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Platonic

Singing "On The Ball City"

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Hi all,

Now that the fixture list has been revealed, I think it''s time to acknowledge a home truth from the win over Middlesbrough. Prior to kick off, and at points through the match, they out-sung us. You could not fail to be impressed at the unity and strength of their voice at times, and the reason for this is simple. They were actually *singing*.

As a lurker on the forum, I know that we''ve had people bring up the fact that we don''t sing OTBC like we used to (I say we; the current version is all I can remember at matches), but the clear fact is that because of the way we garble it these days, by the time the ''song'' has started, it''s finished before enough people have time to join in.

Even at Carrow Road, let alone at Wembley, you get the end result that two or more relatively large, separate sets of fans can be singing OTBC out of sync, blissfully unaware of the others'' efforts.

The reason Middlesbrough were so united is that they sing at a much slower speed, meaning the song can spread through the ground and really pick up all the fans. With us, you''re lucky to get the ground united by the time we get to ''hurrah''.

I really think this translates into the atmosphere we can create at home. Rather than a united stadium, we have a fractious, sometimes desperate sounding set of separate fans barking out a song that increasingly sounds like an attempt at an East Anglian Haka.

Surely we could try to spread the message to SING THE SONG? And try to start singing the song ourselves at a slower pace so that people can actually join in?

Just a thought from a frustrated conductor.

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[quote user="Platonic"] try to start singing the song ourselves at a slower pace so that people can actually join in?

Just a thought from a frustrated conductor.[/quote]

Get yourself down to CR and offer to conduct/rehearse the crowd. [Y]

I agree about Boro singing before the match at Wembley, but their songs, such as they were , were much simpler than OTBC.  Agree with you though, it would be great to hear it sung slowly with all the words clear, as Liverpool sing YNWA.  Needs a lot of people to be re-taught it though....

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Platonic, firstly I completely agree. It would have more unity and impact sung slowly.

That''s not to say I don''t like the passion of the modern chant but once you''ve heard the song there''s no going back!

However, and i''ve said it on here for years, in my opinion the problem we have is that *people don''t know the tune* any more because only about 20 fans have ever heard the song itself outside of the ground.

When it was sung slowly in the 60s I imagine the 1958(?) record was still in circulation amongst the fanbase. Prior to that, no doubt city music halls etc may have kept the tune ''current'' (just guessing!).

Almost all (or at least enough) fans who need to know have heard an original recording of most famous other club anthems like YNWA, IJCGE, IFBB, MOT, BM etc.

Even most generic football songs are based on tunes people would at one point hear regularly on the radio, in school, scouts, or church (going further back). Examples are BOH, AWM, LOTD, SJB, DDB, FLOAS, etc.

It means that for the most club-specific ones of these, the club can even play them over the tannoy, on special occasions, which again helps newbies learn the tune.

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The fact is ''On the ball city'' cannot compete with other chants sung properly or otherwise. I have to own up that I do not like the song but think about other clubs like West Ham''s ''Bubbles'' now that is never sung in tune.

The pre match so called entertainment stuff at Wembley was just too bad. Some geezer getting the boro fans going first and then Adrian Forbes turns five minutes later for us. The speaker system was distorted and the fans around us had no idea what Forbes was saying.

The boro fans sung what was a basic easy chant. Why Forbes chose ''Cheer up George Burley'' as our ''song'' was frankly pathetic. He could have encouraged, say, the Yarmy chant

To give a simple example, if we played before a game the Proclaimers ''500 miles'' there would be no problem. If boro fans were confronted with singing otbc they would have the same problem as we do.

Finally, we occasionally have people contribute to this board with a general criticism of our supporters. The fact is we are no different to any other supporters of their teams. Oh actually we are. Loyalty with support home and away.

Platonic, of course you are entitled to your point of view and it was well put but I''m still getting over what was the most fantastic experience with fellow supporters in my 60 plus years of supporting my club. I thought we were a credit to our club and the noise factor was impressive from all the various broadcasts.

Get the pre match ''set'' sorted at The Carra with decent stuff to get the crowd going plus do something about the PA system and we will be fine.

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Perhaps if the whole ground sung, instead of just the Barclay / Snake pit.....

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Maybe we should up date the arrangement, there''s a few posters on here who''ve probably had a hip op, I understand the young''uns like a bit of that or maybe some gryhme.

 

 

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They don''t only sing at a slower speed they do everything at a lower speed, because they are northerners!

