Let's all have a sing song
For your musical entertainment:
A guide to the repertoire of the Meadow Park faithful.
The books Dicks Out and Dicks out 2 by Rob
Merrills were a breakthrough in
the collection of British football songs. Absent from these volumes however were the songs
of teams classed by the football establishment as non-league. This is an on-going (a way of saying
far from finished) attempt to produce a collection of such songs, simultaneously providing
a great opportunity to let City fans send their message to a worldwide audience. We knew
that you would be pleased!
As on a lot of football terraces some of these songs are fairly crude, and some even offensive.
There's a couple referenced on here we find offensive too, so to be clear we're recording them
for history, not endorsing them or encouraging you to sing them. Or not all of them anyway.
Apologies to those who know all of these songs and yes, many are not sung solely by the
Meadow Park faithful, but we find it interesting and I'm sure there are other anoraks out
there that do too.
Communal songs are, and have been, a feature of many aspects of society for thousands of
years. Open air choral singing was important in, for example, 6th century Greek tragedies.
Over a millennium later, open air choruses were used to promote new feelings of
nationality during revolutionary France. When one looks to the open sea, we see Shanties
sung by the crew to help them with their duties. Also in the armed services, we hear the
'call and answer' of the soldiers on a 10 mile march. Some songs appear more spontaneously
than others. But what is certain is that when a few thousand people are singing on a
terrace, the referee knows full well who's parentage is being questioned.
The majority of the songs here are from the days in which City were in with a shout of
winning things; when there was more to sing about. Perhaps nostalgically I look to
those days and say that the songs now 'aren't what they used to be'. We concentrate
mainly on the 1996/7 season, but there are other more long standing examples as well.
Songs About Us
The continuous repetition of the words "City" and "Yellows" are
used in the usual ways but we do have other, more thoughtful efforts as well. Following
the 1996/7 season's strong showing in both the FA Trophy and Southern League for example
the following words were set to the Red Flag anthem:
Flying high, up in the sky
We'll keep the yellow flag flying high
From Meadow park to Wemb-er-ly [or GMV]
It makes my knees go tremb-er-ly
Similar songs of possible impending success were constructed about the
Manager of the time Leroy Rosenior to the tune of Knees up Mother Brown:
E-I E-I E-I-O
Up Doc Martens league we go
When we get promotion, this is what we'll sing
Leroy, Leroy, Leroy, Leroy, Leroy is our king
Players too are singled out for their contribution, but striker Adie Mings was perhaps
unusual in that the chant about him could be interpreted in two ways:
Adie Mings, but he can't help it.
Football followed by a half in a local tavern (or a night on the beer in a club) led to
City fans being together where other musics were played. Always looking for influence form
the world of 'clubland', the chorus of Gala's Freed From Desire(1997) was adapted
in the following manner:
The yellow, yellow army
T-army
Yellow army
repeat...
Also the Outhere Brothers' song Boom Boom Boom was used on the T-End, as at
other grounds across the country.
Boom Boom Boom,
Let me here you say yellows,
Yellows!
There was another, sadly homophobic, verse to this song.
It ended something along the lines of 'Jason Eaton's got no class, and he takes
it up the arse'. If
anyone can remember what is was, answers on a virtual postcard to me
please.....
A tune that was heard on the Gloucester City terrace long before
its transition to the England national team was that of the theme to The Great Escape.
It is unlikely that City were the first to use the tune but I first remember it being sung
almost non-stop for 45 minutes during the second half of our mid-90's 1-0 win over the
Scum away. Unfortunately the closest representation of the song I can produce is:
Do do,
Do do do do do
Do do do do do do do do do.
All hail MP3..
The picturesque and beautiful rurality of Gloucester is often picked up by visiting
fans from the inner city. Those fans often choose to make allegations about the abuse of
woolly farm animals, but, like many other rural footy fans we take a tongue in cheek look
at ourselves. The Tractor Song is well known amongst football teams of rural areas,
but is repeated here for both of you who have not heard it yet, in as close to a local
spelling as is possible:
Oi can't reed, and Oi can't roit
But that don' reely matteeeerrrr
'Cos Oi'm a Glosteeerr City Fan
An' Oi can drive a tracteerrr
In a similar way
Oh Gloucestershire
(Oh Gloucestershire)
Is full of fun
(Is full of fun)
Oh Gloucestershire is full of fun.
It's full of sheep, cider and p@ssy
Oh Gloucestershire is full of fun.
On occasion supporting City is not a task, a chore, a punishment,
no really. Sometimes it can make you glad. To You Are My Sunshine, altogether now
You are my City
My only City
You make me happy
When skies are grey (and yellow and black)
You'll never know
How much I love you
So don't take my City away.
A song of particular bad taste was song about Gloucester's late alleged serial killer
to the tune of the Drifters' Under the Boardwalk. Poor taste? Yes. But it was such
a unique song that a few hundred fans singing the lines:
Under the patio
Down Cromwell Street..
In a blanket with my sister
That's where I'll be.
... brought a smile to many faces and mis-informed disdain from the national press; can
you ask for more?
Scuffles on the pitch are more often than not met with the rallying cry of the song
more usually heard at church or school assembly, Lord of the Dance
Fight, Fight, wherever you may be
We are the boys form the West Country
And we'll fight you all wherever you may be
We are the boys from the West Country.
On more sedate occasions you might
occasionally find 'sing' substituted for 'fight', or even 'drink', with 'drink
your beer, wherever it may be' in the third line.
