"Flowers & Football Tops" is a song by Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 Indie rock

Indie rock

Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

 band Glasvegas

Glasvegas

Glasvegas are a Scottish indie rock band from Glasgow. The band consists of James Allan , Rab Allan , Paul Donoghue and Jonna Löfgren . The band received critical acclaim for their debut album Glasvegas which was released in September 2008, reaching No...

, taken from their self-titled debut album

Glasvegas (album)

Glasvegas is the debut studio album by the Scottish Indie rock band Glasvegas, first released in the UK on 8 September 2008 by Columbia Records . The album was produced by lead singer James Allan and Rich Costey . The album sold copies in its first week of release and reached number 2 on the UK...

. The song was released as a single in the UK on 23 February 2009. The song was written and composed by the band's singer and guitarist James Allan

James Allan (musician)

James Allan is the lead singer and guitarist of the Scottish rock band Glasvegas, and a former footballer.-Early and personal life:...

, who explained that the song is about the murder of Kriss Donald to The Daily Record

Daily Record (Scotland)

The Daily Record is a Scottish tabloid newspaper based in Glasgow. It had been the best-selling daily paper in Scotland for many years with a paid circulation in August 2011 of 307,794 . It is now outsold by its arch-rival the Scottish Sun which in September 2010 had a circulation of 339,586 in...

: "Sometimes when you read things or see things on TV, you can't help but put yourself in the position of people's misfortune. That was on my mind when I heard about the murder of Kriss Donald. It's about a kid who never made it home." The title is a reference to the practice common in Scotland of laying shirts of the deceased's preferred football team alongside wreaths of flowers. The flowers and footballs tops may be laid at the graveside, or - as is often the case with a violent death - at the place where they died.

"Flowers & Football Tops" contains a reconfigured segment of the song "You Are My Sunshine

You Are My Sunshine

"You Are My Sunshine" is a popular song first recorded in 1939. It has been declared one of the state songs of Louisiana as a result of its association with former state governor and country music singer Jimmie Davis. The song is copyright 1940 Peer International Corporation, words and music by...

," written by Charles Mitchell

Charles Mitchell (songwriter)

Charles Mitchell is a songwriter, best known as a collaborator with Jimmie Davis. Davis's best known composition, "You Are My Sunshine", was co-written by Mitchell.- References :...

 and Jimmie Davis

Jimmie Davis

James Houston Davis , better known as Jimmie Davis, was a noted singer of both sacred and popular songs who served two nonconsecutive terms as the 47th Governor of Louisiana...

. The green-colored 7" single for "Flowers & Football Tops" includes live tracks recorded on 16 December 2008 at Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

's Barrowlands

Barrowland Ballroom

The Barrowlands is a major dance hall and concert venue in Glasgow, Scotland.-History of Barrowland Ballroom:The original building opened in 1934 in a mercantile area east of Glasgow's city centre...

, while the black vinyl single features tracks recorded on 18 December 2008 at Her Majesty's Young Offenders Institution Polmont

Polmont (HM Prison)

Her Majesty's Young Offenders Institution Polmont is the largest of its kind in Scotland. Despite its name, the institution is located in Reddingmuirhead in the Falkirk region, and not in Polmont....

, a prison located in Reddingmuirhead

Reddingmuirhead

Reddingmuirhead is a village located in Stirlingshire, Falkirk council area, Central Scotland. A few hundred yards uphill from the village of Redding, it is between Shieldhill and Brightons....

 in the Falkirk

Falkirk (council area)

Falkirk is one of the 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland. It borders onto North Lanarkshire to the south west, Stirling to the north west, West Lothian to the south east and, across the Firth of Forth to the north east, Fife and Clackmannanshire...

 region of central Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

.

The song first appeared in a different recording as the B-side to the band's second single release "Daddy's Gone

Daddy's Gone

"Daddy's Gone" is a song by Scottish Indie rock band Glasvegas. The song was written and composed by the band's singer and guitarist James Allan....

" in November 2007 on Sane Man Records.

A music video for "Flowers & Football Tops" premiered on The Guardian

The Guardian

The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

's website on 19 January 2009, and won two awards at the 2009 UK Music Video Awards

UK Music Video Awards

The UK Music Video Awards is an annual celebration of creativity, technical excellence and innovation in music video and moving image for music....

 for best cinematography and best visual effects. The single entered the top 100 UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 at #98.

Track listings

All songs written by James Allan.

Promo CD (GOWOW017)

1. "Flowers & Football Tops" (Radio Edit)^† – 3:36
2. "Flowers & Football Tops" (Album Version) – 6:57
3. "Flowers & Football Tops" (Radio Edit Instrumental) – 3:36

^†: The 'radio edit' of the song features a slightly different mix by Rich Costey

Rich Costey

Rich Costey is an American record producer, engineer, and mixer who has worked with many bands including Muse, Cave In, Thursday, Franz Ferdinand, Glasvegas, The Mars Volta, Doves, Bloc Party, Ontronik , Jimmy Eat World, My Chemical Romance, Supergrass, Audioslave, Rage Against the Machine, Nine...

, and omits the "You Are My Sunshine" outro.

CD (GOWOW018)

1. "Flowers & Football Tops" – 6:57
2. "Cruel Moon" (Live on KEXP
   KEXP
   KEXP-FM is a public radio station based in Seattle, Washington, that specializes in alternative and indie rock programmed by its disc jockeys. Its broadcasting license is owned by the University of Washington, which operates the station in a partnership with Paul Allen's Experience Music Project...
   
    Seattle) – 4:48

7" #1, Barrowlands (GOWOW019)

• Limited numbered edition green-colored vinyl.

1. "Flowers & Football Tops" (Live at Barrowlands) – 6:22
2. "Stabbed" (Live at Barrowlands) – 2:24

7" #2, Polmont (GOWOW020)

1. "Flowers & Football Tops" (Live at Polmont Prison) – 5:38
2. "Polmont on My Mind" (Live at Polmont Prison) – 4:47

Download

1. "Flowers & Football Tops" (Live Acoustic Version) – 3:44

Download EP

1. "Flowers & Football Tops" (Radio Edit) – 3:36
2. "Please Come Back Home" (Live on KCRW
   KCRW
   KCRW is a public radio station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, carrying a mix of National Public Radio news, talk radio and freeform music format. The general manager of KCRW is Jennifer Ferro...
   
   's Morning Becomes Eclectic, 16 January 2009) – 4:18
3. "Flowers & Football Tops" (Live at Barrowlands) – 6:22
4. "Polmont on My Mind" (Live at Polmont Prison) [Cropped^††] – 3:43

^††: The digital release of the song removes over a minute of banter between James and the audience.

Personnel and credits

• James Allan – electric guitar
  Electric guitar
  An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
  
  , vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  , producer
  Record producer
  A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
  
  
• Rab Allan – electric guitar
• Paul Donoghue – bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Caroline McKay – drum kit
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  
• Rich Costey – producer, mixing