WHEN WE’RE WINNING
Neil writes a song for Saints
The Paisley 2021 Stadium could soon be rocking to the sound of a brand new anthem.
Scottish songwriter Neil Grant has penned a catchy tune inspired by St Mirren’s recent run of good form.
The 40- year- old has already written tunes for Ross County, St Johnstone and Cowdenbeath and has now turned his attention to the Saints, with the catchy tune ‘We are The Buddies.’
Originally from the Black Isle, but now living in Gothenburg, Neil says he hopes his new song will be played before matches at the Paisley side’s home fixtures in future.
He told the Paisley Daily Express: “For me, the main source of inspiration in writing a track for St Mirren is the fans.
“The Buddies are a club situated in the same area as Scotland’s two footballing giants, so that geographical underdog tag has always attracted me.
“There’s a line in the song - ‘Bigger clubs can be found, with glory-hunters abound, but nothing will compromise our loyalty,’ – which I feel sums up the integrity of many St Mirren fans.”
And now he has put the feelers out about the song being played at The Paisley 2021 Stadium ahead of big matches.
“I’ve only just made initial contact with the club, so it’s early days at this point,” he added.
“However, my hope is that the club embrace the track and play it at the stadium.
“That would be a huge honour for me.”
Writing songs for Scottish teams allows Neil to combine his two great passions in life – music and football.
He explained: “Two of my loves in life are music and Scottish football, so I thought why not combine the two?
“I’m not sure why it took me so long to put this idea into motion, but I’d like to think that the many other projects I’ve been involved in beforehand have equipped me better to do this.” “As I grew up in Culbokie on the Black Isle, I decided to compose a song for my local club Ross County just for fun. “The club ended up really liking it and started playing it at every home game. It was even played at Hampden when Ross County reached the League Cup final last year. “Encouraged by the song’s success, I decided to compose songs for other Scottish clubs that I’ve taken a liking to. “Fellow top- flight club St Johnstone played my newlycomposed track for the first time three weeks ago, followed by Second Division Cowdenbeath just last week. “So, at this point there are three Scottish clubs who have now embraced my tailor- made tracks.”
Neil moved to Sweden after a spontaneous weekend trip to Gothenburg in 2009.
He said: “My gut instinct told me that I should be living there.
“Even though it is culturally different from Scotland, I immediately felt right at home there.”
To hear Ne i l ’ s tune visit www. youtube. com/ watch?v=5XT8CH20IPg