"Irish Blood, English Heart" is the title of a song written by British singer Morrissey from his 2004 album You Are the Quarry. It was released on 4 May 2004 in the United States and 10 May 2004 internationally.
The single's world premier occurred on the KROQ Kevin and Bean show on 22 March, 2004. The song received consistent airplay throughout April and May on such alternative rock stations as WFNX (Boston), WWCD (Columbus), CIMX (Windsor), KMBY (Monterey / Salinas), XTRA (San Diego), and of course KROQ (Los Angeles), as well as CFNY (Toronto). The single's airplay increased over the next few months and upon its release it spent two weeks at #4 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles Sales chart. It also reached #36 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, Morrissey's first single to chart there since 1994.
In the United Kingdom, the song was first played by Steve Lamacq on BBC Radio 1 on March 29, 2004. However, Radio 1 did not playlist the single. Only XFM, which playlisted it, provided much exposure for the single in the UK. Despite the lack of exposure on mainstream stations, "Irish Blood, English Heart" debuted at #3 on the UK charts, making it Morrissey's highest charting single with or without the Smiths.
An edited version eventually became one of the songs on the EA Sports videogame FIFA Soccer 2005 ' s soundtrack. The game's version does not include the line "And spit upon the name Oliver Cromwell/And denounce this royal line that still salutes him. And will salute him, forever"; instead, after the verse "I've been dreaming of a time when/The English are sick to death of Labour and Tories", the song reverts back to the line that begins "To be standing by the flag not feeling shameful/Racist or partial".
