Here We Go (football chant)

"Here We Go" is the archetypal football chant, composed of the words "here we go" sung over and over again to the tune of Sousa's "The Stars and Stripes Forever". The words were written by Harold Spiro and first recorded by Hoagy And The Terrace Choir which was released on State Records in 1976 and the song is published by State Music Ltd.[1] Used at the time of the miners' strike as a rallying call, the song is often interpreted to precede a battle of some kind - in popular thought it is the chant of an aggressive football firm or gang; yet, unlike many football chants, it contains no explicitly offensive lyrics and is known widely. It was described by Auberon Waugh as the national anthem of the working classes.[2] It is also an integral component of "The Music Man", alongside "The Dam Busters March", the theme tune to Match of the Day and the Bagpipes tune to "Scotland the Brave".

The same segment of Sousa tune is sometimes employed for club-specific football chants (for example Plymouth Argyle supporters regularly sing "Ar-guy-ull, ar-guy-ull, ar-guy-ull") and as a vehicle for exhortations to the players (a team that has scored three goals might be encouraged to "Give us four" etc.), an impromptu observation on the on-field action ("Send him off") or a taunt ("You are crap"). The supporters of Nottingham Forest used the melody with the words "Bri-an Clough" in honour of the then manager Brian Clough before the kick-off of each match. The singing would only stop once Clough had acknowledged the chant with a wave.

The melody was also used by Manchester City and Sunderland fans for the chant "Niall Quinn's Disco Pants", in tribute to the Irish centre forward. The song was released as a single in April 1999, reaching no. 56 in the UK Singles Chart.[3]

The supporters of Valencia CF used to sing the melody with the words "Xe que bó!" which means something like "Oh! How good" in Valencian or Catalan.

The chant formed the title and a great deal of the lyrics for Everton's FA Cup final single "Here We Go!" in 1984.[4]

References
  1. "Here We Go". Pop Music 4 Synch. Archived from the original on 3 October 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  2. Kuper, Simon (1996) [1994]. Football Against The Enemy. London: Phoenix Books. p. 215. ISBN 1857994698.
  3. Gillan, Audrey (2 April 2007). "Fans thrown off plane over Niall Quinn's Disco Pants". theguardian.com. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  4. Archived May 13, 2014, at the Wayback Machine


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