Next time you hear Gala’s rave hit “Freed From Desire”, spare a thought for Danny Dyer. When the Rivals actor’s beloved West Ham won the Uefa Europa Conference League last year, the team’s star winger (and Dyer’s future son-in-law) Jarrod Bowen scored the winner in the 90th minute and sparked euphoric scenes all the way from Prague to east London. The stands were quickly reverberating with a crude folk anthem set to the song’s tune. “Bowen’s on fire,” sang the fans. “And he’s shagging Dani Dyer!” Luckily, Dyer was able to see the funny side. “I think there’s a bit of romance in it,” he told an interviewer later. “Think about it: it’s a compliment. They’re saying Bowen is on fire, which is unreal, and he’s also shagging Dani Dyer. So if you think about it, they’re saying it can’t get any better. So there’s a compliment in there. Listen, sometimes I’ll start the song off.”
Dyer isn’t the only one to get caught up in the irresistible surge of energy sparked by “Freed From Desire”. In the past few years, the song has become ubiquitous, from football terraces to darts tournaments and protest marches around the world. Last year striking teachers sang: “My pay’s no higher, Rishi Sunak is a liar…”, while countless football fans have adapted the lyrics to fit their favourite players, a trend that began in 2016 when Newcastle United fans sang it in tribute to Aleksandar Mitrović and a Wigan Athletic fan went viral after recording himself singing about striker Will Grigg.
