OTBC!

[Jack Barak 46]

I have supported this club for all of my 30 years of life and I have just found the full words to the poem / the piece on the ball city and I have to say they are not too shabby at all! I love this club!In the days to call, which we have left behind,Our boyhood''s glorious game, And our youthful vigour has declinedWith its mirth and its lonesome end;You will think of the time, the happy time,Its memories fond recallWhen in the bloom of your youthful primeWe''ve kept upon the ballKick off, throw in, have a little scrimmage,Keep it low, a splendid rush, bravo, win or die;On the ball City, never mind the danger,Steady on, now''s your chance,Hurrah! We''ve scored a goal.Let all tonight then drink with meTo the football game we love,And wish it may successful beAnd in one grand united toastJoin player, game and songAnd fondly pledge your pride and toastSuccess to the City club.

Kick off, throw in, have a little scrimmage,

Keep it low, a splendid rush, bravo, win or die;

On the ball City, never mind the danger,

Steady on, now''s your chance,

Hurrah! We''ve scored a goal.

[macdougalls perm 0]

Thanks for that Humphrey, brings a lump to my throat! [:$]

[Jack Barak 46]

Cheers Mac, glad I am not the only one!

[Boyo 0]

What kind of tune are the two verses supposed to be sung in?  The big KICK IT OFF we are all use to doesn''t really seem to fit when you see the whole song.

[Jack Barak 46]

I read it as a poem, it''s been adapted by the addition of ''it'' to suit the pentameter we use but the whole thing seems to have a sombre reflective ''tune''...I thought it was great and very moving. It very much reminded me of John McCrae''s ''We will remember them''.

[Henry 0]

Found THIS

[ricardo 8,034]

[quote user="Boyo"]What kind of tune are the two verses supposed to be sung in?  The big KICK IT OFF we are all use to doesn''t really seem to fit when you see the whole song.[/quote]You should have heard 25k singing it at White Heart Lane in 1959 Boyo. It was gut wrenching and 40k Spurs fans were stunned to silence.Not like todays stupid chanting.

[Herman 11,136]

[quote user="Henry"]Found THIS
[/quote]

Cheers Henry that''s great[Y]

[ricardo 8,034]

[quote user="Henry"]Found THIS[/quote]Thanks Henry.I''ve just had to wipe a tear away.

[Jack Barak 46]

[quote user="Henry"]Found THIS[/quote]Brilliant!

[Boyo 0]

[quote user="ricardo"][quote user="Boyo"]What kind of tune are the two verses supposed to be sung in?  The big KICK IT OFF we are all use to doesn''t really seem to fit when you see the whole song.[/quote]

You should have heard 25k singing it at White Heart Lane in 1959 Boyo. It was gut wrenching and 40k Spurs fans were stunned to silence.

Not like todays stupid chanting.
[/quote]

Was the whole song sung or just the chorus?  I think we should slow it down abit.  Listen to You''ll Never Walk Alone or the song Birmingham fans sing, they are sung slowly but still create a great atmosphere and when you get a lot of people singing it, it is probably more intimidating for other fans/players than the loud shriek we have now.

 

I think we should all learn the whole words and sing that before kick off (perhaps in a more chant friendly way than the man in the youtube clip) instead of getting the guy with the microphone to count us down before we all shriek in to some chant which away fans probably don''t catch a word of.

[Jack Barak 46]

I agree with this, even if the whole thing isn''t appropriate throughout

the game it would be great to have a full [slow] run through in advance

of the game and then a slower version during the game.

[ricardo 8,034]

[quote user="Boyo"]

[quote user="ricardo"][quote user="Boyo"]What kind of tune are the two verses supposed to be sung in?  The big KICK IT OFF we are all use to doesn''t really seem to fit when you see the whole song.[/quote]You should have heard 25k singing it at White Heart Lane in 1959 Boyo. It was gut wrenching and 40k Spurs fans were stunned to silence.Not like todays stupid chanting.[/quote]

Was the whole song sung or just the chorus?  I think we should slow it down abit.  Listen to You''ll Never Walk Alone or the song Birmingham fans sing, they are sung slowly but still create a great atmosphere and when you get a lot of people singing it, it is probably more intimidating for other fans/players than the loud shriek we have now.

 

I think we should all learn the whole words and sing that before kick off (perhaps in a more chant friendly way than the man in the youtube clip) instead of getting the guy with the microphone to count us down before we all shriek in to some chant which away fans probably don''t catch a word of.

[/quote]Just the chorus mate.They sometimes played the record before a match and everyone would join in when the chorus came round.I can''t recall when it went out of fashion and materialised into the chant we know today. Admittedly it sounds very old fashioned now but it was very very emotional back in the day.

[O.T.B.C 1]

And it''s Scrimmage not Scrummage please Carra Rud.

[Jack Barak 46]

[quote user="ricardo"][quote user="Boyo"]

[quote user="ricardo"][quote user="Boyo"]What kind of tune are the two verses supposed to be sung in?  The big KICK IT OFF we are all use to doesn''t really seem to fit when you see the whole song.[/quote]You should have heard 25k singing it at White Heart Lane in 1959 Boyo. It was gut wrenching and 40k Spurs fans were stunned to silence.Not like todays stupid chanting.[/quote]

Was the whole song sung or just the chorus?  I think we should slow it down abit.  Listen to You''ll Never Walk Alone or the song Birmingham fans sing, they are sung slowly but still create a great atmosphere and when you get a lot of people singing it, it is probably more intimidating for other fans/players than the loud shriek we have now.