I did not get the impression they were louder than us, My resounding memory of them is the stony silence from them as we scored past them. It''s not as if they had much to cheer, how many mindless through balls out for a goal kick?

Is there a problem with generating noise at Carrow road? Probably, it''s tough but it has its moments. We tend to be a very expectant crowd but we certainly aren''t the worst.

You won''t ever get people singing on the ball city like you want it. It''s not the 30''s anymore.

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Having sat in all the stands over the last 3-4yrs  The problem seems to be when singing OTBC the barclays sings too fast and out of sync.

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Platonic, I wholeheartedly agree. The only thing that came anywhere near to spoiling the day was the speed that OTBC was sung. I had wanted to start a thread on it but feared for the response that some on here have given.

In recent years both Spurs and Soton have slowed their anthems down, and as a result more people join in. It''s high time we followed suit.

At Wembley I actually shouted on more than one occasion to slow it down, and generally I got the thumbs up, but as I was literally on the back row there was no real way of gaining traction.

Perhaps Forbesy could lead us all in a slowed down rendition at the home matches to make a difference (cue Norman Collier type PA announcements.......).

C''mon you all know it makes sense to slow it down ......

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It hasn''t been sung properly for over 40 years now and has unfortunately turned into a tuneless chant.It used to be wonderful when sung properly and had the power to make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. Anyone who heard it at White Heart Lane or St Andrews in 1959 will know what I mean.

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[quote user="morty"]Perhaps if the whole ground sung, instead of just the Barclay / Snake pit.....[/quote]

To be fair, some of us in the River End do try to sing it. But the barclay go fast, that they end up finishing a good 3 or 4 seconds before us.

But to the original post, I completely agree that it would be so much better if we could get it slower and the whole ground singing it. But realistically, how could it ever be achieved? I''ve never heard the original tune other than on Youtube.

The only idea i can think of is to get a group of us together (like the Barclay end project do) at friendlies and cup games. Then gradually the rest of the ground will figure it out.

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And Morty hit the nail on the head, as we are only priority members so for most home games we can end up anywhere, it is noticeable that clapping, singing, standing or chanting are severely frowned upon in the Jarrold or N and P, i always dread if we can`t get into the barclay we will end up with the passionless soulless morons.

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Completely disagree that OTBC can''t compete with other club songs, in fact it smashes most of the rest out of the water.

Completely disagree that the OP or replies are anti-supporter. There are many reasons why at CR and Wembley we rarely make/made the wall of sound that some of us would love to hear (& demonstrated by Boro when they were still in the game).

Some reasons are in common with other PL/recent PL clubs, some are specific to our support''s demographics, and one is related to the OP''s point. We can''t do much about the first two reasons but the last is something the club and/or a fan campaign could realistically help with.

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To be entirely honest here, the actual issue is the complexity of the song. And that is the reason that it never worked at Wembley. There are no repetitive lyrics where you can just catch up with if you have missed your cue. And as the sound rolls round a stadium then its going to end up all over the place.However, it should work at Carrow road when we are all counted in.It was easy for Boro, as they only appeared to have one song.

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[quote user="morty"]To be entirely honest here, the actual issue is the complexity of the song. And that is the reason that it never worked at Wembley. There are no repetitive lyrics where you can just catch up with if you have missed your cue. And as the sound rolls round a stadium then its going to end up all over the place.However, it should work at Carrow road when we are all counted in.It was easy for Boro, as they only appeared to have one song.[/quote]We only ever sung the chorus and there''s nothing very complex about that Morty.

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[quote user="ricardo"][quote user="morty"]To be entirely honest here, the actual issue is the complexity of the song. And that is the reason that it never worked at Wembley. There are no repetitive lyrics where you can just catch up with if you have missed your cue. And as the sound rolls round a stadium then its going to end up all over the place.However, it should work at Carrow road when we are all counted in.It was easy for Boro, as they only appeared to have one song.[/quote]We only ever sung the chorus and there''s nothing very complex about that Morty.[/quote]More complex than "We are Boro, we are Boro, we are Boro, we are Boro, we are Boro, we are Boro"

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Coordination was the issue different parts of the stadium singing different songs at different times. Not sure how you do that with 40k wanting to sing. Would ask twtd but as they have never seen a 40k crowd they won''t have a clue

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Our singing is generally pathetic. I stand at the back of the lower Barclay are there are groups of people 20 seats away who are so out of time with others you would think they are deaf.

