‘Rockin' All Over the World’ is a rock song written by John Fogerty, formerly of Creedence Clearwater Revival. It made its debut on Fogerty's second solo album in 1975. It was also released as a single, spending six weeks in the US top 40, peaking at #27. The song did well, but the album stalled at #78. The following year, Fogerty said in an interview with Phonograph Record, "When I finished it, there was something wrong that I just couldn't put my finger on. It sounded dated in a way, like it should have come out in 1971."
Status Quo recorded their own, heavier arrangement of Fogerty's song for their 1977 album Rockin' All Over the World. Quo guitarist Rick Parfitt came across Fogerty’s ’75 original on the radio during a drunken drive home after a night in the studio. He took it to his band-mates, who were skeptical.
“It sounded a bit piddly, to be honest,” says Rossi. “But me and Rick used to joke that we could Quo-up anything with a guitar on it. So that’s what we did.”
During the recording of Status Quo's music video to the song, bassist Alan Lancaster was living in Australia. He had refused to return to the UK for the recording, so he was replaced by a dummy with a bass guitar in the video. Quo's version was their 8th UK top ten hit, peaking at #3.
At Live Aid, Status Quo began their set (and thus the event itself, being the opening band) with ‘Rockin' All Over the World’. Quo singer and guitarist Francis Rossi said “Nobody wanted to go on first, so we went: ‘…we’ll do it’”. “But when we started playing that song, there was a total sense of euphoria. Everything slotted in. The sense of love from the audience was something else.” The song became an unofficial anthem for the event when the BBC used it to advertise their TV coverage. Coldplay performed a portion of the song at Live 8, with lead singer Chris Martin singing the chorus during the song "In My Place", after much was made of Status Quo's absence from the concert in the British media.
The song has found widespread usage in the sports world. In 1988, to support Sport Aid, Status Quo re-recorded the song as ‘Running All Over the World’ with slightly amended lyrics. It reached #17 in the UK Singles Chart. In the 21st century, Status Quo's 1977 rendition has become both an anthem of English football and European football more broadly, including as German side Bayer Leverkusen's post-goal track (a song played over the PA system whenever a goal is scored by the home team). The song is played over the PA system after England international matches, to which the crowd sings along. It is also popular as a crowd chant, with both original and modified lyrics, at various clubs around England, including Arsenal, Millwall and Wrexham.
Label – Vertigo
Songwriter – John Fogerty
Producer – Pip Williams
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]Oh, here we are and here we are and here we go
All aboard and we're hittin' the road
Here we go, rockin' all over the world
A giddy up and giddy up and get away
We're goin' crazy and we're goin' today
Here we go, rockin' all over the world
[Chorus]
And I like it, I like it, I like it, I like it
I li-li-like it, li-li-like
Here we go, rockin' all over the world
[Verse 2]
I'm gonna tell your mama what you're gonna do
So come on out with your dancing shoes
Here we go, rockin' all over the world
[Chorus]
And I like it, I like it, I like it, I like it
I li-li-like it, li-li-like
Here we go, rockin' all over the world
And I like it, I like it, I like it, I like it
I li-li-like it, li-li-like
Here we go, rockin' all over the world
And I like it, I like it, I like it, I like it
I li-li-like it, li-li-like
Here we go, rockin' all over the world
And I like it, I like it, I like it, I like it
I li-li-like it, li-li-like
Here we go, rockin' all over the world