Whilst Scouse exceptionalism is something that really annoys fans of other clubs, the reality is that the atmosphere at Anfield can genuinely be a big difference maker in the matches that matter. No, the Kop isn’t going to get up for a game against Wolverhampton Wanderers on a Saturday afternoon, but put the Reds in front of one of the biggest teams in Europe under the lights and see what a difference it can make. Whether it be St. Etienne in 1977 or Barcelona in 2019, some of the best teams of the continent have come unstuck in from of the Liverpool fans over the years.
Part of that is down to the ingenuity of the people that make up the Kop choir, the people that come up with and sing the songs that help to bring the famous stadium to life. It is why everyone from Alex Ferguson to Pep Guardiola, Thierry Henry to José Mourinho has been quick to point out how important the supporters are to the success of the team. It is also why Jürgen Klopp worked so hard to create a link between the players and the fans after he arrived as Liverpool manager. The question is, what are some of the best songs that the Liverpool fans sing week-in, week-out?
Looking At Interesting Ones
The first thing to point out is that we’re not talking about the boring things that happen at every ground up and down the country. Yes, the Kop will sometimes chant the likes of ‘Liverpool, Liverpool, Liverpool’ during matches. It isn’t unheard of for supporters to sing the names of players in relatively monotone fashion. Neither of those are things that we’re interested in here. It is also worth noting that You’ll Never Walk Alone, that famous anthem that is sung before every home game at Anfield, isn’t really a chant and only tends to be sung briefly at the end of matches.
Instead, we’re going to take a look at some of the more interesting and amusing Liverpool songs that have been created over the years. There are some funny ones that have emerged over the years, such as when a cat ran onto the Anfield turf and the supporters stopped singing ‘Attack, attack, attack’ and instead began chanting ‘A cat, a cat, a cat’, but we’re going to gloss over them in favour of some of the more famous songs that you’ll hear emerging from the Kop on a match day. It is also worth noting that there are a few songs that only get brought out at specific times of the year.
Fields Of Anfield Road
Based on the tune of the 1979 Irish folk song The Fields of Athenry, the Fields of Anfield Road is sung to that tune but with the words changed in order to honour some of the players that have graced the Anfield turf at one point or another over the years.
Here are the lyrics:
All round the Fields of Anfield Road,
Where once we watched the King Kenny play (and could he play!)
Steve Heighway on the wing,
We had dreams and songs to sing,
Of the glory round the Fields of Anfield Road.
It tends to be sung on repeat until the Kop decides that it’s time to move onto something else, but because of the easy nature of the song it is often sung with gusto by most of there people inside Anfield.
Poor Scouser Tommy
Another one sung with gusto, at least during certain moments, is Poor Scouser Tommy. This is because the song is one that ticks a lot of the boxes for many fans, insomuch as it tells a story whilst also providing an atmosphere. It was first introduced to the Kop during Bill Shankly’s managerial reign in the 1960s and is actually a combination of two different tunes: Red River Valley and The Sash. The story itself is that of a young Scouser, Tommy, who was sent away to fight in a war and was shot, but with his dying breath declares his love for the Reds.
The lyrics are as follows:
Can I tell you the story of a poor boy
Who was sent far away from his home
To fight for his king and his country
And also the old folks back home
Now they put him in a Highland division
Sent him off to a far foreign land
Where the flies flew around in their thousands
And there’s nothing to see but the sand
Well the battle started next morning
Under the Libyan sun
I remember that poor Scouser Tommy
Who was shot by an old nazi gun
As he lay on the battle field dying (dying dying)
With blood gushing out of his head
As he lay on the battle field dying (dying dying)
These were the last words he said…
Ohhhhhh… I am a Liverpudlian
I come from the Spion Kop
I like to sing, I like to shout
I go there quite a lot* (Every Week)
We support the team thats dressed in Red
A team that you all know
A team that we call Liverpool
And to glory we will go
We’ve won the League, we’ve won the Cup
And we’ve been to Europe too
We played the toffees for a laugh
And we left them feeling blue – Five Nil!
One two
One two three
One two three four
Five nil!
Rush scored one
Rush scored two
Rush scored three
And Rush scored four
Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na
At this point, the song tends to merge into a version of All You Need Is Love by The Beatles, with the difference being that it is All You Need Is Rush. One important thing to note is the fact that the battle started ‘under the Libyan sun’. Some people mistakenly think it is ‘under the Arabian sun’ or even ‘under the radiant sun’, but the official version is definitely ‘under the Libyan sun’.
Allez, Allez, Allez
One of the amusing things about supporters from other teams who turn up to Anfield and sing ‘Where’s your famous atmosphere?’ is that many of them then take the songs they heard being sung by Liverpool supporters and making them about their own team. There is perhaps no better example of this than with ‘Allez, allez, allez’, which was first sung by a group of travelling supporters in Porto in the February of 2018. It was the song that accompanied Liverpool’s march to the European Cup final at the end of the 2017-2018 season, which ended in disappointment.
The tune is that of an Italian disco classic from the 1980s, having previously been used by supporters from the likes of Juventus, Atletico Madrid and Napoli. Given the club’s success in Europe, Liverpool has long enjoyed a European influence when it comes to songs, fashion and attitudes, so it is no surprise that the Reds took L’Estate Sta Finendo and made it their own. It was popularised by Jamie Webster, the singer-songwriter who regularly performed around Anfield on match days before releasing an album of his own music that proved to be incredibly popular.
Here are the lyrics to the Liverpool version of the song:
We conquered all of Europe,
And we will never stop,
From Paris on to Turkey,
We’ve won the f*cking lot!
