Kung Fu Fighting

## Promotional single by The Vamps

"**Kung Fu Fighting**" is a song by Carl Douglas, released as a single in 1974. The Vamps covered the song for *Kung Fu Panda 3*'s film soundtrack. The official music video was directed by Frank Borin, with clips from the movie interspersed throughout.

To *MTV*, Brad Simpson shared about their recording, "We forgot how good it was. We didn't wanna kind of try and rip it off, we wanted to do our own version rather than an imitation. We wanted to take our own spin on it so it's a bit more synthy, it sounds a bit more how the second album sounds, it's a bit faster and hopefully people enjoy it. It's still got the 'HUH!' in there so that's good!"

## Background

In mid-December 2015, the 20th Century Studios UK tweeted about the upcoming title track cover. Additionally, the UK release of the film featured cameo appearances from members James McVey and Connor Ball, who voiced the geese. In a press release statement, they said, "We had so much fun voicing the roles of the geese in *Kung Fu Panda 3* and it was such an honour to be part of such an incredible cast. We love *Kung Fu Panda* and can't wait for everyone to see the film!" In an interview with *Chronicle Live*, Ball stated it being their first experience with voice acting. He continued, "Looking at a screen of animation with no sound and speaking over it, thinking we were going to be the sound of that thing speaking to Jack Black, it was really cool. We didn't know if we would be able to do it. [...] We found it difficult as it wasn't a normal thing for us to do, but we would love to do it again. And no, we definitely didn't do it in one take".

They did a live performance at the film's European Premiere in 2016. Due to Ball dislocating his knee at a show in Hong Kong and having surgery, he was unable to attend. They also performed the song on their Wake Up World Tour.

## Music video

The music video was directed by Frank Borin and produced by Gina Leonard, uploaded to YouTube on 27 January 2016. It was filmed using green screen. McVey elaborated on the concept to *MTV*, "We're being trained into being Kung Fu masters by Po himself. We're all learning different techniques and skills, all necessary requirements to be these masters".

The behind-the-scenes video was posted to YouTube on the 1st of February.

## Gallery

### Videos

The Vamps - Kung Fu Fighting (Behind the Scenes)The Vamps - Kung Fu Fighting (Gloria FX)The Vamps - Kung Fu Fighting (Doug Armstrong)The Vamps - European Premiere 2016
## Lyrics

**Lyrics**
[Chorus]

Everybody was kung fu fighting

Our chi is what we're finding

I know it's a little bit frightening

Oh but it's so enlightening

[Verse 1]

Before the battle of the fist

Comes the battle of the mind

When you don't know who you are

Just look inside

When we move into the flow

We're always gonna win

So feel the power that you know

Make sure you let it in

[Chorus]

Everybody was kung fu fighting

Our chi is what we're finding

I know it's a little bit frightening

Oh but it's so enlightening

[Verse 2]

And we keep moving with the flow

If you can walk it, you can roll

Hunger for Justice

Let's make it grow

The more you try to take

The less you really have

When it comes to energy

You've got to give it back

[Chorus]

Everybody was kung fu fighting

Our chi is what we're finding

I know it's a little bit frightening

Oh but it's so enlightening

[Chorus]

Everybody was kung fu fighting

Our chi is what we're finding

I know it's a little bit frightening

Oh but it's so enlightening

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Pell, Mike (29 January 2016). "the vamps show us their kung fu fighting skills in our exclusive behind the scenes vid". *MTV*.
2. ↑ "20th Century Studios UK". *Twitter*. 15 December 2015.
3. ↑ Burrows, Lisa-Marie (9 February 2016). "The Vamps Lend Their Voices To Kung Fu Panda 3".
4. ↑ "The Vamps on starring in Kung Fu Panda 3 and heading to Newcastle on tour". *Chronicle Live*. 29 March 2016.
5. ↑ "Kung Fu Panda 3 | 'The Vamps Surprise Performance' | European Premiere 2016". *YouTube*. 6 March 2016.
6. ↑ "The Vamps - Kung Fu Fighting". *YouTube*. 27 January 2016.