Get Your Cheers Here!
Last week I came across an article in The Athletic by Tom Burrows. In it he talked about the new but not so new Liverbird Upon My Chest chant that has returned to champion the title charge under Arne Slot. While it feels new, the chant was first created by Phil Aspinell in 1984 while watching the 1968 film “The Green Beret”. Set to the movie’s title tune, a song with origins smack in the middle of the Vietnam culture wars between the “Moral Majority” and the counterculture. The song speaks to the heroics of Bill Shankly and the Liverpool heroes of old. It also mentions the ultimate goal, winning the championship in May. What a way to return to the ‘Liverpool Way.’ Let’s delve into how chants and cheers are vital cogs in Liverpool culture.
READ MORE: The Grass Is Greener On The Other Side by T. Alex Hauber
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The Pond Divide
The article also reminded me of a distinct difference between European and American sports. With a few exceptions American supporters keep their passion to cheering, yelling, and dressing up in their team colors. There are tailgate parties similar to the pub drop ins on the way to the pitch, but there are no chants or songs that the fan base learns to cheer on their favorite players, or harken to the glory days of yore. Major League Soccer is more of a cosmopolitan mix and so the stadiums are starting to pick up on the supporter trends in Europe. Nevertheless, it is still only a vocal minority.
In England, however, it is the bread and butter of the supporters’ experience. And it’s as homegrown as it comes. While it’s hard to pin down exactly when the first chants or cheers start, there is evidence of war chants used in Scotland after the 1887 Scottish Cup. Sheffield United fans adopted a music hall song titled “Rowdy Dowdy Boys” in the 1890s. The development of the cheers and chants has only increased with the arrival of the 1960s where clubs and fans alike took the radio songs pumped into the pitches, tweaked the lyrics, and showered their team with praise and slated the opposition. Our very own “You’ll Never Walk Alone” sung by Liverpudlian band Gerry and the Pacemakers went through the same transition in its adoption as the Reds’ official anthem.
SHOP THE AMERICAN SCOUSER COLLECTION TODAY
Chants and cheers go through many evolutions and the usage of many of the best of them can only stay in the repertoire as long as the player wears the Liverpool Red. I don’t look forward to the day when Salah’s chant celebrating his flashy runs down the wing as our Egyptian King will fade into unused song book pages. Hopefully that is a long way off. Fenway Sports Group, I’m looking at you. While it would be safe to say YNWA holds a special place in all of our hearts, certain chants will always ring brighter in my mind. “The Fields of Anfield Road” holds a particular place in my heart. It feels like I’m walking hand in hand with the greats like Paisley, King Kenny, Shankly and others in our continued road to glory.
Poor Scouser Tommy
Amongst the American Scouser crew, favorites are varied and many. One particular chant stood out to Jack Champagne. “Poor Scouser Tommy” is a song about a young Liverpool fan losing their life in WW2. Jack in his reply to my emailed request for songs and memories has this to say:
“Boss Night 2019 almost feels like a fever dream in light of being immediately followed by the haze of the COVID Lockdowns. You’d hardly imagine a YouTube’d concert celebrated alone in a rented house with a sixer and a Virgil van Dijk scarf would make for a fond memory, but it was one of the best nights of my life. One of the more memorable moments of that particular marathon was discovering a new song.
Poor Scouser Tommy famously starts as a war dirge, which seemed like a fairly abrupt change of pace from jaunty tunes about Divock Origi and Jurgen Klopp. But then, of course, it shifts when Tommy’s dying words are a passionate anthem to the club we all support. I fell in love with the song immediately. It’s got everything: the celebration of LFC’s history, the Scouse exceptionalism, an inspirational tune, a chant section, and brutal mockery of Everton. I couldn’t have picked a better capstone to a night that represented the fulfillment of almost 15 years of broken dreams.”
It makes me wonder why cheers and chants like this haven’t been picked up by other sports or organizations. Is it a fear of injecting politics? Have we as a collective group lost the feeling of community? Are we all full of stage fright? Whatever the reason, the creation and usage of cheers and chants to rally the fans and players is one of the healthiest aspects of being a sports fan, so Allez Allez Allez!
