To me, it's the greatest and most heartfelt football anthem of all time.
Before the dogs start barking about arrogant Liverpool fans, take my view in the context it's intended. Of course it's going to mean a lot to me, as the anthem of my own club I'm going to have a biased opinion, just as other club's fans will state their anthem means a lot to them; but can any other anthem really have so much passion, history and meaning behind it?
It's a song that can lend itself to be sung in triumph and despair, in desperation and in hope. A song that can be sung with ever changing tones to suit differing situations, with no idea how it manages to sound so different, it just does. From the celebratory You'll Never Walk Alone after an historic victory, to the plea for help from above, and act of defiance of the famous half time battle cry in Istanbul. Each time it's sung it sounds different and means something else; it's a musical phenomenon.
But where did it all start?
For years, there's been Man Utd and Everton fans claiming that "it's a Celtic song", and some even claiming it as their own. I even read an article from a women in the Manchester Evening News stating that United fans sang You'll Never Walk Alone in the aftermath of the Munich Air Disaster, at a Memorial Service before the first home following the crash in 1958, so it was their song as they sang it first. I've got no reason to doubt the song was sung that day, but every reason to doubt United fans then adopted it as their anthem from then on in. It didn't become a popular sound to the ears of the nation for another 5 years, when Gerry and The Pacemakers hit the number one spot with a cover of the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Carousel; and United fans certainly didn't sing it at their games after that service.
From Kopites a lot older than myself, I have it on good authority that the singing of You'll Never Walk Alone actually began in early 1963, during a 1-0 defeat at Hillsborough. It was reported to be sung at several games towards the end of the 1962/63 season, and became the new song of The Kop, gathering pace all the time. Gerry Marsden knew of this cult and capitalised on its popularity by releasing it as a single on 4th October 1963. This however is the views of a few, with no facts to back it up.
Back in the 1960's and before, the PA at Anfield used to blare out the current top ten in the build up to the match; with the current number one track being played as the last before the teams were announced. On 14th November 1963, Gerry and The Pacemakers shot into the number one spot with You'll Never Walk Alone, staying there for 4 weeks. So as was the custom with the Kopites of yesteryear, they'd join in and sing along to their favourite tracks of the time. The Kop would sing along to You'll Never Walk Alone as it was bellowed out over the PA, before welcoming the team onto the pitch with rattles and rolled up Echo's, dressed smartly in their pristine suits. Can you imagine the Kop full of suits these days? Actually, that might not be so unrealistic if the money men running our game had their way.....
On 12th December 1963, Gerry and The Pacemakers lost their number one slot to The Beatles, with their "I Want To Hold Your Hand"; hence You'll Never Walk Alone was no longer the last song to be played before the game. The travelling Kop began to sing it at away games during this time, and on it's demotion from the number one spot, requests were made to play the song anyway before the game at Anfield. The Kop began to sing You'll Never Walk Alone of their own accord, before the club agreed to revert to the trend of playing of it just before the teams were announced at every game. From that, an anthem was born.
By early in 1964, The Kop had it's official anthem, and it has been sung at every game since. That ladies and gentlemen, is how it all began.
Now some say Celtic sang it first; but I've yet to see any evidence or reasoning to back up that claim. I look at it this way; Celtic went to Lisbon on the 25th May 1967, for The European Cup Final against Inter Milan, famously winning the "Ol Big Ears" with 11 men born within spitting distance of Glasgow. There is footage of that final readily available, so watch it, and let me know if you hear the Celtic fans singing You'll Never Walk Alone at any point during that game. Remember this was over three and half years since The Kop had officially adopted the song as their anthem, and had been singing it at every game throughout that period. So if Celtic had sung it before The Kop, surely we'd be able to hear them roaring it out in victory over in Lisbon? If they'd adopted the song before The Kop, with the night of the famous Lisbon Lions being almost four years on from that date; surely it would have caught on by then and be sung by the masses? Apparently not. So with the original owner of the anthem cleared up...
Just what does it actually mean? Is it just a song like many thousands of others? What makes it different? What sets it apart from the rest?
To me, it's entire complexion changed after 15th April 1989. Before that date, it was a song of triumph and belief. Sang in celebration and in posture. An arrogant airing before every game, in a statement that meant just as much as the "This Is Anfield" sign above the tunnel. It let everyone know they were at Anfield. Sang prior to games as a statement, sang after the game in joy or defiance, result dependant. Yet after the horrors of Hillsborough, the song had a whole new and more powerful meaning. The lyrics were turned on their head in one scandalous swoop. We were no longer just telling the players they would never walk alone and to hold their heads up high, to never be afraid; we were now singing it to the 96 that left us.
Since that day, thousands of fans affected by the tragedy of Hillsborough, those that lost loved ones, sang that song for them. I can't do that, as I didn't know anybody that lost their life at Hillsborough, but every now and again, when the situation arises, I sing that song for them. The game before the anniversary every year, at the Memorial Service, and when stood alongside friends at the match that did lose brothers, cousins and friends. You can see in their eyes just what the song means to them, and almost 20 years on, the feeling is still there each time the song is sung. The most powerful lyrics ever penned still pulling on emotional strings almost two decades later. How can any other football anthem compare with that?
