Over the weekend, I got to thinking about all the great Celtic songs I’ve heard down through the years, and there have been many, many, many of them.
I have great memories of hearing things at games that make you go “Wow!”
Down through the years, I heard a lot of weird and wonderful stuff at matches.
Sitting in a stand at Perth once I was astonished to hear Celtic fans singing the hymn Bind Us Together; they were brilliant at it too, and it was, after all, a Sunday kick-off!
There are songs I wish I’d heard at Celtic Park.
Because we’re often accused of being a “Catholic club” by those who don’t know better, and because Irish Republicanism is seen by many of the pig ignorant as being sectarian in nature one of my favourite rebel tunes has always been The Wolfetones brilliant Protestant Men.
It is a magnificent song highlighting the non-sectarian nature of the Irish Wars of Independence.
The band named themselves after one of the greatest Irish rebels of them all, who founded the United Irishmen and who was, of course, a Protestant.
Too many of our critics never bothered to learn the history.
I’ve always wanted to hear our fans sing the magnificent Green Fields of France; although not a Celtic song or an Irish song I’ve heard it sung in various Irish bars down through the years and when it starts a hush descends over the place.
What a wonderful retort to all this poppy fascism that song would be; a beautiful, touching anti-war song which still honours the dead who fought in the last century’s first terrible conflagration, and which understands how it led to the second.
That song was famously covered by Joss Stone, as the “official Poppy Appeal single” … and he scandalously dropped the last two verses, which give the song its power and absolutely alters, if not erases, the song’s anti-war message.
Which kind of says it all to me, and encapsulates what this poppy nonsense is really about.
That was one of two songs I used to hear my dad and my uncles sing at New Year parties; the other was an obscure piece written in 1979 by Pete St John, and immortalised in the version by Paddy Reilly, whose voice has rung around Celtic Park for years now.
Back then, it was the only time and place I heard that song sung.
In my early twenties I was on a trade union trip to Germany and I got on a table in a bar full of delegates from across Europe and sung a lusty rendition of it. Everyone agreed it was a beautiful song and I found myself giving a mini-lecture on the history of the Irish struggle … it was quite a night.
A year later I was at a game – and I can’t even recall which one it was, which makes me sad because it was, aside from that. a memorable moment in every way – and a group of guys behind me started singing it. My old man and I looked at each other in pleasure, but a little bewildered.
I had always thought it a beautiful song, but one that I’d assumed most people had never bothered to learn.
Yet all around me people picked up the tune.
Within 12 months it was bloody everywhere.
Every pub singer had his own version.
There were – God help us – dance versions and rock versions and before I knew it, one of the simpler and less well known Irish ballads was suddenly a global phenomenon, heard all over the place, the victim of a million imitators, although none, not even St John’s himself, ever beat the Paddy Reilly version for me.
Inevitably, Pete St John himself came to Celtic Park as a guest of Paddy Bonner and did the Fields of Athenrye live for the fans.
It has been a club anthem ever since, and it remains one of the finest songs I’ve ever heard.
It was a natural choice for me.
I knew that I couldn’t do an article about this without speaking to a bunch of other folks though, so I got a group of my friends, and my family, together and I asked for their views on the subject. The answers I got back were occasionally surprising … there are a few interesting choices in here.
But all of the responses are a testimony to how much the respondents love our club and the way they’ve reflected that in the songs they’ve chosen to highlight.
If I get enough responses, I’ll do a follow up to this piece, but for now let me hand you over to the rest of the team and their favourite Celtic songs.
Michaela Rodger: The Green Brigade Chant.
I remember like it was yesterday the first time I felt that sense of being part of something bigger than myself, the feeling you get when you’re walking towards Celtic Park before the game, the anticipation of what’s to come, the nerves, that fight or flight feeling if it’s a big game that needs a big performance and a big result.
You join up with the flood of green and white as it moves almost silently toward the green lights of Paradise as one.
You start to settle when you get to your seat and begin to see familiar faces and hear familiar sounds.
Once the chants and songs begin and then the game itself kicks off, you settle in that bit more and start to take part in it all.
The one chant, or maybe it’s more of a phenomenon, that gives me a tingle down my spine is when the Green Brigade kicks off ‘Come on You Boys in Green.
They throw the words across as a challenge to all of the support, section by section, and each section dutifully throws their words back to them.
They point to each section of the stadium like a mass of conductors. The words get thrown back across the pitch by the wind, sometimes late and out of synch, but the words surely come back in waves as strongly as they left.
They work their way round the stadium and the crowd responds obediently and immediately, almost like it’s been rehearsed. You feel at one, a collective, a family in tune.
Matthew Marr: The Celtic Song.
Many great songs have echoed around Celtic Park over the years, whether historical epics like Willie Maley or passing serenades to players that soon moved on.
