You'll Never Walk Alone

"You'll Never Walk Alone"
Introduced in the 1945 musical, Carousel
Music by Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Language English
Original artist Christine Johnson
Recorded by Nina Simone
Johnny Cash
Gordon MacRae
Frank Sinatra
Judy Garland
Mario Lanza
Roy Hamilton
Doris Day
Gerry & The Pacemakers
Patti LaBelle and the BlueBelles
Elvis Presley
The Blind Boys Of Alabama
Bryn Terfel
Many other artists; see #Recorded versions

"You'll Never Walk Alone" is a show tune from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Carousel.

In the musical, in the second act, Nettie Fowler, the cousin of the female protagonist Julie Jordan, sings "You'll Never Walk Alone" to comfort and encourage Julie when her husband, Billy Bigelow, the male lead, is killed during a failed robbery. It is reprised in the final scene to encourage a graduation class of which Louise (Billy and Julie's daughter) is a member. Billy watches this ceremony during his return to earth.

Because the song is included in the musical's school-graduation finale, it has become a standard at graduation ceremonies in the United States.

The song is also sung at football clubs around the world, where it is performed by a massed chorus of supporters on matchday; this tradition began at Liverpool Football Club in the early 1960s and later spread to several other clubs.[1]

Contents

Background

Christine Johnson, who created the role of Nettie Fowler, introduced the song in the original Broadway production [2] . Later in the show Jan Clayton, as Julie Jordan, reprised it, with the chorus joining in.

In the film, it is sung by Claramae Turner as Nettie. The weeping Julie (Shirley Jones) tries to sing it but cannot; it is later reprised by Ms. Jones and a chorus.

Subsequent History

Besides the recordings of the song on the Carousel cast albums and the film soundtrack, the song has been recorded by many artists as listed below, with notable hit versions made by Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Elvis Presley, Doris Day, Roy Hamilton, Patti LaBelle & the Blue Belles, Johnny Cash, Tom Jones, Marty Robbins, and Renée Fleming.

Since 1964 Jerry Lewis has concluded the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon with an emotional version of You'll Never Walk Alone. Lewis said at the end of the 2007 telethon that the song was suggested to him in 1964 by a disabled child.

American singer and songwriter Barbra Streisand sang this song in a surprise appearance at the close of the 2001 Emmy Awards, in honor of the victims of the September 11th, 2001 attacks.[3]

In The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, the onboard computer Eddie sings this song in an attempt to calm the crew of the Heart of Gold as their imminent destruction approaches in the form of a missile.[4]

Sporting anthem

"You'll Never Walk Alone"
Single by Gerry & The Pacemakers
Released 1963
Length 2:40
Label Columbia (EMI) (UK)
Laurie Records (US)
Gerry & The Pacemakers singles chronology
"I Like It"
(1963)		 "You'll Never Walk Alone"
(1963)		 "I'm The One"
(1964)
Shankly Gates

In the United Kingdom, the song's most successful performance was recorded in 1963 by the Liverpudlian Merseybeat group Gerry & The Pacemakers (peaking at number one in the singles chart for four consecutive weeks). It quickly became the anthem of Liverpool Football Club and is invariably sung by its supporters moments before the start of each home game.[5][6] The words "You'll Never Walk Alone" also feature in the club crest and on the Shankly Gate entrance to the stadium.

According to former player Tommy Smith, Gerry Marsden presented Liverpool manager Bill Shankly with a tape recording of his forthcoming cover single during a pre-season coach trip in the summer of 1963. "Shanks was in awe of what he [had] heard. [...] Football writers from the local newspapers were travelling with our party and, thirsty for a story of any kind between games, filed copy back to their editors to the effect that we had adopted Gerry Marsden's forthcoming single as the club song."[7]

Marsden himself told BBC Radio how, in the 1960s, the deejay at Anfield would play the top-ten commercial records in ascending order, with the number one single transmitted last, shortly before kickoff. Supporters standing on the Spion Kop terrace would sing along, but once "You'll Never Walk Alone" dropped out of the top-ten, says Marsden, they continued to sing along.[8][9] The song was later adopted by Scottish team Celtic F.C.,[6] Dutch teams Feyenoord and FC Twente, the Belgium team Club Brugge,[10] Germany's Borussia Dortmund and Japan's F.C. Tokyo.[11]

The Pink Floyd song "Fearless", from their 1971 album Meddle, includes a recording of the Liverpool Kop singing "You'll Never Walk Alone". The recording is repeated many times during the song and appears solely as a conclusion at the end of the track.

A special recording of the song was made in solidarity with Bradford City following the Valley Parade fire in 1985, when 56 spectators died and many more were seriously injured. The song was performed by The Crowd, featuring Gerry Marsden, Paul McCartney and Rolf Harris, among others.

Some years later, after witnessing a rousing rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone" at Anfield in 2007, the President of the Spanish Olympic Committee, Alejandro Blanco, said he felt inspired to seek lyrics to his country's wordless national anthem, the Royal March, ahead of Madrid's bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games.[12][13]

The song was also performed at the funeral of German football player Robert Enke before 45,000 attendees in Hannover's AWD-Arenastadium on November 15, 2009.

