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You'll Never Walk Alone (song)
Encyclopedia
"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, kills himself to avoid capture during a failed robbery. It is reprise
d 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.
The song is also sung at association 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.
, who created the role of Nettie Fowler, introduced the song in the original Broadway production. 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.
, Gerry & the Pacemakers
, Judy Garland
, Elvis Presley
and Doris Day
. Progressive rock
group Pink Floyd
took a version sung by the Liverpool F.C.
Kop choir, and "interpolated" it into their own song, "Fearless", on their 1971 album, Meddle
.
From 1964 through 2010, Jerry Lewis
concluded the annual Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon
by singing the song. After the end of a concert by the rock group Queen
, the audience spontaneously sang this song, according to guitarist Brian May, and this helped to inspire the creation of their songs "We Are the Champions
" and "We Will Rock You
". Italian-American tenor, Sergio Franchi sang a notable version accompanied by the Welsh Men's Choir on the June 9, 1968 telecast of The Ed Sullivan Show
. He also covered this song in his 1964 RCA Victor album The Exciting Voice of Sergio Franchi. 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.
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.
Renée Fleming sang the song for the Obama Inauguration on January 20, 2009. In 2010, this was sung during the festivities of the Last Night of the Proms
, with the choir at the Albert Hall
joined by crowds of the public from Hillsborough Castle, Northern Ireland; Caird Hall, Dundee; Hyde Park, London; Salford, Greater Manchester; and Wales. This was to commemorate the death of Oscar Hammerstein II.
In the United Kingdom, the song's most successful recording was released in 1963 by the Liverpudlian
Merseybeat
group Gerry and the Pacemakers (peaking at number one in the singles chart for four consecutive weeks).
The song quickly became the anthem of Liverpool Football Club
and is invariably sung by its supporters moments before the start of each home game. The words "You'll Never Walk Alone" also feature in the club crest and on the Shankly Gate entrance to Anfield
, the home 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 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."
Marsden himself told BBC Radio how, in the 1960s, the DJ at Anfield would play the top-ten commercial records in ascending order, with the number one single transmitted last, shortly before kickoff. Spectators would sing along, but unlike with other hit singles, once "You'll Never Walk Alone" dropped out of the top-ten, instead of dropping the song, supporters continued to sing along.
The song was later adopted by Scottish team Celtic F.C.
, Dutch teams Feyenoord and FC Twente
, Germany's Borussia Dortmund
, 1. FC Kaiserslautern
, Borussia Mönchengladbach
, FC St Pauli and Japan's F.C. Tokyo.
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 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
.
The song was also performed by 17-year-old highschool student Alina Schmidt at the public funeral of German football goalkeeper Robert Enke
(who had committed suicide after years of depression) to an audience of 45,000 at his team's Hanover's
stadium
on November 15, 2009.
The song was sung by supporters of the A-League team Brisbane Roar to commemorate the victims of the 2011 Queensland Floods at the 2011 A-League
Grand Final.
Show tune
A show tune is a popular song originally written as part of the score of a "show" , especially if the piece in question has become a "standard", more or less detached in most people's minds from the original context...
from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
musical Carousel
Carousel (musical)
Carousel is the second stage musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II . The work premiered in 1945 and was adapted from Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom, transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine coastline...
.
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, kills himself to avoid capture during a failed robbery. It is reprise
Reprise
Reprise is a fundamental device in the history of art. In literature, a reprise consists of the rewriting of another work; in music, a reprise is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the...
d 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.
The song is also sung at association football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
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.
Background
Christine JohnsonChristine Johnson (actress)
Christine Johnson Smith , usually credited as Christine Johnson, was an American contralto opera singer and actress who sang at the Metropolitan Opera and other opera houses...
, who created the role of Nettie Fowler, introduced the song in the original Broadway production. Later in the show Jan Clayton
Jan Clayton
Jan Clayton was a film, musical theatre, and television actress.-Career:...
, as Julie Jordan, reprised it, with the chorus joining in.
In the film, it is sung by Claramae Turner
Claramae Turner
Claramae Turner is an American opera singer. She is perhaps best known for singing You'll Never Walk Alone and some of June Is Bustin' Out all Over in the musical film Carousel, adapted from the Rodgers and Hammerstein stage musical of the same name.Born in Dinuba, California, she was a contralto...
as Nettie. The weeping Julie (Shirley Jones
Shirley Jones
Shirley Mae Jones is an American singer and actress of stage, film and television. In her six decades of television, she starred as wholesome characters in a number of well-known musical films, such as Oklahoma! , Carousel , and The Music Man...
