I love that, but what's it called,
From the terraces (again)
Back in the early Eighties, a chant spread like a virus among the terraces of Britain. Every club fondly believed they invented it - I heard Arbroath supporters lay claim to it one day in the one and only stand at Meadowbank (ah, them were the days). It is a particularly clever and complex song, ideally suited to the scoring of the first goal, or the sending off of the oppositions most feared midfielder; to the heaving of plastic seats at the opposition casuals, or (with a minor lyrical adjustment) to sarcastically waving farewell to the hangdog opposition as they sidle out of the ground ten minutes early, in no way aiming to get the seats by the fire in the pub, oh, no.
Stunning in its simplicity and melodic thrust, it is most often known as 'Here we go', and if I may be permitted to quote in full, it goes something like this:
Here we go,
Here we go,
Here we go
---------
Here we go,
Here we go,
Here we go-oh,
----------
Here we go,
Here we go,
Here we go,
(deep breath)
Here we go-oh:
HERE WE GO!
Fair brings a tear to the eye, doesn't it?
(I also recall it being an essential part of the picket lines during the miner's strike - perhaps that's where it came from; who knows? There's almost certainly a doctoral thesis in it somewhere.)
Anyway; the tune. Where do you suppose that comes from?
From the pen of light opera and military march composer John Philip Sousa. The tune is the tub-thumping, patriotic, Fourth-of-July marching band standard 'The Stars and Stripes Forever', and it's a cracking melody. The bit everyone knows is actually the second theme, there's one almost as good which kicks the thing off. The other thing it is notable for the almost impossible piccolo/flute solo (or obbligato, as it's known, because you have to play it as written - no improvising) during the second refrain. Flautists the length and breadth of the US curse Sousa nightly as they nurse their battered embouchures, for 'The Stars and Stripes Forever' is played by every school/cadet/army/marine/town band in the country - not only on July 4th, but at the drop of any available hat.
And if you're thinking that you've heard the name 'Sousa' before - well, he had a musical instrument named after him (the Sousaphone), and you've probably hear the 'Liberty Bell' march. Well, if you have even a passing acquaintance with the works of Monty Python you have. The original doesn't end with a giant raspberry accompanied by a pink foot, but you can't have everything.
Anyway:
This extract begins with the flute obbligato - try to whistle along!
And just for completeness - The Liberty Parrot, with abrupt, but non-Python ending.