The following clip brings home what the song means, and how far it can reach and affect people:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZrVfMRyoE0
AC Milan fans, in the days following the disaster, printed off song sheets with the words to You'll Never Walk Alone and handed them out amongst their support with a plea to learn them for the next home game, only 4 days after the disaster. A gesture was planned to stop the game at 3.06pm (the time of the game being stopped at Hillsborough) and hold a minutes silence. The AC Milan fans had other ideas, and planned to sing You'll Never Walk Alone during that silence. They took the time and effort to learn the words, and sing the song during that break in play. Learning a song in a different language and hearing it ring around the San Siro really brings home what the song means and the depth it holds. AC Milan fans will always have a special place in my heart for that gesture, along with other club's fans across the continent carrying out similar acts of respect for those that passed away. All using You'll Never Walk Alone as the focal point for their thoughts and respects.
Moving onto less sombre renditions of the greatest football anthem of all time; there are two renditions from recent times that will live with me forever, both sung within a few weeks of each other:
1. Full time against Chelsea in the 2005 European Cup Semi Final - http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=11MQnQ8QjJs
2. Half time in Istanbul - http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=S8CEh_TgAg4
That night against Chelsea will go down as the greatest in Anfield history, and I very much doubt it will ever be surpassed. I've watched it back on DVD time and time again, yet the coverage just doesn't do it justice. You had to be there that night to really appreciate the atmosphere and the occasion. No media coverage or outside view could ever transmit the raw passion and desire in the air that night. It was 20 years of frustration and absence being released at once. The whole city had a glow and a buzz about it from the crack of dawn, reaching fever pitch in and around the streets of Anfield as the game approached. You can't recreate that atmosphere, you can't fabricate and manufacture 20 years of pent up desire no matter how much money you spend on plastic flags or handing out scarves. On entering the ground some 45 minutes before kick off, it was already bouncing, and you could genuinely see the Chelsea players and fans alike taken aback by what they'd walked into. They didn't expect this in the slightest.
The next 90 minutes is a blur of noise and shapes; then a minute or so after the final whistle, with hugs and punches of the air still going on all around you, George Sephton hits play, and then it starts...
"When you walk, through a storm..."
I still get goose bumps and a shiver up my spine every time I watch that footage back. Yet even watching it back, it still doesn't do justice to the way it was sung that night. The game was over, we'd done it, and we were going to a European Cup Final. A whole generation going to their first, another generation returning to the place they'd long to be, and it all poured out during that song. It signified the game was over and we were actually going to Istanbul. The streets and bars around the city afterwards were flooded with smiles and song, all triggered by that song sparking the celebrations, and bringing it home to us just what we'd all witnessed. We were the massive underdogs, nobody gave us a chance. Yet we beat the Chelsea billionaires to reach a completely unexpected trip to a European Cup Final. With hope in our hearts; our dreams were tossed and blown. Literally.
The second example is probably the most rousing and defiant You'll Never Walk Alone I've ever been a part of. We were 3-0 down to the mighty AC Milan and being humiliated in front of the watching world, on the biggest stage imaginable. Imagine Buzz Aldrin stepping onto the moon, with people all around the globe glued to their screens, then Neil Armstrong sneaks up behind him and whips his trousers down. Ignore the fact he was in a spacesuit and it would have killed him, you get the idea. We had just had our trousers well and truly torn down by Kaka and co, and stood there exposed to the world, warts and all for everyone to see. The players left the field dejected, we all fell into our seats; slumped into piles of fleshy misery and humiliation, as others remained on their feet just staring into space, wondering if this was all just a dream, had that last 45 minutes really just happened? Well it had, and we were beaten, on and off the field. Our support a mixture of stares and slumpers, then it came.
I was sat down on the floor in the aisle trying to take it all in, cold concrete under my sorry behind and no life left. I was beaten. Then the strains of You'll Never Walk Alone could be heard in the distance. Just the opening few words; but I remained where I was, continuing to feel sorry for myself. My mate then screams out in anger, "that song's not the answer for everything you know".
Then it begins to build. It gets louder and louder, people dragging themselves off the floor and helping up others. Rising from the dead like something out of a film, until there were 40,000 of us standing as one and belting it out. It turned from a few bars being sung in desperation, into a passionate mass of scouse solidarity within seconds, becoming the most rousing and supportive You'll Never Walk Alone I've ever heard or been a part of, every word sung with belief and passion as flares lit up the Turkish sky. The Italians thought they had it won, celebrating amongst themselves at the far end of the stadium as we were draped across the ground like deflated red balloons; only to see the whole mood within the ground change during the singing of one song. Chests puffed out, standing tall, heads held high through the storm. The rest is history.
How can there be a greater anthem than that?
You'll Never Walk Alone
Article courtesy of Paul Jones.
