Jagger gets no satisfaction as game mirrors his lyrics

MOSCOW— In a literal case of life imitating art, Mick Jagger went to see England and England lost.

The Rolling Stones frontman was at the Luzhniki Stadium on Wednesday to see Croatia beat England 2-1 in extra time in the World Cup semifinals.

Last year, Jagger unexpectedly released a pair of solo songs. One of the songs was called “England Lost,” and its starts with the tale of someone ostensibly going to watch England play a soccer match and finishes with some political commentary about Britain’s exit from the European Union.

“I went to see England, but England’s lost,” Jagger sings. “And everyone said we were all ripped off.”

Jagger arrived in Russia for the World Cup after he and his bandmates completed a short European tour in Warsaw on Sunday. He attended Tuesday’s match between France and Belgium in St. Petersburg and then came to Moscow to see his home national team play — and lose to — Croatia.

Jagger has been a regular in recent years at major soccer tournaments.

But Jagger, who is also a keen cricket fan, has been thought of as a bit of a jinx at World Cup soccer stadiums.

In 2010, he attended England’s game against Germany in South Africa. England lost.

During a European tour in 2014, Jagger wrote some encouraging words on Twitter ahead of England’s match against Uruguay in the group stage.

“Let’s go England! This is the one to win!!,” he wrote. England lost.

Perhaps it was that dire history that prompted Jagger to write “England Lost,” which he released last July — one day after his 74th birthday — along with “Gotta Get A Grip.”

At the time of release, Jagger said in a statement that the song was about more than just watching his team lose a soccer match.

“It’s obviously got a fair amount of humour because I don’t like anything too on the nose,” Jagger said then, “but it’s also got a sense of vulnerability of where we are as a country.”

Regardless of why he wrote “England Lost,” it certainly didn’t help England win on Wednesday.