) 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, with notable hit versions made by Frank SinatraFrank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Gerry & the Pacemakers
Gerry & the Pacemakers
Gerry and the Pacemakers were a British beat music group prominent during the 1960s. In common with The Beatles, they came from Liverpool, were managed by Brian Epstein and recorded by George Martin. They are most remembered for being the first act to reach number one in the UK Singles Chart with...
, Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
, Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
and Doris Day
Doris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
. Progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
group Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
took a version sung by the Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
Kop choir, and "interpolated" it into their own song, "Fearless", on their 1971 album, Meddle
Meddle
Meddle is the sixth studio album by English progressive rock group Pink Floyd. It was released in October 1971.The album was recorded at a series of locations around London, including Abbey Road Studios...
.
From 1964 through 2010, Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis...
concluded the annual Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon
Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon
The MDA Labor Day Telethon is an annual telethon in the United States to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association . The first MDA telethon was during the Thanksgiving Day weekend of 1952 and titled Party for MDA. It has been held annually since 1966...
by singing the song. After the end of a concert by the rock group Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
, the audience spontaneously sang this song, according to guitarist Brian May, and this helped to inspire the creation of their songs "We Are the Champions
We Are the Champions
"We Are the Champions" is a power ballad written by Freddie Mercury, recorded and performed by British rock band Queen for their 1977 album News of the World. One of their most famous and popular songs, it remains among rock's most recognisable anthems...
" and "We Will Rock You
We Will Rock You
"We Will Rock You" is a song written by Brian May and recorded and performed by Queen for their 1977 album News of the World. Rolling Stone ranked it #330 of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and the RIAA placed it at #146 on its list of Songs of the Century...
". Italian-American tenor, Sergio Franchi sang a notable version accompanied by the Welsh Men's Choir on the June 9, 1968 telecast of The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
. He also covered this song in his 1964 RCA Victor album The Exciting Voice of Sergio Franchi. American singer and songwriter Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
sang this song in a surprise appearance at the close of the 2001 Emmy Awards
53rd Primetime Emmy Awards
The 53rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were finally held Sunday, November 4, 2001, seven weeks late. The awards show was hosted by Ellen DeGeneres and was broadcast on CBS. The ceremony was re-scheduled twice from its original date of September 16 at the Shrine Auditorium because of the September...
, in honor of the victims of the September 11th, 2001 attacks.
In The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy series created by Douglas Adams. Originally a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, it was later adapted to other formats, and over several years it gradually became an international multi-media phenomenon...
, 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.
Renée Fleming sang the song for the Obama Inauguration on January 20, 2009. In 2010, this was sung during the festivities of the Last Night of the Proms
The Proms
The Proms, more formally known as The BBC Proms, or The Henry Wood Promenade Concerts presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in London...
, with the choir at the Albert Hall
Albert Hall
Albert P. Hall is an American actor.Born in Brighton, Alabama, Hall graduated from the Columbia University School of the Arts in 1971. That same year he appeared Off-Broadway in The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel and on Broadway in the Melvin Van Peebles musical Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death...
joined by crowds of the public from Hillsborough Castle, Northern Ireland; Caird Hall, Dundee; Hyde Park, London; Salford, Greater Manchester; and Wales. This was to commemorate the death of Oscar Hammerstein II.
Sporting anthem
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
Merseybeat
Beat music
Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat is a pop and rock music genre that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1960s. Beat music is a fusion of rock and roll, doo wop, skiffle, R&B and soul...
group Gerry and the Pacemakers (peaking at number one in the singles chart for four consecutive weeks).
The song quickly became the anthem of Liverpool Football Club
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
and is invariably sung by its supporters moments before the start of each home game. The words "You'll Never Walk Alone" also feature in the club crest and on the Shankly Gate entrance to Anfield
Anfield
Anfield is an association football stadium in the district of Anfield, Liverpool, England, with a seating capacity of 45,522. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892 and was originally the home of Everton F.C. from 1884 to 1892, before they moved to Goodison Park...
, the home stadium.
According to former player Tommy Smith, Gerry Marsden
Gerry Marsden
Gerard "Gerry" Marsden is an English musician and television personality, best known for being leader of the British band Gerry & the Pacemakers.-Biography:...
presented Liverpool manager Bill Shankly
Bill Shankly
William "Bill" Shankly, OBE was a Scottish football player and manager, most noted for managing Liverpool between 1959 and 1974. One of Britain's most successful and respected football managers, Shankly was also a fine player whose career was interrupted by the Second World War...