Along with over half the county you can also
hear us sing our version of Glasgow Rangers 'Follow, Follow'
Follow, Follow,
We are the City boys,
And if you are a Ch@#tenham fan
Surrender or you'll die
We all follow the City.
Last season we also jumped on the bandwagon of
this song, I think the first I heard of it was Bradford City, but it could have
come from a load of places.
I'm City till I die, I'm City till I
die
I know I am
I'm sure I am
I'm City till I die.
Songs about Ch*lt*nh*m
The relationship of City fans to all things Ch*lt*nh*m is clear, and this feeling is
often expressed through the medium of song, such as the classic setting to Singing the
Blues:
I've never felt more like singing the blues
When City win and Ch*lt*nh*m lose
Oh City, you got me singing the blues
We hate St*v** C*tt*r*l, and all of the reds
The only good Ch*lt*nh*m fan is one that's dead
Oh City, you got me singing the blues
The delicate and deeply cultural situation of Gloucestershire football to a City fan
can also be expressed through the following traditional and delightfully constructed pithy
ode,
We hate Ch*lt*nh*m and we hate Ch*lt*nh*m,
We hate Ch*lt*nh*m and we hate Ch*lt*nh*m,
We hate Ch*lt*nh*m and we hate Ch*lt*nh*m,
We are the Ch*lt*nh*m haters.
From memory, the only time I have heard this tune sung to different words was to a
school/ hymn type song which went along the lines of Thank
you Lord for this new day. Surely there must be a more substantial origin to
this tune that simply escapes me.
Also, to My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean.
If I had the wings of a sparrow,
If I had the arse of a crow,
I'd fly over Ch*lt*nh*m tomorrow and sh!t on the b@st*rds below, below.
With even more destructive sentiment, the following, to One Man Went to Mow sometimes
resulted in a fine chorus. Other times it resulted in getting bored, going for a
pee and hot dog and returning to the terrace to catch the last few lines 'cos it went on
for bloody ages.
One man went to burn,
Went to burn down Whaddon
One man and his petrol can
Went to burn down Whaddon
Two men went to burn,
Went to burn down Whaddon
Two men,
One man and his petrol can went to burn down Whaddon.
One song which has never got beyond a few
lines but deserves an airing goes to the old music hall tune of 'Follow the Van'
My old man said be a Ch'#tenham fan
I said F'#k Off, Bo@#ocks, You're a C@nt.
And so on and on it went.
A song about Forest Green Rovers
Who are you?
Who are you?
Unfortunately our repertoire of Forest Green songs seems to be
lacking, and the sentiment is inappropriate when you compare our performance
against theirs since our good seasons of times past. On the other hand they did
dither around with calling themselves Stroud for a while.
Songs about other clubs
There is perhaps no bigger compliment to somebody than to spend time writing a song about
them. Some songs however take little effort and can be applied in a variety of situations.
The Midlands (anywhere within 40 miles of Brum, obviously not including Gloucester)
General songs include to the Pompey Chimes:
Alright, Alright
Alright, Alright
The above must be sung in a very exaggerated Brummy accent following the Ansalls 'Mystery
Customer' advert of the early to mid 90s. The Brummies also get the usual chant
of 'Concrete City, Concrete City'.
The North (anywhere north of Tewkesbury, but not including the Midlands unless
you are knowledgeable about the socio-economic impact of the collapse of car manufacture
in your rival's area.)
In an adaptation from the song from the Rogers and Hammerstein musical Carousel, You'll
Never Walk Alone, the Faithful mused on the assumed economic North/ South divide (or
any other region perceived as impoverished).
Sign on, Sign on
With a pen
In your hand
You'll never work again, You'll never work again.
(first memory of it being performed by the City faithful against Runcorn 1995:
FAT)
Cockneys (anywhere in the south-east of England.
Y'know, past Oxford.)
Not very original here at all. It's the usual stuff, the Eastenders Theme, The Lambeth
Walk, and the theme from Steptoe and Son. The one peculiar chant that arose from a trip to
Dulwich Hamlet was that of
Free. Free. The Dulwich Three
City fans were here having their voices heard about what they felt was a miscarriage of
justice to three of their fellow fans. You had to be there!
Wales / Cymru
Strange place Wales? Visiting fans to City have been known to sing
Eng-er-land, Eng-er-land in the belief, I'm sure, that Gloucester is in Wales. Well is not, but it's
close. This geographical proximity does cause a little rivalry. In non-league circles our
history includes playing Merthyr, Newport, Barry and in the FA Cup Cardiff City. Sure
there are the usual sheep songs and those seen above about former industrial areas. This
song looks at both economic deprivation and welsh song.
He's only a poor little Taffy
His shirt was all tattered and torn
His face made me sick
So I hit 'im with a brick
And now he don't sing any more.
This song appears to be a variant of one sung by Ipswich Town.
According to Rob Merrills in Dicks Out 2 p71-2 it originated from a song called The
Sparrow sung by the Abbey Hey Junior School that made the pop charts n 1979. Blimey.
Also, by playing a foreign country, is gives footy fans an opportunity to express their
national feelings. For example
Keep St. George in my heart
Keep me English
etc.. which again seems to have its roots in a song sung at
school assembly along the lines of Give Me Peace in my Heart
The Future
We need more songs at City of a high quality. It would also be
great to have something positive to sing about. Hopefully the prospect of promotion from
our new found division could provide the inspiration.
E-I-E-I-E-I-O
Up Doc Martins League Western Division we go...
Valley
Boy
July 2000
Further Reading
Knowing England's Graces - Gloucestershire Music
Terrace Trash
Thugs, Lies and Tickertape
The T-End
Archive
Main Index