Chart performance

Chart (1963) Peak
position
UK Singles Chart 1
Chart (2010) Peak
position
UK Singles Chart 33
Preceded by
"Do You Love Me" by Brian Poole and The Tremeloes		 UK Singles Chart number-one single
31 October 1963 - 28 November 1963		 Succeeded by
"She Loves You" by The Beatles

Recorded versions

"You'll Never Walk Alone"
Single by Bela B. & the Tikiwolves feat. Gary'o'Wolf
Released August 2002
Genre Rock
Label Bitzcore
Writer(s) Oscar Hammerstein/Richard Rodgers
Bela B.
Producer Bela B. & Gary'o'Wolf
Bela B. chronology
"Chocolate for the Tears"
(2000)		 "You'll Never Walk Alone"
(2002)		 "Candy"
(2002)

Bela B. & the Tikiwolves feat. Gary'o'Wolf version

"You'll Never Walk Alone" is a single released by Bela B., the Tikiwolves and Gary'o'Wolf. The song is the official anthem of FC St. Pauli. It's an adaption of the song, which is also the anthem for Liverpool FC.

The single features two mixes in both English and German. "Dusty Crown", performed by Bela B. and Perry Spinoza's band, appeared in 1998 on a punk rock compilation "Der FC St. Pauli ist schuld..." dedicated to FC St. Pauli.

Track listing

  1. You'll Never Walk Alone (8-0-Mix) (englische Version) - 3:38
  2. You'll Never Walk Alone (Tikiwolf-Mix) (englische Version) - 2:54
  3. You'll Never Walk Alone (8-0-Mix) (deutsche Version) - 3:38
  4. You'll Never Walk Alone (Tikiwolf-Mix) (deutsche Version) - 2:54
  5. Mr. Felsenheimer & Perry Spinoza Gang - Dusty Crown (Perry Spinoza, Ronnie Henseler/Perry Spinoza) - 3:04

References

  1. ↑ Liverpool vs. Leeds United, F.A. Cup Final, BBC, 1965. The song was covered by Liverpool group Gerry & The Pacemakers in 1963. At this time, supporters standing on the Spion Kop terrace at Anfield began singing popular chart songs of the day. The mood was captured on camera by a BBC Panorama camera crew in 1964. One year later, when Liverpool faced Leeds in the cup final, the travelling Kop sang the same song and match commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme commended the "Liverpool signature tune". Paul Coslett, You'll Never Walk Alone BBC Online. 9 June, 2008.
  2. ↑ You'll Never Walk Alone (original version 1945)
  3. ↑ Streisand's stage fright spiked with thought of terror, By Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY, 12-12-2001
  4. ↑ [1]
  5. ↑ Liverpool vs. Chelsea, European Champions League, 2005.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Aldred, Jessica. Liverpool or Celtic: who Walked Alone first? The Guardian. March 12, 2003.
  7. ↑ Smith, Tommy. Anfield Iron, Bantam Press, p. 68-69
  8. ↑ Cavanagh, John. "The History of You'll Never Walk Alone", BBC Songlines, 2006.
  9. ↑ Morgan, John. "The Other Mersey Sound", BBC Panorama, 1964.
  10. ↑ Whyatt, Chris. McClaren's new charges BBC. 13 August, 2008.
  11. ↑ Radnedge, Keir. Keeping the flame alive, SFC. April 2009.
  12. ↑ Liverpool fans inspire Spain to write words to anthem, Reuters. June 5, 2005
  13. ↑ Spain to add lyrics to wordless national anthem, MSNBC. June 26, 2007.
  14. ↑ "Cilla Black Discography: You'll Never Walk Alone (duet with Barry Manilow) - Single". http://www.cillablack.com/music-youllneverwalkalone-single.htm. Retrieved 21 May 2009 (2009-05-21). 
  15. ↑ Recorded for Capitol Records Judy Garland with Orchestra conducted, by Norrie Paramor, August 3, 1960.
  16. ↑ It's Raining In My Heart (LP/MC) (Goud & Platina) 1976
  17. ↑ Columbia Catalog Number DB4816"
  18. ↑ http://adicts.us/adictsmusic.html
  19. ↑ You'll Never Walk Alone
Preceded by
"The Things That I Used to Do" by Guitar Slim and His Band		 Billboard R&B Best Sellers in Stores number-one single (Roy Hamilton version)
March 27, 1954 - May 15, 1954		 Succeeded by
"Work With Me Annie" by The Midnighters
Preceded by
"Do You Love Me" by Brian Poole and The Tremeloes		 UK number-one single
(Gerry & The Pacemakers version)
October 31, 1963 (4 weeks)		 Succeeded by
"She Loves You" by The Beatles
Preceded by
"19" by Paul Hardcastle		 UK number-one single (The Crowd version)
June 9, 1985		 Succeeded by
"Frankie" by Sister Sledge
Preceded by
"Say You'll Be There" by Spice Girls		 UK number-one single (Robson & Jerome version)
November 3, 1996		 Succeeded by
"Breathe" by The Prodigy
Bela B.
Studio albums
Bingo · Code B
Singles
Tag mit Schutzumschlag  · 1. 2. 3. ...  · Sie hat was vermisst  · Gitarre runter  · Altes Arschloch Liebe  · Schwarz/Weiss  · Tag für Sieger  · In Diesem Leben
Featured singles
Pogo Dancing · Grönemeyer kann nicht tanzen · Wir brauchen... Werner · This Girl Was Made for Loving · Leave · Chocolate for the Tears  · You'll Never Walk Alone  · Candy  · Tanzverbot (Schill to Hell)  · Fussball ist immer noch wichtig  · Der Graf vs. Horrorpunks  · Hölle
Related articles
Die Ärzte · List of Bela B. songs