0:00:17 > 0:00:20The challenge was that they weren't asking for a typical Elbow song
0:00:20 > 0:00:22as much as a sports theme tune.
0:00:25 > 0:00:29We knew it would sound like us, because that's unavoidable
0:00:29 > 0:00:31because we're doing it,
0:00:31 > 0:00:33but we didn't want it to be an Elbow song as such.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38We came in this room
0:00:38 > 0:00:40and we said, "Right, OK,
0:00:40 > 0:00:45"we've got to write a song for the BBC for the Olympics."
0:00:45 > 0:00:46We just sat around and started going...
0:00:46 > 0:00:49HE DRUMS ON LEGS
0:00:56 > 0:01:01Drumming on our legs, just an exciting, compulsive sort of rhythm
0:01:01 > 0:01:03and we moved from there, really.
0:01:12 > 0:01:17We knew it had to be huge and anthemic and over the top.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22I've only seen storyboards for the animation,
0:01:22 > 0:01:25so we're looking forward to seeing all that as well.
0:01:27 > 0:01:29We knew Elbow was doing it
0:01:29 > 0:01:32and that it was going to be anthemic.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35I did two sketches really quickly that really came to mind.
0:01:35 > 0:01:40There was a profile image of a lock with a giant diving platform
0:01:40 > 0:01:41and a very small diver on it
0:01:41 > 0:01:47and then the other shot I sketched was the sprinters in the blocks.
0:01:47 > 0:01:49We didn't want to go superhero,
0:01:49 > 0:01:52we wanted to kind of tread a new ground
0:01:52 > 0:01:54between being fantasy superhero but being real
0:01:54 > 0:01:59and we wanted to pay the athletes kind of as much respect as possible.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03The visual end frame summed up the overall idea.
0:02:03 > 0:02:09It was the coming together of all of the UK as viewers of the Olympics.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16We've never been asked to do anything like this at all, really,
0:02:16 > 0:02:19nothing this big. I think the closer it's getting, the Olympics,
0:02:19 > 0:02:23you realise what a massive thing for the country it is.
0:02:24 > 0:02:26LAUGHTER
0:02:31 > 0:02:33Can I introduce Guy Garvey and Craig Potter from Elbow?
0:02:36 > 0:02:38It's by far the biggest orchestra we've worked with,
0:02:38 > 0:02:39the Philharmonic, yeah.
0:02:42 > 0:02:44The first idea...
0:02:45 > 0:02:47..was mine.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54The first thing you hear should be a brass fanfare.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59The first five notes were to represent the five rings
0:02:59 > 0:03:01and that was just somewhere to start.
0:03:02 > 0:03:04Almost a call to arms, you know,
0:03:04 > 0:03:07if you hear it on the TV, people need to know,
0:03:07 > 0:03:10"That's the Olympics on, let's go and watch the Olympics."
0:03:20 > 0:03:23The decision to sort of involve a choir as well
0:03:23 > 0:03:26was just to make it more everyman.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29There isn't a sound that encapsulates that more than a gospel choir.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33Losing it. Don't listen to each other, listen to the click.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35# The moon... #
0:03:35 > 0:03:37The lyrics to the song are actually about
0:03:37 > 0:03:41parents watching their kids' first steps
0:03:41 > 0:03:44because as you can probably tell,
0:03:44 > 0:03:47I've absolutely no experience of athletics of any kind.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49LAUGHTER
0:03:49 > 0:03:52It was during the writing of the track
0:03:52 > 0:03:55that Pete's baby daughter Martha walked for the first time
0:03:55 > 0:03:58and we all got this video that he'd taken on his phone
0:03:58 > 0:04:00and I was thinking, actually,
0:04:00 > 0:04:05this moment has got lots and lots of human elements to it.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07They're proud of her
0:04:07 > 0:04:09and it's about their hopes for her being realised
0:04:09 > 0:04:11and it just seemed to fit
0:04:11 > 0:04:16if I really simply wrote the lyrics about feelings of pride
0:04:16 > 0:04:19and also that, you know, "We're with you," that element,
0:04:19 > 0:04:22then that's kind of related to what's happening
0:04:22 > 0:04:25when you're backing your team
0:04:25 > 0:04:27or when you're willing an athlete to win.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33# Our strength
0:04:33 > 0:04:37# And love
0:04:37 > 0:04:40# All in
0:04:40 > 0:04:43# Your blood
0:04:43 > 0:04:46# Our hope... #
0:04:46 > 0:04:48'Who was first was always going to be a sprinter'
0:04:48 > 0:04:52and then you kind of would balance that with a swimmer, to be fair,
0:04:52 > 0:04:55so that represents the Olympics and sport quite well.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58We introduced a weightlifter. He could kind of represent
0:04:58 > 0:05:02a bigger version of everybody else that was going on.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04Then we went, "OK, so who's the small athlete
0:05:04 > 0:05:08"that kind of counterbalances the big, strong weightlifter?"
0:05:08 > 0:05:10So we looked at the gymnastics
0:05:10 > 0:05:13and we went for a very tiny gymnastic girl.