Bob Paisley and Bill Shankly,
The Fields of Anfield Road,
We are the supporters,
We come from Liverpool!
Allez, allez, allez!
Allez, allez, allez!
Allez, allez, allez!
Allez, allez, allez!
It is sung on repeat until the Kop decides to move on to something else, but it is all but guaranteed to get a good atmosphere going and during its heyday would involve everyone bouncing up and down during the ‘allezs’.
We’ll Be Coming Down The Road
Liverpool is a football club that has long had a Scottish influence, thanks in no small part to the fact that Bill Shankly was the man who made modern Liverpool what it is. With that in mind, it is perhaps no surprise that the Kop took on a song that was beloved of the Tartan Army of Scottish supporters and gave it a Scouse twist. That is what happened with We’ll Be Coming Down The Road, which was adapted to have the following lyrics:
We’ll be coming,
We’ll be coming,
We’ll be coming down the road!
When you hear the noise
Of the Bill Shankly Boys,
We’ll be coming down the road.
Poetry In Motion
There aren’t many songs that have survived from the Brendan Rodgers era to still be sung in the modern day, but Poetry In Motion is one. In the wake of Liverpool’s 3-2 win over Manchester City at Anfield, it felt as if the Reds were destined to win the Premier League and finally get hold of the trophy that we’d all been craving for so long. As a result, there were countless fans declaring that Liverpool were indeed ‘poetry in motion’, with the following lyrics being sung:
We are Liverpool!
Tra la la la la!
We are Liverpool!
Tra la la la la la la la!
We are Liverpool!
Tra la la la la!
We’re the best football team in the land!
Yes we are!
Again, this is a song that tends to get the atmosphere going, largely thanks to the fact that it is an easy one to learn the lyrics and tune to so even those that don’t go to Anfield very often can sing it.
Songs For Specific Players
As you might imagine, there have been numerous songs aimed at specific players over the years. Liverpool fans tend to be very good at being able to come up with songs to give players the credit that they deserve, albeit some come and leave without ever having their name sung in anything but the most perfunctory manner. Depending on the game and the state that it is in at any given moment, some old classics can still be brought out from time to time so it is worth highlighting them.
The Peter Crouch Song
One of the best examples of the humour of Liverpool fans might well be seen in the lyrics to the Peter Crouch song, which were brought out to pay tribute to the six foot seven striker who played for the Reds between 2005 and 2008. They are as follows:
He’s big,
He’s red,
His feet stick out the bed,
Peter Crouch,
Peter Crouch!
Luis Garcia
Another song that will be sung every now and then, often during European encounters, is that of Luis Garcia. The diminutive forward was part of the Liverpool team under Rafael Benitez that played such exciting football, with his song being sung to the tune of You Are My Sunshine:
Luis Garcia,
He drinks Sangria,
He came from Barca,
To bring us glory.
He’s five foot seven,
He’s football heaven,
So please don’t take my Luis away!
Steven Gerrard
As one of the most important and influential players in the history of Liverpool Football Club, it is hardly a surprise that Steven Gerrard has a song that is trotted out every now and then. The midfielder won everything bar the Premier League trophy with the Reds, with the following being the lyrics the Kop serenaded him with:
Steve Gerrard, Gerrard,
He’ll pass the ball 40 yards,
He’s big and he’s f*cking hard,
Steve Gerrard, Gerrard.
Roberto Firmino
There are some players who play the game with an excitement and a vibrancy that is always going to entertain supporters. Roberto Firmino showed his personality every time he made it onto the football pitch, so he got a song that reflected that. When it got going, it could continue for some time because of the joy that it gave both the player and the supporters. The words are:
There’s something that the Kop want you to know,
The best in the world is Bobby Firmino.
Our number nine,
Give him the ball and he’ll score every time
Si senhor!
Give the ball to Bobby and he will score.
Virgil van Dijk
Liverpool is something of a ‘dirty old town’, in the best possible interpretation of what that means. When Virgil van Dijk became a Liverpool player, he deserved a song on account of his sheer class and ability, so the Kop choir decided to adapt the song that was popularised by The Dubliners and The Pogues into one for the clubs new centre back. The lyrics go like this:
He’s a centre-half, he’s a number four.
Watch him defend, and we watch him score,
He’ll pass the ball, calm as you like,
He’s Virgil van Dijk, he’s Virgil van Dijk.
A particular highlight for many was when he scored on his Liverpool debut against Everton in the FA Cup, with the goal coming exactly as the Kop was singing ‘and we watch him score’.
Diogo Jota
There are some that really don’t like the Diogo Jota song, whilst others like certain aspects of it. Whatever your personal opinion, one thing that can’t be argued with is the fact that it provides an excellent atmosphere to get behind the Reds to. It is sung to the tune of a song from River Plate fans in Argentina, with the lyrics being:
Ohhh, he wears the number 20,
He will take us to victory,
And when he’s running down the left-wing,
He’ll cut inside and score for LFC,
He’s a lad from Portugal,
Better than Figo don’t you know,
Ohhh, his name is Diogo!
I’m So Glad That Jürgen Is A Red
From the moment that he arrived at Anfield, Jürgen Klopp completely changed the mindset of Liverpool supporters and players. ‘From doubters to believers’ went the line, and if people didn’t believe him then there certainly do now. The man himself isn’t happy when his song is sung, but the supporters love it and it lends itself to a brilliant atmosphere.
Sung to the tune of I Feel Fine by The Beatles, the words are:
I’m so glad that Jurgen is a Red.
I’m so glad he delivered what he said.
Jurgen said to me, you know. We’ll win the Premier League, you know. He said so.
I’m in love with him and I feel fine.