Still, one tune above all defines the Celtic experience for me, and performed by one singer.
‘The Celtic Song’ remains the epitome of Celtic music, especially given its place in welcoming out the first team.
And not by just any singer, instead it has to be the original and best, Glen Daly.
It’s part of my earliest memories of Celtic Park, sitting in the main stand, looking out towards the Jungle and hearing the distinctive opening bars as the players entered the field.
At home I can recall time spent trying to learn the words by heart (in the days before it was easy to listen to the song online or even get it on CD).
A partly torn set of lyrics that my Dad had taken from the Celtic View sometime in the 1960s was my only resource, and so that was pored over for hours until it began to stick.
It’s said to be a sign of getting old that you dislike change. But I can remember feeling this way when I was still a teenager.
For many people – especially on big European nights – Walk On has perhaps began to edge out the sounds of Bartholomew Dick (Daly’s real name).
But for me, the only way to know that’s there’s going to be a show is if The Celtic Song is there.
Stephen O’Donnell: Grace.
I went to university in England and one of my mates was a big fan of Charlton Athletic.
Charlton are a great community club and I went along to a couple of games at Selhurst Park where the Addicks were ground sharing at the time.
One of the songs their fans were singing, aimed at their South London rivals went along the lines of: “My old man said be a Palace fan and I said f@ck off, bollocks, you’re a c@nt.”
I didn’t bother to join in.
Such chants are entirely typical of most other British football clubs.
When I first heard Grace being sung by the Green Brigade at Celtic Park I remember thinking, what a beautiful song, I have to find out what they’re singing.
It turned out to be a wonderful, historically reflective ballad, which shines a light on an important period in the struggle for Irish self-determination. Now everyone, it seems, is singing Grace, from Rod Stewart to Gaelic football players.
The best version though (apart from the Green Brigade) has to be by Donna Taggert, an Irish singer whose beautiful voice is matched only by her good looks.
The animation which accompanies it (available on YouTube) is genuinely moving and was released around the time of the centenary of the Easter Rising in 2016.
I’d urge all Celtic supporters to check it out.
Lisa Smith: Let The People Sing.
Choosing a favourite Celtic song or anthem is a difficult choice. There are so many classics and some absolute crackers penned by the Green Brigade.
But I think if I were to choose one that lifts your spirits and gets you ready for the game, it would be Let the People Sing.
I love when that unmistakable intro kicks in, you can’t resist but join in.
Let the People Sing, although written by the lead singer of The Wolftones, is actually more recognisable on the terraces when performed by The Malleys.
In more recent years, they have added the chorus and verse of This Land is Your Land, while played out at Celtic Park before kick-off. It’s an excellent touch.
That’s not the only reason I love this song.
They began playing it at Celtic Park in the early 2000’s, not as often as they do now, back when the media and the SFA were cracking down on football songs that they deemed were sectarian in nature and therefore should be banned. Knowing full well this was aimed directly at “The Old Firm” I always felt it was our defiant response to this claim.
“Just liberate your mind and give your soul Expression!” Let the People Sing is a classic Irish Rebel song and is most definitely one of my favourites.
Ross McAtasney: Celtic, My Heart & My Soul.
To write about a Celtic song seems a simple enough task, but then to choose just one …
That’s a real challenge when you have stuff from The Heat Of Lisbon to The Celtic Symphony.
I ended up going for this more recent addition, which I do hope to hear ring round Paradise more.
It’s a song which has also helped spark my interest in playing guitar again, a real catchy song and well written and was even used to raise money for the Celtic Foundation, which also let Kevin record a video inside the first team changing room.
This song tells the tale from a fans point of view of a young Celtic fan going along to one of Celtic’s games with his family, and retelling the folklore of the night in Lisbon, capturing the essence of being a Celtic fan.
The song is Celtic, My Heart & My Soul, and it has wonderful lines like “the colour that flows through my veins is green white a gold”
For me this is a real wee gem of a song.
It may not be seen as a big Green Brigade type chant, but for me it really does have the heart of Celtic at its core and really does deserve more recognition.
Jonny Garner: The Celtic Song.
It is generally acknowledged that Frank Sinatra’s theme song is My Way.
There are arguably technically better pieces of music in his back catalogue (ones that are better written, better arranged or better sung) but it’s my favourite as it’s the song most synonymous with him and the one that nobody else can get away with singing.
It’s the same logic which makes The Celtic Song (and specifically Glen Daly’s version) my favourite in the pantheon of songs associated with our club.
It’s the first Celtic song I ever knew and I’m pretty sure that thanks to my Papa, my uncles and cousins, I knew it word for word before I took any interest in what was happening on the park.
I have a vague recollection of the club replacing it with “Roll with it” by Oasis as the song played when the team ran on the park but tradition dictated that it was soon changed back.
