American Songs, English Football

When Americans think about soccer, we usually imagine lean, quick athletes dashing across a lush green field shining in the Saturday afternoon sun. We may also imagine potbellied supporters bellowing from the bleachers, contesting the ref's every decision. What might not jump into our collective imagination is the Great American Songbook. Even so, this collection of songs has had long-lasting and far-reaching influence on English soccer culture. Many of the chants heard at grounds across the United Kingdom are songs that originated on Broadway and stages across America. We’ve picked out five of our favorite American tunes-turned-chants, and you can check them out below.

West Ham: I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles

Founded in 1894, West Ham United Football Club is one of 5 active English Premier League teams in London. Over its 124-year history, the hammers have had their ups and downs as far as competitive success, but have had one thing for almost the entirety of their existence. "I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles" was first performed in The Passing Show of 1918 at The Winter Garden in midtown Manhattan. Incidentally, in that very same Broadway show, a couple of young dancers named Fred and Adele Astaire made their first splash!

Sometime in the 1920s, the hit song of 1918 made it's way from Broadway to become a London football club anthem. According to legend, that's all because of a boy's nickname. Bill “Bubbles” Murphy, star on a local school team, garnered song-singing support from the near one thousand supporters that would come to watch them play each week. Though “Bubbles” himself never made the West Ham team, many of his school teammates did. The song became linked with Essex soccer, and can be heard still at almost every West Ham match. Watch the video below to see the Hammers’ send off to their original park, Boleyn Ground, by singing their signature song.

Southampton: When The Saints Go Marching In

This song started not on Broadway or Tin Pan Alley, but as a spiritual in the early 1900s. Also known as the unofficial anthem of New Orleans, "When the Saints Go Marching In" was made famous by Louis Armstrong's recording in 1938. Satchmo had been singing the song since before he picked up a trumpet (he called it a "mellow sermon"). A few years later, fans of the Southampton Saints adopted the hymn as their anthem. The story of how this happened is less clear than the story of “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles.” Explanations include the song’s worldwide renown (especially the Armstrong recording), and the rising popularity of jazz in 1950s England. It's easy to see how and why it might have occurred to the Southampton faithful to claim this song as their own (the lyrics fit quite nicely). The monosyllabic nature of the verse lends to easy substitution, and many other teams have adopted this song as well. Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, and Manchester United fans each have substitute their own nicknames into the song, making the chant their own. Watch Saints supporters sing their song below, and then hear "Oh, When the Spurs," a Tottenham Hotspur rendition.

Liverpool: You’ll Never Walk Alone

The heart-wrenching finale of Broadway's Carousel by Rodgers and Hammerstein is somehow synonymous with Liverpudlian football. Well, here's how: "You’ll Never Walk Alone" entered into Liverpool history when, 20 years after song premiered on Broadway, rock-and-rollers Gerry and the Pacemakers recorded their own version. Gerry shared a manager with another Broadway show-tune-loving, Liverpool-based group, The Beatles.

The Pacemakers' 1963 recording of "You'll Never Walk Alone" shot to number one on the UK charts, and remained there for weeks. Since then, the song has become such an integral part of the club’s history and identity that the title appears on the official Liverpool team badge. You can hear both the Gerry and the Pacemakers recording and a video of Liverpool fans below.

Manchester City: Blue Moon

In 1934, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart wrote the classic American ballad "Blue Moon" - not for the stage, but for the silver screen. For those keeping score, this means that Richard Rodgers wrote the music for (at least) two Broadway tunes-turned-soccer anthems.

"Blue Moon" has made its way from Hollywood to the American Songbook, and into another songbook: that of Manchester City fans. Though there is no definitive account of how this song came to be a Man City staple, club historian Gary James says he first heard it sung during the 1989-90 season at an away match in Liverpool: “At Anfield, City fans were kept behind for a while after the match and a few lads started singing it as we started to make our way out. They sang a sort of melancholic version, but it caught on.” Watch the videos below to see city fans chanting "Blue Moon", and a performance of the song by Man City superfan (and Oasis frontman) Liam Gallagher.

Newcastle: Winter Wonderland

Over the past twenty years, nothing has brought more pride to the Newcastle faithful than one man: Alan Shearer. So, honoring the English forward with his own song seems only fitting. Perhaps less fitting is the tune chosen for that honor: the 1934 American Christmas classic, Winter Wonderland. If songwriters Richard B. Smith and Felix Bernard knew that just seventy years after their song would be re-written into “There’s Only One Alan Shearer”, they surely would have been surprised. Though in a way, it's not so far from the usual vaudeville fare Bernard and Smith were writing. That being said, the Newcastle version flows quite nicely. Listen below for the revelry of Newcastle supporters.

Hear these soccer anthems, and other stellar standards from Broadway and beyond, all day long at wnyc.org/songbook