0:05:16 > 0:05:21We liked the finish and the success in her eyes and her happiness.
0:05:21 > 0:05:26We definitely wanted to bring personality to these characters too.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30There's far more losers than winners, really,
0:05:30 > 0:05:35so we felt we needed something that was reassuring and sympathetic
0:05:35 > 0:05:39but had a tint of sadness to it,
0:05:39 > 0:05:43because that's the place not to lose, isn't it, for an athlete?
0:05:43 > 0:05:45At the Olympics.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47We called it the love theme at one point
0:05:47 > 0:05:49but it doesn't really suit it because
0:05:49 > 0:05:53it's more the losers' theme, I suppose you could call it!
0:05:53 > 0:05:55But me and my drummer, Jupp,
0:05:55 > 0:05:58whenever the theme came up, we were doing that at each other.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00HE LAUGHS
0:06:00 > 0:06:03Now we're trying to tell a story
0:06:03 > 0:06:07so that story comes from the script from the agency, then we do an interpretation of it.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09There's a classic three-act structure to athletics.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11If you took sprinting,
0:06:11 > 0:06:14there's the waiting, there's the gun that goes off,
0:06:14 > 0:06:17there's the running and then there's the finish line.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19Although we kept that kind of three-act structure,
0:06:19 > 0:06:23this is really where Elbow's music comes into it
0:06:23 > 0:06:26because it's got an emotional arc to it, there's ups and downs
0:06:26 > 0:06:29and you can feel and you can see what's going on.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33The classic thing would have been
0:06:33 > 0:06:35sunny blue skies for the summer Olympics.
0:06:35 > 0:06:37Really, what we wanted to get
0:06:37 > 0:06:41was a little bit of mood, little bit of grit into it, overcast skies,
0:06:41 > 0:06:44with sun kind of breaking through gaps.
0:06:52 > 0:06:53The best outcome for us
0:06:53 > 0:06:57is that people watch what's going to unfold,
0:06:57 > 0:06:59the drama that's going to unfold,
0:06:59 > 0:07:01and they don't notice the music.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04The piece of music was designed to accompany the Olympics,
0:07:04 > 0:07:08this ridiculous endeavour on the part of all these people,
0:07:08 > 0:07:10this is the high point of most of their lives.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13So we got the music to a place where
0:07:13 > 0:07:16we were feeling very emotional, having heard it 100 times,
0:07:16 > 0:07:19we were still feeling the moods within the piece
0:07:19 > 0:07:23so hopefully, there won't be a dry eye in the country.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26# Our strength... #
0:07:26 > 0:07:30I'm really proud to have lived here for such a long time
0:07:30 > 0:07:33and have a vision of what I love about London and the UK.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37I've worked on the third, fourth floor of this building for ages
0:07:37 > 0:07:39and I look out the window constantly
0:07:39 > 0:07:40and I can look down to the street
0:07:40 > 0:07:44and I can be completely inspired by the people walking past
0:07:44 > 0:07:48or the pub across the road or I can see all the chimney stacks.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50I look out there and I love it.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53The lighting changes constantly. I find that really inspiring.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02All the hope expressed in the vocal,
0:08:02 > 0:08:06kind of pre-emptive feelings about the beginning of the games
0:08:06 > 0:08:09and all the people coming together for one thing,
0:08:09 > 0:08:12which is a great thing,
0:08:12 > 0:08:14this sort of noble fanfare,
0:08:14 > 0:08:17which is to do with the heritage and the tradition of it,
0:08:17 > 0:08:20and people being the best they can be in their field
0:08:20 > 0:08:24and then this theme for people who've tried and failed,
0:08:24 > 0:08:26a sympathetic theme for them,
0:08:26 > 0:08:30all come together in one big anthem at the end
0:08:30 > 0:08:35and we really decided that it couldn't be big enough, really,
0:08:35 > 0:08:39it had to be a really grand ending, and it seemed like we added...
0:08:39 > 0:08:41we added something to the climax on a weekly basis
0:08:41 > 0:08:46until it was time to record it with the orchestra, and it sounded great.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48# Woo! #
0:08:51 > 0:08:52CLAPPING
0:08:52 > 0:08:55Sounded great, sounded great.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04- Well done, mate.- Well done.
0:09:06 > 0:09:07Cheers!
0:09:15 > 0:09:18I was sat in Media City waiting for somebody
0:09:18 > 0:09:23and the background music in the lobby was all the BBC sports themes
0:09:23 > 0:09:26so Ski Sunday and Grandstand and all these things
0:09:26 > 0:09:29and I was thinking, "This is a weird coincidence."
0:09:29 > 0:09:33Then I thought, "No, this is where BBC Sports are based, I get it now."
0:09:33 > 0:09:34But it was really encouraging, that,
0:09:34 > 0:09:37because I thought, "Yeah, this stands up with those."
0:09:37 > 0:09:40It's never going to beat Ski Sunday, though, is it?
0:09:54 > 0:09:57Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd