This one again, This one again, Please stop, I Pray I Pray I Pray - The current state of chanting.

[L0311 Liberty Shrimper]

One of my favourites - haven't heard it sung for ages

When we score I have always wanted the Roots Hall PA to play the chorus "All the people, so many people..." and then the crowd can finish with "and they all say who's that team? Who's that team in blue? Southend!" *Clap, Clap, clap clap clap clap bluuuues!

 

[L0311 Liberty Shrimper]

With the new North Bank safe standing…

I’ve sifted through the remnants of the CEO meeting and decided this is the plan - might have made 7 out of 2+1 though

…and TBV moving in there, there will be a lot more room for the old North Bankers of yesteryear.

They could abandon the far flung spots of Roots Hall they have settled during the Ron years, pop to Specsavers to tune up their specs and ear horns, cast away the zimmers and get back stuck in.

Songs need starters, initiators - like the drummer. Seasoned voices with a few more tunes in their repertoire would be welcomed by the others I’m sure. The youngsters will pick up the tunes quickly enough.

A few of the old favourites with words tweaked for 2025 players and sensibilities would be amazing. Just need to coordinate with the drummer so he can support with the right beat etc.

Maybe I can adapt my ear horn to be a vuvuzela?

 

[The Dirty One]

We need to bring back the song about the pier, it can only be sung by us which makes it unique

Southend -on-Sea, Southend -on-Sea, the longest pier you'll ever see

 

[L0311 Liberty Shrimper]

One of my favourites - haven't heard it sung for ages

When we score I have always wanted the Roots Hall PA to play the chorus "All the people, so many people..." and then the crowd can finish with "and they all say who's that team? Who's that team in blue? Southend!" *Clap, Clap, clap clap clap clap bluuuues!

I feel this might be the time to try and push this one in front of the right ears. It would be unique to us and it's an Essex band...and the nineties were only a few years ago right?

 

[NZamba Legend]

Not criticising drums or drummers but they do tend to lead to droney songs that lack melodic flourish. Not many of the great songs mentioned in here get an airing because of the drum issue.

I used to think that lower leagues were where the song innovation came from. But not anymore. All FL clubs sing the same songs. You can tell a new team in the Premier League because they still sing the FL songs. FL mentality. Forest, bless them. are top three premier league but their chanting game is still lower league one.

 

[Shrimper in India]

Yesterday we were on an open terrace where it's always hard to get an atmosphere going.

I do agree with the post though, "Follow Southend Away" incessantly does get very dull.

What about the "S and an O and a U and a T" song. That one seemed unique to Southend but seems to have died a death.

 

[tallboyblue]

The Liverpool chant, to the tune ,Amore. When youre sat in row z and the ball hits your head, thats Zamora

Funny that one.Must be one or two players in this division whose name will fit.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Not criticising drums or drummers but they do tend to lead to droney songs that lack melodic flourish. Not many of the great songs mentioned in here get an airing because of the drum issue.

I used to think that lower leagues were where the song innovation came from. But not anymore. All FL clubs sing the same songs. You can tell a new team in the Premier League because they still sing the FL songs. FL mentality. Forest, bless them. are top three premier league but their chanting game is still lower league one.

Just needs a bit of coordination the drum can help when things are a bit flat, but it’s less needed when the TBV choir is at full pelt.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

The Liverpool chant, to the tune ,Amore. When youre sat in row z and the ball hits your head, thats Zamora

Funny that one.Must be one or two players in this division whose name will fit.

One to reserve for opposition players (especially strikers / ex-Shrimpers), surely, like that donkey at Yeovil?

 

[annie1954]

Watching Big Match Revisited I love hearing without fail, when the away team score, “You’re going to get your ****ing heads kicked in”. I remember that at Roots Hall along with “You’re going home in a Southend Ambulance “. Simpler times.

You must remember another Southend favourite. Luther Blissit what a W….R what a W….R ! Luther Blissit What a W….R what a W….R ! lol he loved playing us

 

[It'sGrimUpNorth]

Trends ebb and flow through the decades, as you age you notice this more and more it seems. When I first started attending games in the early to mid eighties the chants from the terracing were quite melodic and largely Christian Hymn based. I don't need to list them, those of a certain vintage will know most if not all of them. These were a staple for the longest time, stretching right the way through the nineties. Why these timeless tunes have been lost is perhaps a nod to the secularisation of society at large...but that's a discussion for another time.

As we progressed through the nineties, more contemporary tunes were thrashed out as they became popular (a mid nineties one that springs to mind as I type is Blur's "All the people", excellently adapted for the Shrimpers singers). As we moved into the new century we started hearing more dance tracks being adopted (insert names on fire, your defence is terrified), these were also very welcome for me as they were upbeat and suited thousands singing in unison.

The current trend, and one for me that has very much out stayed it's welcome, is the monotonous "Follow (insert team name) away" and "We're the (insert team name) boys, making all the noise" with precious little variety thereafter. Most every fanbase is guilty of it right now. I do not know where the "tunes" have been adopted from? In the past this was clear and obvious, and perhaps I'm a middle age grump shouting at the sky...but oh for rousing Chorus of "Southend, Southend, SOUTHEND!" aka Chelsea, hands aloft.

Standing on the atmospheric vacuum of the FGR terrace yesterday I was quite impressed with the small band of home supporters and the relative variety of songs they got through. There was one about Cheltenham. No matter what decade though I think we have always struggled to have a real identity through song. We have nothing involving our nickname as an easy example.

I think TBV have done a superb job since the mid naughties in uniting the fanbase in song, but I guess the lead voices change and promote the current trend. What's my point? I'm not sure there is one. I want to hear some of the old classics come back, but I sadly think they are lost to time as people simply do not hear those tunes in their lives. The hymn based chanting I guess arose because up to a certain point we all sung these in school assembly, maybe even on a Sunday with family.

Whatever the next thing is it can't come quick enough for me.

Great post. This is always really annoying for me. And when I watch games on TV every band of supporters are all signing the same cr&p

‘Same bloody song ole ole ole’

Whatever happens to
‘Oh I do like to be beside the seaside with a bucket and a spade a fuc!ing hand grenade’ ?

And ‘my old man said be a West Ham fan, I said fu&k off bo!!ocks your a c$nt’

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

The Liverpool chant, to the tune ,Amore. When youre sat in row z and the ball hits your head, thats Zamora

I think the point is to try and avoid just copying what we’ve heard other teams sing. It all gets so generic and interchangeable. We want something more identifiable as Southend. Not something identified as another team.

 

[WestyReturns]

Whatever happened to "oh yes you know, what you can do"?

 

[JIMSDAD]

How about this, sung to the tune of The Erin Boat Song?

We’re only on loan from the Football League,

We’re going back very soon,

We’ve got a consortyum to pay for it,

They said they’d give us the moon,

Oh we’re Southend United,

The best team in Essex by far,

Oh we’re Southend United,

Watch out or we’ll nick your car.

 

[South Bank Hank]

One that always seemed to fit for me was the classic:

“With an S and and O and a U and a T, an H and an E and an N and a D.

U, N, I…, T, E, D

Southend United. FC.”

Never was a song so perfectly made to align with the name of a club. And it happens to be our club. Led perfectly into the cries of Sea, Sea, Seasiders.

Unique and memorable.

Bring. It. Back.

 

[Uncle_Rons_Teapot]

Bring back "A col u fan on a piece of string"

 

[dusterman]

Bring back "A col u fan on a piece of string"

Was sung against someone recently, maybe Woking, I think.

 

[L0311 Liberty Shrimper]

One that always seemed to fit for me was the classic:

“With an S and and O and a U and a T, an H and an E and an N and a D.

U, N, I…, T, E, D

Southend United. FC.”

Never was a song so perfectly made to align with the name of a club. And it happens to be our club. Led perfectly into the cries of Sea, Sea, Seasiders.

Unique and memorable.

Bring. It. Back.

This has to come back and would be easy to implement.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Watching Big Match Revisited I love hearing without fail, when the away team score, “You’re going to get your ****ing heads kicked in”. I remember that at Roots Hall along with “You’re going home in a Southend Ambulance “. Simpler times.

My younger brother used to sing"you'll never walk again",with gusto.

 

[Rob Noxious]

My younger brother used to sing"you'll never walk again",with gusto.

The other one.