The phrase is most likely referring to “what songs were the English listening to in 1966?” In the UK, 1966 was full of big pop hits, with the charts led by artists like The Beatles, The Kinks, The Supremes, The Who, and The Beach Boys.

Quick read

Some of the best-known UK songs from 1966 included:

  • “Distant Drums” — Jim Reeves
  • “Strangers In The Night” — Frank Sinatra
  • “Winchester Cathedral” — The New Vaudeville Band
  • “Sunny Afternoon” — The Kinks
  • “Eleanor Rigby” — The Beatles
  • “Good Vibrations” — The Beach Boys
  • “You Can’t Hurry Love” — The Supremes
  • “Wild Thing” — The Troggs

What they used to sing

If you mean what English people sang , the answer was mostly the popular chart songs of the day , along with football chants, pub songs, and television/radio hits. The UK singles charts from 1966 show a mix of British groups and American artists dominating the year.

Best guess

If you meant the England football crowd in 1966 , they were probably singing patriotic and football chants around the World Cup period, but the phrase itself is not specific enough to identify one exact song from the sources available.

The most likely answer is: they sang the hit pop songs of 1966, especially UK Top 10 singles like “Sunny Afternoon,” “Eleanor Rigby,” and “Good Vibrations.”

TL;DR: In 1966, the English mostly sang popular chart hits, not one single special song, and the year’s soundtrack included The Beatles, The Kinks, The Troggs, and more.