 

I think we should all learn the whole words and sing that before kick off (perhaps in a more chant friendly way than the man in the youtube clip) instead of getting the guy with the microphone to count us down before we all shriek in to some chant which away fans probably don''t catch a word of.

[/quote]Just the chorus mate.They sometimes played the record before a match and everyone would join in when the chorus came round.I can''t recall when it went out of fashion and materialised into the chant we know today. Admittedly it sounds very old fashioned now but it was very very emotional back in the day.[/quote]Still is, especially if you read the whole words...I wish I could have seen / heard it.

[Harry 0]

[quote user="O.T.B.C"]And it''s Scrimmage not Scrummage please Carra Rud.[/quote]Some of us do use scrimmage, IMO if it was slowed down so we could fit all the words in properly it would sound better.

[alysha 0]

Maybe we could get the club to play this original version for before kick offs again?

[Boyo 0]

[quote user="ricardo"][quote user="Boyo"]

[quote user="ricardo"][quote user="Boyo"]What kind of tune are the two verses supposed to be sung in?  The big KICK IT OFF we are all use to doesn''t really seem to fit when you see the whole song.[/quote]

You should have heard 25k singing it at White Heart Lane in 1959 Boyo. It was gut wrenching and 40k Spurs fans were stunned to silence.

Not like todays stupid chanting.
[/quote]

Was the whole song sung or just the chorus?  I think we should slow it down abit.  Listen to You''ll Never Walk Alone or the song Birmingham fans sing, they are sung slowly but still create a great atmosphere and when you get a lot of people singing it, it is probably more intimidating for other fans/players than the loud shriek we have now.

 

I think we should all learn the whole words and sing that before kick off (perhaps in a more chant friendly way than the man in the youtube clip) instead of getting the guy with the microphone to count us down before we all shriek in to some chant which away fans probably don''t catch a word of.

[/quote]

Just the chorus mate.

They sometimes played the record before a match and everyone would join in when the chorus came round.

I can''t recall when it went out of fashion and materialised into the chant we know today. Admittedly it sounds very old fashioned now but it was very very emotional back in the day.
[/quote]

 

I would have liked to have been around in those times to have witnessed it sung properly on the terraces but my Dad wasn''t even born when that game against Tottenham in 1959 was being played!

 

On The Ball City does make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up when it is sung before kick off  but when you compare it to when the scousers sing You''ll Never Walk Alone before a big European night it''s not really the same is it?  Don''t get me wrong I love OTBC but YNWA is a bit more of an emotional anthem than what ours is at the moment.

[York Canary 29]

Beautiful

[Jack Barak 46]

I have been to a lot of games over the last 25 years and I have to say that when the faithful start belting it out I do get the hairs on the back of my neck standing up...most recently, when we equalized at Watford the rendition(s) that followed were superb and really made me proud...as I said, really love this club!

[Bury Yellow 2]

Is there not someone or recording company that could produce a modern version. Not to change anything at all other than have a clear version.

The new recording could be played at The Carra and would eventually catch on.

The verses are really fantastic. I had forgotten how moving they are.

Please, someone out there, get it on!!

[Jack Barak 46]

[quote user="Bury Yellow"]Is there not someone or recording company that could produce a modern version. Not to change anything at all other than have a clear version.

The new recording could be played at The Carra and would eventually catch on.

The verses are really fantastic. I had forgotten how moving they are.

Please, someone out there, get it on!![/quote]Probably one for Tilly or one of the NCISA lot who have connections...Tilly?

[NMTD 0]

You''ll Never Walk Alone - PAH!

 

This has to happen, please make it happen - it''s FANTASTIC!

 

I have been following the boys for over 40 years and whilst I knew of the existance of the verses, I had never heard them sung before.

 

We definitely sing the ''chorus'' too fast these days, even compared back to the 70''s / 80''s, but thats not the point here - this is the oldest song in world football - it is our heritage - no-one else has it - just us - it is ours. The full version should be remastered and brought back. SIMPLES.

 

[alysha 0]

just tweeted McNally asking if this is something we could possibly get going next season

[Yarmouthyellow1 0]

I''ve raied the issue of songs being sung too fast (and in my opinion, generally ruined) on here several times over the last few years and how I feel we, as custodians of NCFC''s terrace history, should be preserving the old ways of singing the songs.  Most have agreed (though some said lighten up, go with the times and just accept all songs being sung at hyper speed).  I out of principle continue to sing at the old speed even if I''m out of step with most of the ground now.  Just frustrates me as the majority seem to acknowledge it''s happening and the pace of singing etc is getting ridiculous but most seem to go along with it, or as with the case with some of those I go to matches with; just give up and don''t bother when it starts getting stupid.  I believ this is why we struggle to sustain songs now.  If you do feel strongly about it, do something about it, don''t go with the crowd, slow it down and bit by bit maybe the process can be halted/reversed.  Regards.

[Aurelius 0]

Great post Sir Humphrey, it oozes proud and love for the club.

Maybe you''ll be surprised to know that Norwich have fans also in Italy, even if we must content to attend about one or two games every season, but we are proud of the Canaries!

www.italiancanaries.forumfree.it