Not helped by the fact that half the crowd don''t seem to know the words. Perhaps a song sheet distributed to all seats on the first game of the season might help?

Also we seem only to be able to ''sing'' when clapping at the speed of sound.

No wonder no musical talent ever comes from Norfolk.

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Why don''t they just stick the original on the tannoy at some point before kickoff, at the end of matches and sometimes just before the second half kicks off to fire up the crowd, people will soon learn the correct speed/tune. This is what Leeds Rhinos do with Marching on Together and when you''re in the middle of the South Stand that really does send a shiver down your spine even with the backing track. If people are too precious about singing along to the record, just fade it out once people have joined in, it would make more sense then having the bloomin countdown!

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I don''t think Brough (that''s how it should be spelled) did out-sing us at Wembley any more than we out-sang them. At certain points we were quieter and they sounded loud but, at other times, we were deafening. It might have seemed different in other parts of the crowd, but I have never heard OTBC sung louder and I''m sure a lot of the Brough fans will have felt out-sung at times.It is very common for sections of the home fans to be very quiet, no matter which ground you are at, and often the atmosphere can be a bit flat - especially if things are not going well on the pitch. At times recently I have felt that the Carrow Road crowd have noticeably upped the noise level for crucial games. We could do with having a few more songs which are more widely known among all the fans, but I think OTBC is great as it is. Sure, it may have changed over the years, but everything does; and it is rather old.

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[quote user="Canary Dogg"]There were a hell a lot of plastics at Wembley who probably don''t have a clue about the words of otbc[/quote]And even fewer know the tune.[Y]

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Wembley is not a good comparison, and in my opinion there are number of reasons; Firstly the 40,000 at Wembley don''t/ cant get to CR on a regular basis, but all wanted to join in, hence when one area started the song another a minute later wanted to join in and it never quite sounds the same. Secondly; OTBC is unique its not a song other clubs can replicate, I only know as it sounds these days, and I love it for the fact others cant replicate it, and also when speaking to fans of other clubs and you say you follow NCFC, more often than not they will make reference to "on the ball city" its our brand !!.

Thirdly, Wembley apart very few grounds get all 4 sides singing ever, let alone at the same time, certain parts of CR always seem to be full of very old supporters, who once in their seats cant stand up and certainly don''t want to sing, where I sit in the City Stand there are probably half a dozen of us who join in, but god help us if we stand up ! and in truth I guess most clubs are the same, a mate of mine is a Derby ST holder and he say''s the same, although their stadium being more of a bowl (as is Boro''s and a few others) generates a more even and louder sound / atmosphere.

And finally the words of OTBC should be on every seat back in CR then my mother in law might actually get it right one week, bless her !

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OTBC is always the song that you can pick out whenever you''re listening to an away game or watching a game on the TV, its definitely an anthem and is in general our loudest song.

I have two problems with it though. Firstly, and in context with this thread, its sung too quickly. Me and the other Barclay End Projekt guys are trying to slow it down around the back of E Block, in the hope that it will start to spread around the ground.

Some "Kick It Off, Slow it down" images are going to be posted on social media before the start of the season, we may even hand some flyers out or something too.

Secondly, for me, it''s sung too often!!! It seems to be sung by different little pockets of fans during a game.

It is at it''s loudest and most prominent just after kick off or after we''ve scored/conceded and when people start it every 5-10 minutes, it''s not as strong and fades quickly.

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I was watching some old black and white footage on You Tube a couple of years ago and was stunned in one to hear the full version of OTBC sung slowly behind the commentary - it was like a ghost from the past and was quite emotional to hear it like that. Should have bookmarked it, but maybe someone out there has a link to it or something similar where you can hear the slow version?   Would be great to hear it.

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Firstly ,, IMO the OP is a binner pig troll .

Secondly I am surprised nobody else has thought the same or mentioned it .

Lastly , after the game began at Wembley I only really heard borough twice , when they got a corner and after a particular attack ,, which broke down andovtheybreturned to silence .

I am sure that those who state that the Norwich supporters were " out sung" must have been watching on the TV , or radio , as standing in the second tier I was proud of the almost constant singing , even if it was at a different pace or timing to some other sections ,, maybe you had to be there ?

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^ i was there, in the lower tier, in the noisiest part of the ground, and i still agree that Boro out-sung us. That was until we scored twice, and then obviously we did all the singing. But before the game and the goals, they were far far louder. Im sorry but it''s true.

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