On paper an accordion led song by a man with a quite frankly weird voice shouldn’t work but its undoubtedly our theme song and it gets the blood pumping like nothing else.
We have cleverer, funnier and more evocative songs but I just can’t imagine Celtic Park on match day without it.
Pauline Findlay: Grace.
My favourite song to hear at Celtic Park is Grace.
I love how dedicated Joseph was to Grace that even as he was about to be murdered, his last thought was of her.
I’m an old romantic so that resonates with me.
Although it’s about a man who was about to be killed, it shows his passion and love for others even in the face of adversity which is the foundation of Celtic.
Most of us of a certain age remember the difference in treatment of certain groups within Scotland.
It was mainly those of Irish Catholic heritage who where subject to awful behaviour and to this day at still at a disadvantage in Scotland within football and society.
Anti Irish behaviour continues and is normalised by so many on the terraces at a few grounds around the country yet police, politicians and the SFA ignore week in week out.
But I’ve always been proud that we’re not that … this song is about who we are.
Celtic will forever be a club for everyone with compassion and love for others at its heart.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMf6IyJI0e4
Jim Forrest: The Johnny Thompson Song.
Picking a favourite Celtic song is difficult, but I think it must be the Johnny Thompson song.
I read about him whilst I was in primary school and I learned all the words of the song soon after.
I think the song and story typifies everything that is great, and mythic, about Celtic.
The supporters of today all know The Johnny Thompson Story, and the story that goes with it; Johnny Thompson is the kind of legend that gets passed down from one generation to the next and keeps the whole idea of Celtic alive.
It is one of the most tragic events in the history of our club, but the way it has inspired folk to learn about Celtic down through the years is undeniable.
Whilst I was on the executive at the CSA I had the honour of participating, one year, in a wreath laying ceremony on behalf of the supporters for the anniversary of his death.
Just standing there at his graveside was humbling, and a reminder of how our history stretches backwards and reaches forwards at the same time.
The song says everything about our club.
Catherine Forrest: The Celtic Symphony.
The Celtic Symphony was probably one of my earliest memories of singing Celtic songs, and of being introduced to the Wolfetones as a band.
I remember the VHS Wolfetones Live concert being played on TV in the living room, and that iconic sound of the intro beating out of the speakers.
I would only have been around 5 years of age but I still remember the grainy picture on the screen of the band set up on the stage, a tricolour behind them.
The song, years later, still gives me goosebumps when I hear it.
It takes you on a journey, from the hell and day to day mundane-ness of life, catapulting you to a font row seat in the jungle, the sound of Celtic Park ringing in your ears. In fact, if you listen closely enough to the song, you can hear that famous roar from our fans in the stands.
My dad still talks about the controversy that surrounded the Wolfetones singing the song live at Celtic Park.
For me, it’s not about the Wolfetones as a band or the republican label that goes along with them, but about a song which can stand alone as a simple homage to our club.
From Paradise, to the Jungle and of course a nod to those famous Lisbon Lions, this song has it all.
Dougie Liddell: The Fields Of Athenrye.
I’m not sure which artist sang Fields when I heard it for the first time though I do remember it was played by my uncle when I was just a pup.
Little did I know, my uncle would take me to Paradise where it was sung with such passion by people in their droves that I was addicted.
The song is of course about a young lad living in poverty and failed by a system built to keep him down, tossed in prison and then shipped away to Austrailia for the crime of stealing some corn to feed his impoverished family during a time of famine and oppression.
An Gorta Mor, the Great Hunger, hadn’t truly kicked in yet but it was well on its way when Michael, in the song, was arrested and sent on a prison ship never to see his family again. We all know the song as we all know the very foundations of our football club and its origins.
Brother Walfrid once said,” A football club will be formed for the maintenance of dinner tables for the children and the unemployed.”
There is an obvious connection to both the story of Michael and our club.
Sadly, I don’t hear the song being sung as much these days as it once was but it will always bring goosebumps to me when I hear the crowd at Paradise singing it
Ada Crawford: You’ll Never Walk Alone.
Anyone who has entered into parkhead of a game will always be welcomed with this Celtic song.
It is one of those that is steeped in the history of not just one club but two, Celtic and Liverpool.
Watch any old highlight reels of classic matches at Paradise, and the chances are they will always start off with the scarves held high to this song of solidarity and knowing that you are part of something bigger than just a football club.
Building on the ethos of the club, with the fans belting this out, giving the image of walking to and from the games never by yourself but as part of this Family, all your Celtic brethren by your side … the optimism in the song. It’s who we are.
And of course there is a significant link between Celtic and Liverpool, where we gave strong support in aid of the Hillsborough disaster.
In the years that have passed, we have always shown support to the Justice for the 96 fans who lost their lives that day.
It is a song that unites the old and young.
It is the perfect Celtic song.
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