Iconic Scottish indie darlings, Belle and Sebastian, released their latest track ‘It Only Takes One Lion’ last week in the lead up to Scotland facing off at the World Cup for the first time in 28 years. The song, released on Matador Records, is a love letter to the spirit of Scottish football. Dedicated to the team, the tartan army, and the nation as a whole.
Written after the team’s historic win against Denmark in November 2025, the lyrics tell of the pain and hurt we’ve faced in the 28 years it had taken to get back to this point – the lyrics are really able to capture the mythical nature of the whole ordeal. Murdoch’s way of describing the memorable last minute of the match, how he so clearly paints the picture of how the ‘The Mclean shot is hanging in the air‘ is such a clear testament to not only the brilliance of this track, but the overwhelming talent of Murdoch’s lyricism as a whole. and the lyrics aren’t just poignant, they’re also incredibly witty! The lyric ‘Mount Florida is Coming to Miami’ never fails to bring a smile to my face, but the titular lyric ‘It only takes one lion to score’ is of course the witty stand out of the track, with it’s cheeky reference to the classic English football track ‘Three Lions’.
The song has an incredibly bright and punchy instrumental, with poppy strings and zapping synths – yet it is paired perfectly with the calmness and timeless inclusion of the classic acoustic guitar and piano – this united contrast helps to reflect the unity of our vast and wide nation, as do the track’s use of gorgeous harmonies. As we are all different, from city to city, village to village, home to home, we are all unique and individual – but that doesn’t matter now – as we all were awake, sitting up, at 4 o’clock in the morning watching our team take on Haiti, together in our nervousness and hope.
The single is upbeat, passionate, and hopeful – as is our nation. And when we dive into uncertainty when the starting whistle blows in the dead of night or the (very) early morning, at least we’ll have great music to calm our nerves.
The track was debuted in London at the Royal Albert Hall (where this article’s cover image was taken by photographer Sonja Horsman), in the midst of the band’s 30th anniversary tour for the classic albums ‘Tigermilk‘ and ‘If You’re Feeling Sinister‘. This tour continues all throughout the year, with two sold out shows in Glasgow later this month – I can’t help but wonder if we’ll still be in the World Cup then…