"This is a story of courage, honor, and worms."
Wormsongs are the Theme Tunes written for the Worms games, composed by Bjorn Arild Lynne
, who also composed other music for the series until 2006. A total of four versions were made, each using same composition but with different arrangement and lyrics:
- Wormsong '95 - from the first title in the series, Worms.
- Wormsong '99 - from Worms Armageddon.
- Wormsong '03 - from Worms 3D.
- Wormsong '11 - This version was a "thank you" gift for the fans by Team17, developers of the games, and Bjorn Lynne had nothing to do with it at all; though it later became the main theme for Worms Reloaded as of an update.
The songs provide the closest Worms games have to a proper story. They are a voiced ballads about Boggy B, a military worm fighting to end a war that took over his world.
Three inches tall and armed to the teeth, no finer tropes would the enemy meet!
- Ambiguous Situation: In Wormsong '11 Boggy's dad arrives on the plane to aid his son and defeat the remaining enemy worm. But when Boggy B tells his comrades about it, the general claims that there was no plane, leaving it ambiguous as to what exactly happened.
- Batter Up!: Clagnut disposes of the enemy trying to kill Boggy B with a baseball bat, seeing as other weapons he had (grenade and an explosive banana) would not help him at the close range.
- Big Damn Heroes: '03 has Clagnut rescue his uncle Boggy B from the enemy worm that trapped him in a cave.
- Crapsack World: The world of Worms is described as a once-peaceful land that has taken a toll for worse after the war began, with Wormsong '03 stating that most of the battles happen between various cults and clans that want to Take Over the World. Living as a worm became quite difficult, as they became nothing but a battlefield fodder, with even hardened veterans being unable to hide their fears. One of Boggy's primary motivations for fighting is "so that future generations may live without fear of Air Strikes and Grenades, or face the hardship every day that the war has brought upon his world".
- Darker and Edgier:
- Compared to the tone of video games these songs were made for. In the Worms series, war is usually a source of comedy, with outlandish weapons and funny cutscenes. The worms die, but will come back after each round like nothing happened. The songs are the polar opposite of this, seeing how much more seriously war and death are treated. For example, the first song reveals that Boggy has a Disappeared Dad who he might never see again, and also has him watch his best friend killed, leading to a Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
- Wormsong '99 itself is much darker than other songs, due to its apocalyptic tone and the fact that The Hero Dies.Then came the nuke and the disease tumbling down
If the bug didn't get you, you probably drowned
But the Worms battled on, through hunger and pain
Living to fight, just to victor again.
- Disappeared Dad:
- Boggy B's father left to serve in war when his son was two years old, and hasn't returned since. This plays a major role in Wormsong '11; The plane arrives to defeat the last enemy standing, and Boggy recognizes his dad driving it, but when he tells about it to his teammates and general, he's told there was no plane and that he probably imagined it, leaving him confused.
- Wormsong '03 introduces Clagnut, who is said to be a son of Spadge. The latter died during the events of '95.
- The Dreaded: Boggy B as of Wormsong '11. Just mentioning him is enough to strike terror in enemies hearts.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: The Turn-Based Strategy rules of Worms gamesnote are not present in the songs; Worms don't wait for the others to finish their turn to take some sort of action. Examples include:
- When Boggy B drops a stick of dynamite on the enemy, the latter actually tries to run away, albeit unsuccessfully.
- Clagnut makes it to the enemy worm before the latter could do anything to Boggy. If the situation described in Wormsong '03 happened in a Worms game with Boggy B and Clagnut being on the same team, the enemy would have had their turn next, and could have tried to do something, but nothing like that is described — Boggy B makes his move right after Clagnut and finishes the enemy off by dropping Mad Cows on him.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: Boggy B catches "a latest device" in '99, causing his tail to split from his body and become an ex-worm.
- Land Mine Goes "Click!": While rushing to have revenge on the other worm for killing Spadge, Boggy steps into the land mine, which produces a click. This gets an Oh, Crap! reaction from him, but he manages to escape before it blows up.
- Oddball in the Series: Wormsong '99. The lead up to lyrics is much longer, the lyrical part itself is a lot shorter and differs greatly from the rest (it doesn't start with any variation of "This is a story of courage, honor, and worms." or ends with "We've won the war!", the chorus are also absent), and the song itself ends on a Downer Ending with Boggy B dead, something that following Wormsongs prefer to ignore.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: After witnessing Spadge's death from the enemy, Boggy B sets out to avenge him."It was all too much for Boggy as he watched his best friend die. His heart filled with rage, and he gripped his rifle tight. Charging down the hill, he had to have revenge. What had Spadge done to come to such an end?"
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: In '95, the dynamite Boggy B uses to avenge Spadge makes a huge explosion that kills several worms, including the enemy leader. The latter's death causes other worms to squirm away in fear, giving Boggy his first victory.
- Violent Glaswegian: Wormsong '99 has an "Angry Scot Mix", where war-themed lyrics are sung with stereotypical Scottish accent, the singer starting to angrily yell at the last few strophes.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Spadge was introduced in Wormsong '95 and quickly killed off by an enemy worm. Not much is known about him other than being Boggy B's best friend (and his brother, if '03 is to go by) and having a son named Clagnut.
