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A Very French Reunion

2026-06-23 · letter vlog · John, Hank · 7:45 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Sports (also: Personal life) · mode: Q&A & conversation · tags: guest or collab, on location, timely hook, song or performance

Reunited with Hank on a French barge for their parents' 50th wedding anniversary, John says the US men's team needs a better chant, shares a Seattle fan song about Christian Pulisic set to Achy Breaky Heart, discusses how football songs spread, Messi and Scotland's fans, and thanks their parents for 50 years of marriage.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Greetings from a French barge; vacation for their parents' 50th anniversary; World Cup games at 3 a.m.

  • ★★ John and Hank, greeting from a French barge, are on vacation for their parents' 50th wedding anniversary. — 00:00:00 · Mike Green, Sydney Green
  • ★★ World Cup games air at 3 a.m. in France, so John is staying up late and getting up early. — 00:00:00

00:00:21 — The US men's team's chant problem and the Seattle fan song about Christian Pulisic, performed

  • ★★ John says the US men's team has beaten Paraguay and Australia at the World Cup. — 00:00:51 · Australia
  • ★★ John says the US men's team's biggest problem is its fan chant: fans have little beyond spelling out U-S-A. (playful) — 00:00:51
  • ★★ At the US game in Seattle John heard the first really good USA chant he has ever heard, sung to the tune of Achy Breaky Heart. — 00:00:51
  • ★★ Hank says the USA chant feels a little iffy because it has been somewhat co-opted. — 00:00:51
  • ★★ The brothers sing the Seattle fan song praising Christian Pulisic; John says he will edit it because it has explicit words. (playful) — 00:01:40

00:02:23 — Are the US good now; how football songs spread; the Will Grigg song

  • ★★ Hank likes the Pulisic song, much better than the USA chant. — 00:02:23
  • ★★ Asked whether the US is good at soccer now, John says he has no idea how good Paraguay and Australia are. (unsure) — 00:02:23 · Australia
  • ★★ John says football songs spread organically at stadiums, sometimes starting on Reddit. — 00:02:23 · Reddit
  • ★★ John says a song about Will Grigg started on YouTube, became a huge phenomenon and is now adapted for others, such as Scotland. — 00:03:02 · YouTube
  • ★ John says Will Grigg doesn't play for the US and has, he thinks, retired. (hedged) — 00:03:02

00:03:32 — Anniversary versus World Cup teasing; Messi at 38; who wrote the Seattle song and its Scottish roots

  • ★★ Hank teases John that he gets a World Cup twice every four years, counting the Women's World Cup, but their parents' 50th anniversary happens once. (playful) — 00:03:32 · Mike Green, Sydney Green
  • ★★ John says he is completely engaged in their parents' 50th anniversary, just short on sleep and not making a big deal of it. — 00:03:32 · Mike Green, Sydney Green
  • ★★ John says Lionel Messi, 38, has five goals, every goal Argentina has scored at the tournament. — 00:03:32
  • ★★ John says the 38-year-old Messi mostly walks, but to where the ball will be, so it arrives at his feet: he's a genius. (playful) — 00:04:41
  • ★★ John thinks the man he heard singing the Pulisic song in Seattle wrote it. (hedged) — 00:04:41
  • ★★ John says helping popularize an American football song would be a dream come true. — 00:04:41
  • ★★ John says such songs are often player-specific; the Pulisic song arguably has its roots in a Scottish song about player John McGinn. (hedged) — 00:04:41

00:05:19 — Scotland's fans at a Florida Marlins game; John's 1994 World Cup with Dad

  • ★★ John says Scotland has taken over the World Cup narratively, though not on the pitch. — 00:05:19
  • ★★ John says the Scottish fans' chant that there is no World Cup party without Scotland has been borne out: they have brought the party. (hedged) — 00:05:19
  • ★★ John says Scotland fans, playing in Miami, went to a Florida Marlins game, some 30,000 shirtless men in kilts erupting at a routine catch. (playful, hedged) — 00:05:19
    • a number in question (doubtful): "30,000" — check against the recording
  • ★ Hank says it must be wild to watch baseball as someone who doesn't watch baseball. (playful) — 00:06:05
  • ★★★ Their dad took John, then 16, to the 1994 World Cup, which turned him into a soccer fan; Hank, not interested, didn't go. — 00:06:05 · Mike Green

00:06:34 — Taking Henry to a US game; gratitude for their parents' 50 years of marriage; sign-off

  • ★★★ John got to take his son Henry, 16, to a US men's national team game in 2026, which was very special to him. — 00:06:34 · Henry Green
  • ★★★ John is very grateful to their parents for 50 long years of marriage, no small feat. — 00:06:34 · Mike Green, Sydney Green
  • ★★ both: Asked whether a long marriage is the biggest accomplishment, the brothers agree it is hard, also lovely, and takes luck. — 00:06:34
  • ★★★ John says a long marriage has an accomplishment piece and a beauty piece; they are lucky to be a close family with extraordinary parents who helped make them who they are. — 00:07:14 · Mike Green, Sydney Green

00:07:40 — Outtake about cuts

In the description and comments

  • ★★ In a comment John says the US women's team is broadly getting worse because the US invests less than western Europe and has no relegation in its pro league. — creator comment
  • ★★ In a comment John says the US is slowly getting better at men's soccer. — creator comment
  • ★★ In a comment John says the US is on average getting slightly better at soccer, but the next Women's World Cup will reveal a lot. — creator comment
  • ★ In a comment John says he is very excited for the next Women's World Cup. — creator comment

Humor (significant)

  • After wins over Paraguay and Australia, John deadpans that the US title is already settled — 00:00:21

    “I think at this point there's no question that the U.S. is going to win its first ever World Cup.”

  • Hank says the rivals' great players are all 38; John notes the exception — 00:00:21

    “Well, except for Lionel Messi who is 38 and has five goals, but yes.”

  • Hank asks how often their parents have a 50th anniversary, mocking John's World Cup sleep schedule — 00:03:32

    “Once every 50 years.”

  • The 38-year-old Messi barely runs; he walks to where the ball will be two minutes from now — 00:04:41

    “And then the ball just appears at his feet.”

  • Imagining Scotland fans watching baseball for the first time — 00:06:05

    “They're like, man, this is some advanced cricket.”

  • Thanking their parents, a brother slots the US forward from the fan song in beside them — 00:07:14

    “the big three I call them in my life my mother my father and my Christian Pulisic”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Christian Pulisic · FIFA World Cup · Marriage · United States men's national soccer team

Also: People: Henry Green · John McGinn · Lionel Messi · Mike Green · Sydney Green · Weston McKennie · Will Grigg

Works: Achy Breaky Heart

Organizations: Miami Marlins · Reddit · YouTube

Concepts: baseball · Cricket · Luck

Places: Argentina · Australia · France · Miami · Paraguay · Scotland · Seattle

Events: FIFA Women's World Cup

Only in the description or credits: promotion and relegation · Reunion video · United States women's national soccer team

Also centred on FIFA World Cup: Mmmm....PARTS · You're Gonna Die · GOOOOOOOL!!!! · ALL THE SHIRTS (and some paths to community) · Who Should We Root For? · Your 4-Minute Guide to ALL 32 TEAMS at the 2018 World Cup

Also centred on Marriage: Writing and Marriage Advice from Michelle Obama · Getting Personal about Getting Personal

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