I cannot
think of a song that evokes so many different emotions and so ingrained in our
culture, more so than even our national anthem. "You'll Never Walk
Alone" is probably the most important song in my life, the song I have
heard and sung the most.
In a football
context alone, it can encompass excitement or apprehension before the match,
defiance at half-time (losing 3-0 to AC Milan in 2005) or jubilation afterwards
(Barcelona in 2019).
But it is so much
more. It is also a song of hope in troubled times. It urges strength and
resolution "When you walk
through a storm / Hold your head up high". Don't be scared, because
after the storm is "a golden sky / And the sweet silver song of a
lark". Things will improve after
even the worst adversity, if you keep in walking on. Your dreams may have been
dashed, but don't lose all hope.
It has been
so comforting and consoling, after tragedies like Hillsborough, a funeral
staple, and today sung in the moving video clips from hospital wards to European
balconies. It is not just Jurgen Klopp who has been reduced to tears by this
powerful song of shared emotion.
"You'll
never walk alone" was produced by Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers,
designed as an uplifting moment in their
"Carousel" stage musical and 1956 film. It has subsequently been
performed by the best singers of their eras - Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin,
Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. So how did Gerry Marsden's version become the
definitive ?
Gerry &
the Peacemakers, Merseybeat rivals of the Beatles, chose to record "You'll
Never Walk Alone" as their third single, as Marsden recalling it from the
movie. It was released in October 1963 and swiftly went to number 1. As part of
the pre-match routine at Anfield, fans swaying on the Kop sang along to the top
10 records played over the PA. As an uplifting anthem by a local band, it
became so popular, that it was retained even after the single fell from the
charts.
The
Pacemaker's version starts quietly, drums
and piano, then Marsden's fine vocals, hushed but raising to a crescendo at the
end.
Over 50
years, it has immediately preceded the start of every Liverpool home match, accompanied
by a massed display of scarves and flags, an iconic football song across Europe
and the World (let's just say it is better than the "Z cars" theme).
I am not sure
when I will go my next football match, but I am sure "You'll Never Walk
Alone" will be an important and emotional part of it.
Hear Now - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV5_LQArLa0 (and as a bonus Liverpool players and fans singing it after the Champions
League final in 2019 -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weec_jzudc8)
Hear Next -
"Very Best of Gerry & the Pacemakers" includes all the hit
singles.
