The 2010 season is behind us, and 2011 will be here before we know it. We made a good start in 2010, now let's try to expand our repertoire a little bit. We've got until the Superdraft in Baltimore to rehearse. To try to maximize the number of songs that make it to PPL Park, and because people have asked, here are the criteria I use in deciding whether to put a song on one of my song sheets, which I hope to do for every home game next season. Please think about these before posting an idea here. 1) Is it practical? This is the most important. Remember that we're going to be drunk, not everyone will have a song sheet, and we're not going to have a rehearsal first. That means: simple words and not too many of them. 25 words (ignoring repeated phrases) is a good rule of thumb. A tune everyone already knows, or a tune or rhythm that's easy to pick up after hearing it once. A tune that can be repeated. Before posting, sing it through three times and make sure it's easy and obvious when to start over at the top. On a related note, No songs with long silences in them, unless there's an easy way to fill them with claps or something similar. Songs with a lot of long pauses or sustained notes are very hard to keep a large group together on without a solid beat. 2) Is it original? We already do enough chants copied from other teams, and we should take pride in the fact that we have more really original, Philly-unique songs than almost any other team in the league. If you want to copy another team's chant, it's going to have to be very, very good for me to put it on a song sheet. Especially if it's a song strongly associated with a single club that's not the Union (think "You'll Never Walk Alone"). Let's make other teams copy us, instead. 3) Is it any good? Of course, rules are meant to be broken, and if a chant is good enough we'll give it a try even if it's a little long, or complicated, or unoriginal. "Good" is subjective, but the most important measurement is whether people like it or not. So if you like something you see posted here, say so. If I see four or five people post that they like a particular chant, it's a lot more likely to make my song sheet. Don't be afraid to revive old ideas once or twice (but please take the hint after that). And if you get a song going in the stadium yourself, and it catches on, that's the best testimonial of all. Of course, it goes without saying that racism or bias stays off the song sheet. Violence, too--"we're gonna kick your ass, New York" is one thing, but songs about beating people up in parking lots are off limits. That said...this year's Red Bulls song sheet is attached as a starting point. Let's brainstorm.
I'll get started. We're going to need some chants for Portland and Seattle next year. How about (to the tune of "Guantanamera"): Poor man's Seattle, You're just a poor man's Seattle, Poor man's Seattle, You're just a poor man's Seattle. Or for Vancouver we could use "Poor man's Toronto..."
I'm a bit worried by the "practical" sentiment. While we obviously aren't going to be singing an opera, I don't think we should aim for the lowest common denominator. Using the same tired tunes over and over and only short little songs with lots of "la"s is something we should be aiming to do better than. I don't think the size of the RE is a very valid excuse in year 2. I could be reading too much into that. Probably am. I'm sick as a dog and on BS -- a winning combination.
Practical means just that...practical. Meaning it'll actually get done in the River End. There are plenty of tunes to pick from, and 25 words, the guideline I suggested, still leaves a lot of leeway for songs like Yankee Doodle, Union Maid, Red Bull Only Comes in Cans, etc. Think about how much trouble we've had getting "Four Leaf Clover" to come across as loud as we'd like it to, and that's with the words being shown on the video screen. "Four Leaf Clover" has about 40 words and a fairly simple tune, and it's clearly a lot more of an effort to get going than "Yankee Doodle" at 21 words. I'm not saying we should never do another song like "Four Leaf Clover." I'm just saying that not every song can have that steep of a learning curve. Remember that most people aren't going to be on BigSoccer, won't be at the tailgate, and aren't going to look at a song sheet. Anything you can't pick up the first time through by hearing it is going to get going very slowly, and that means not every chant can be like that in our second year. Not unless you're proposing Wednesday night choir practice for the River End. Maybe this year we'll add another longer, more complicated song to "Four Leaf Clover," and maybe next year we'll add another one. In time, maybe we'll have ten or twenty of them. But this year, it's not realistic.
Taking these guidelines into account, and getting back on my Civil War Horse (which is probably way too old to be carrying anybody) but modifying it down to fewer words while keeping the Union theme: Glory, Glory, Hallelujah Glory, Glory, Hallelujah Glory, Glory, Hallelujah The Union Marches on. 13 words, even with repeats, and better, I think, than the forced Blue and Gold Go Marching in, which everybody does and which adds that awkward extra third syllable to "The Saints". And I think most people have heard Battle Hymn of the Republic at least once in their lives.
