When You Walk Through A Storm...

Sorry I’m late.

This week’s blog has taken a little longer than usual, because in order to write it I’ve had to do something that doesn’t come naturally to me. I’ve had to be serious. You have been warned…

Today I want to talk about a song. I can’t be sure, but I’d venture it’s the song I’ve sung most in my life – even more frequently that ‘Sweet Transvestite’, if you can believe it. For myriad reasons, it’s a song close to my heart, and at this week’s first rehearsal I got the chance to sing it again.

Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ for their 1945 musical ‘Carousel’, which is neglected by many in favour of ‘Oklahoma’ or ‘The Sound of Music’ but which for me is their best work together. It’s a story of hope and redemption with a message that love has no boundaries, not even death. It’s powerful stuff, with Richard Rodgers providing one of his best scores and Oscar Hammerstein’s words perfectly combining the poetic and the direct. And like most men, it came into my life through football.

I’m from the red half of Merseyside. My dad was a season ticket holder at Anfield, travelling abroad for European games. My mum was a fan too. I was born in 1977, so of course I was named after Kevin Keegan. Six months later I reckon my name would have been Kenny. It’s a tradition I tried to maintain when my son was born, but I couldn’t persuade Becky to agree to calling baby Smith Fernando. So yes, it’s fair to say that Liverpool FC is ingrained in my heart. ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ is our club song, going back to the 60’s when the Gerry and the Pacemakers cover was in the charts and the fans on Liverpool’s famous Kop turned it into a terrace anthem. The lyric’s message, that you’re never alone and that better times are ahead, is perfect for the football supporter with dreams of glory.

The song was particularly poignant in the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster of 1989, which resulted in 97 supporters losing their lives. Just about everyone in Liverpool knew a family who’d been affected, and ours was no different. I witnessed first hand the power of that song, how it helped bring people together and deal with unimaginable loss. Its message of hope really connects with people, and it’s no surprise that where I come from it’s the most played song at funerals. I reckon I must have been to a dozen or so that used ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’. One of these was my dad’s in 2017, lending the song an extra poignancy these days.

I never met Becky’s dad. He passed away before we met. He was a Geordie who settled and raised a family in Leicester, and so I was surprised when Becky told me the song was also played at his funeral. Not the Gerry Marsden version, though. The ‘proper’ one from Carousel. Because even without the football connection, its message holds true. Even after death, you’re still with your loved ones. Neither of our dads were men of faith, but that doesn’t matter. Whether you believe in life everlasting or just feel that we live on in the hearts and minds of the people whose lives we’ve touched, the effect is the same.

When Becky first suggested performing the song, with the intention of adding it to our set for the Springwell Village 1940s Weekend, neither of us were sure we’d get through it without bursting into tears. It’s such a beautiful song, though, and I convinced her to give it a try. If nothing else, I thought I’d get a thrill out of making a room full of Newcastle and Sunderland fans sing my club’s anthem! I think it helped this week that she’d got the lyrics on her sheet written down wrong, so my only tears were ones of frustration as for the hundredth time she sang “is” instead of “there’s”. But it’s more than that. It’s a song that works best with strength in numbers. Sat amongst dear friends, I felt that sense of belonging and community that standing on the Kop as a boy brought. It may sound trite, but it’s true: at Raise Your Voice Hebburn you truly never walk alone.