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 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."
Marsden himself told BBC Radio how, in the 1960s, the DJ at Anfield would play the top-ten commercial records in ascending order, with the number one single transmitted last, shortly before kickoff. Spectators would sing along, but unlike with other hit singles, once "You'll Never Walk Alone" dropped out of the top-ten, instead of dropping the song, supporters continued to sing along.
The song was later adopted by Scottish team Celtic F.C.
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
, Dutch teams Feyenoord and FC Twente
FC Twente
FC Twente is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, playing in the Eredivisie. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Eredivisie Champions, Sportclub Enschede and Enschedese Boys...
, Germany's Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund
Ballspielverein Borussia Dortmund, commonly BVB, are a German sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. Dortmund are one of the most successful clubs in German football history. Borussia Dortmund play in the Bundesliga, the top league of German football...
, 1. FC Kaiserslautern
1. FC Kaiserslautern
1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern, also known as 1. FCK, FCK or simply Kaiserslautern, is a German association football club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. On 2 June 1900, Germania 1896 and FG Kaiserslautern merged to create FC 1900...
, Borussia Mönchengladbach
Borussia Mönchengladbach
Borussia Mönchengladbach is a German association football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia. The team plays in the Bundesliga and is one of the country's most well-known, well-supported, and successful teams. Borussia Mönchengladbach has over 40,000 members and is the sixth...
, FC St Pauli and Japan's F.C. Tokyo.
The Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
song "Fearless", from their 1971 album Meddle
Meddle
Meddle is the sixth studio album by English progressive rock group Pink Floyd. It was released in October 1971.The album was recorded at a series of locations around London, including Abbey Road Studios...
, 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
Bradford City A.F.C.
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, playing in League Two....
following the Valley Parade fire in 1985, when 56 spectators died and many more were seriously injured. The song was performed by The Crowd
The Crowd (music)
The Crowd was a charity group formed specifically to produce a charity record for the Bradford City stadium fire, in which 56 people died on 11 May 1985...
, featuring Gerry Marsden, Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
and Rolf Harris
Rolf Harris
Rolf Harris, CBE, AM is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, painter and television personality.Born in Perth, Western Australia, Harris was a champion swimmer before studying art. He moved to England in 1952, where he started to appear on television programmes on which he drew the...
, among others.
Some years later, after witnessing a rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone" at Anfield in 2007, the President of the Spanish Olympic Committee
Spanish Olympic Committee
The Spanish Olympic Committee is responsible for Spain's participation in the Olympic Games. It was formed on January 11, 1924 in Barcelona.-Presidents:* 1912-1921 Gonzalo de Figueroa y Torres, Marqués de Villamejor...
, Alejandro Blanco, said he felt inspired to seek lyrics to his country's wordless national anthem, the Royal March
Marcha Real
is the national anthem of Spain. It is one of the few national anthems in the world to have no official lyrics ....
, ahead of Madrid's bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games
2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXXI Olympiad, are a major international multi-sport event to be celebrated in the tradition of the Olympic Games, as governed by the International Olympic Committee...
.
The song was also performed by 17-year-old highschool student Alina Schmidt at the public funeral of German football goalkeeper Robert Enke
Robert Enke
Robert Enke was a German football goalkeeper.Enke played at leading clubs in several European countries, namely Barcelona, Benfica and Fenerbahçe, but made the majority of his appearances for Bundesliga side Hannover 96 in his homeland.He won eight full international caps for the German national...
(who had committed suicide after years of depression) to an audience of 45,000 at his team's Hanover's
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
stadium
AWD-Arena
The AWD-Arena is a football stadium in the district Calenberger Neustadt in Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany, and competition venue of the German Bundesliga football club Hannover 96....
on November 15, 2009.
The song was sung by supporters of the A-League team Brisbane Roar to commemorate the victims of the 2011 Queensland Floods at the 2011 A-League
A-League
The A-League is the top Australasian professional football league. Run by Australian governing body Football Federation Australia , it was founded in 2004 following the folding of the National Soccer League and staged its inaugural season in 2005–06. It is sponsored by Hyundai Motor Company...
Grand Final.
Chart performance
| Chart (1963) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
1 |
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
| UK Singles Chart | 33 |