singles chart success with "Angels With Dirty Faces" (reaching number 19 in May 1978), "If The Kids Are United" (number 9 in July 1978), and "Hurry Up Harry" (number 10 in October 1978). The latter came from their second LP and first full studio album, That's Life.

They then started to move away from punk rock into a sound heavily influenced by classic British hard rock bands such as Mott The Hoople, The Who and The Faces, evidenced on their third album, The Adventures of the Hersham Boys. Sham 69 broke up after their fourth album. Pursey moved in a heavy metal direction after working with the remaining members of the Sex Pistols for a short time, under the name Sham Pistols. Dave Treganna joined the pioneering 1980s glam-punk-Gothic band, The Lords of the New Church, with Stiv Bators of The Dead Boys and Brian James of The Damned.

Pursey resurrected Sham 69 in the 1990s with a different line-up, but without major success. "If The Kids Are United" was used in a McDonald's advertising campaign, long after the rights to their songs had been sold. Pursey is a vegetarian, and appeared in the UK media condemning the use of one of his songs by what - he saw - as a multi-national animal and human abuser. The band gained further media attention when "If The Kids Are United" was played during UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's entrance at the 2005 Labour Party Conference. As a result of this, they were invited onto BBC TV's current affairs programme, Newsnight to sing a version of the song. Altered lyrics were sung, including "Mr. Blair / We know you care / So bring them home / Don't leave them there", referring to the troops remaining in Iraq after the the 2003 invasion.

In 2006, Virgin Radio listeners voted overwhelmingly for Jimmy Pursey to record a song to support England in the FIFA World Cup. The song was based on the Sham 69 hit, "Hurry Up Harry", and instead of the lyric being, "We're going down the pub", it was changed to, "We're going to win the cup!" The resulting single, "Hurry Up England" reached number 10 in the UK Top 40, becoming the band's first such hit for over 26 years.

In 2006 Jimmy Pursey left Sham 69, leaving guitarist Dave Parsons to carry on with a new singer. Sham 69 continues to tour in this new line up.

The Game
Sham 69 Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Todos dicen que es mentira
Que te quiero
Porque nunca
Me habian visto
Enamorada
Yo te juro que yo misma
No comprendo
El por que

De tu mirar
Me ha facinado
Cuando estoy cerca de ti
Ya estoy contenta
Yo quisiera que de nadie te acordaras
Tengo celos
Hasta del pensamiento
Que pueda recordarte
A otra persona amada

Jurame
Que aunque pase mucho tiempo
Pensaras en el momento
En que yo te conoci

Mirame
Pues no hay nada
Mas profundo
Ni mas grande en este mundo
Que el cariño que te di

Besame
Con un beso enamorado
Como nadie me ha besado
Desde el dia en que naci

Quiereme
Quiereme hasta la locura
Y asi sabras la amargura
Que estoy sufriendo por ti

Todos dicen que es mentira
Que te quiero...

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Sham 69's song "The Game" describe the experience of falling in love for the first time. The singer expresses disbelief that she could feel so strongly for someone she has never met before, and the intensity of her emotions is evident in lines like "Yo quisiera que de nadie te acordaras/Tengo celos/Hasta del pensamiento/Que pueda recordarte/A otra persona amada" ("I wish that you wouldn't think about anyone else/I am jealous/Of even the thought/That you might remember another person you loved"). Despite her confusion and insecurity, the singer is eager to be with the object of her affection and is willing to make all kinds of sacrifices in the name of love.

The chorus of the song is a plea for the object of the singer's affection to love her in return. She asks him to remember her always, to look into her eyes and see the depth of her love for him, to kiss her with passion like no one else ever has, and to love her to the point of madness. The singer is completely vulnerable in her love for this person, and the emotional intensity of the lyrics underscores the way that love can make people feel both ecstatic and vulnerable.

Line by Line Meaning

Todos dicen que es mentira
Everyone says it's a lie that I love you

Que te quiero
That I love you

Porque nunca
Because they've never

Me habian visto
Seen me

Enamorada
In love

Yo te juro que yo misma
I swear to you that even I

No comprendo
Don't understand

El por que
Why

De tu mirar
Your gaze

Me ha facinado
Has fascinated me

Cuando estoy cerca de ti
When I'm close to you