You make it sound like we have to come up with a completely new set of songs. We already have some basic stuff. Onward and upward. You say maybe we can add another song to 4LC... well, let's do it. Let's make it a priority to find that one. And for the love of all that is good, can we make an effort and come up with something original? Honestly, I'm a bit jaded about these chant threads. SOB isn't a democracy and the people calling the shots don't seem to take them seriously. How many chants from the last 170-page thread were tried?
If you want to make it a priority, nobody's stopping you. Think it up, teach it to people, get them on board. The SoBs are an all-volunteer organization. If you want it to happen, make it happen. If a song catches on, the capos will pick it up. More of our songs are original than most other supporters' groups in the league. Four Leaf Clover, Union Maid, Manah Manah, Battle of Jericho, Hey Jude, Biz Markie, If You Wanna Dive, C'mon The U--aren't those all unique to Philadelphia? As I said in the first post, I'd like more originality as well. But you make it sound like we don't have a single original song. Off the top of my head: Just Can't Get Enough Dayman Great Escape Vindaloo Oh, Le Toux, Le Toux Chim Chimeney MVP If You Wanna Dive... Red Bull Only Comes In Cans John Brown's Body Down By the Riverside I'm pretty sure there were others I'm forgetting; if they didn't catch on I left them off the next song sheet. As I said in the first post, pretty much anything that got at least a few people interested got put on a song sheet at some point during the year. Of course there are plenty that didn't get tried out. That's how brainstorming works. Some suggestions just fell by the wayside and some were terrible or impractical. But most of the chants we do have come from the 2010 thread or the 2009 thread before it (Union Maid and Manah Manah were both BS suggestions IIRC). I think in the last thread people came down on the side of "Philadelphia Forever" instead of "Glory Philadelphia" as sounding less like a copycat song. Philadelphia forever, Philadelphia forever, Philadelphia forever, The Union marches on! A couple of versions of John Brown's Body have shown up on the song sheet this year, and this is one of my favorites, so I'll try again next year.
Oh Philly U! But this also brings up the discrepancy between suggested and used. We didn't use all of those songs, as far as I remember. Also, Battle of Jericho and Hey Jude are far from original.
this will catch on: kanye: Let’s have a toast for the d-----bags, Let’s have a toast for the a--holes, Let’s have a toast for the scumbags, Every one of them that I know Let’s have a toast to the j---offs That’ll never take work off Baby, I got a plan Run away fast as you can
If people want more complicated songs, here's one of my personal favorites from the last thread. Tune is "It's A Long Way To Tipperary." It's a long way to Philadelphia, It's a long way to go It's a long way to Philadelphia, With the finest team I know, So goodbye, Broad and Market, Farewell, William Penn, It's a long, long way to Philadelphia With the U-N-I-O-N! Can someone YouTube the tune for me for the young'uns who might not know it? It's a classic military sing-along song and AFAIK no other soccer team is using it.
(to the tune of Day Man) Un-ion, Fighter of the Pink Cows Uhh ahhahh Champions of the doop Uhh ahhahh You’re a master of scoring and friendship…for everyone Un-ion Uhh ahhahh for the sixth line I wasnt sure if it should stay as "you're" or be changed to something else Let’s have a toast for the d-----bags, Let’s have a toast for the a--holes, Let’s have a toast for the scumbags, Every one of them Red Bulls Let’s have a toast to the f---ups That'll never win a cup New Jersey, I got a plan Run away fast as you can haha, now this is good
quick, easy to learn, probably known by many fans, not done by anyone in mls (to my knowledge) we love the union we do we love the union we do we love the union we do oh union we love you [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_UMG4BgY6c"]YouTube - WE LOVE YOU ARSENAL WE DO!![/ame]
Given that many of us tend to pronounce it with four syllables, sure: Glory, glory Philadelphia Glory, glory Philadelphia Glory, glory Philadelphia The Union marches on A big improvement over mine
Seattle does it at halftime and at the end of the match (Or at least they did during their playoff game). I watch Liverpool most weeks and they tend to do this song for individual players. So that could put a unique spin on it. We love ya Seba we do... We love ya Danny... It pretty much works for anyone at least for a first or last name.
Talked to Corey. He's really for this. Opening day: Left side: The boys are back in town! Right side: The boys are back in town! Together: The boys are back in towwwowwowwwnnnnnn!
I like it, but I'm not sure what rhythm you mean...the song goes more or less: Lynott: The boys are back in town Band: The boys are back in town (eight beats) Lynott: The boys are back in tow-ow--ow-own Band: The boys are back in town! Are you having the second group sing the band echo and then just skipping the silence and the second echo? That could work.
Here's another good tune I think we could use that nobody else is using AFAIK...who's got lyrics for it? [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTBF6gj_K9M"]The Wreck of the Old '97[/ame]