Everton Songs — Dos and Don'ts

All Together Now never gets an airing, maybe because Ingerlund subsequently did a version of it.

Z Cars. Never - but get rid of the siren.

Keep 2 & 3 of your do's Danny.

The words to Spirit Of The Blues need to be changed at the Brighton game I was actually cringing when 'get down to Goodison Park ooohh. was sung. If Ya Know Yer 'Istory is just that history time to move on.

BUT MOST OF ALL WE HATE BIG RON!

These words reflect the sixties anti-icons from the Red Shite.

Surely, some enterprising wordsmith could come up with a new version to those two lines based on today after all we are close enough to hang the koppites one by one from the banks of the Royal Mersey @ BMD!

I will even give a £25 donation to Mister Drone's chosen EFC charity for a winning entry!

Matchday songs, like any kind of music, is very subjective and, as ToffeeWeb readers cover such a large spectrum of society, politics and differening opinions, I would be very surprised if there is much agreement. UTFT

I’m not sure it will catch on for every game though. I see it as the goodbye to Goodison song and that rendition at the first game in our new ground came across to me as closure and a fitting tribute to the old Girl.

The siren followed by Z Cars was loud and inspirational. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, as they always did at Goodison, but this time I had tears in my eyes as well. The acoustics of BMD gave it a rousing “entrance of the gladiators” vibe and we would be fools to ditch that.

Permission to proclaim a jolly loud UTFT, Major!

Z-Cars - untouchable and my vote would be to make the siren louder. It is so unique and timeless (well sort of).

We Shall Not Be Moved - originally a gospel song to inspire civil rights but adopted as "our song" for the runs to the league and cup in a bygone era that needs to be brought back.

And the classic Spirit of the Blues needs to be our main song.

Forever Everton – a unique song for us so a keeper.

On the banks of the Royal Blue Mersey. Wouldn't change a thing.

So, Danny, it's good to have you back, 'singing'. Let's hope your article stimulates some new songs as they do add to the matchday experience and atmosphere.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNdbHf3w9/

Agree with all except Z-Cars for all the reasons stated above.

Perhaps “In my life” could be rejigged a little, the line of “there are places I remember” is very fitting.

It has a couple of right weird ones from our Scandinavian brethren, I believe, but I quite like The Toffees Tale by The Strands.

I was very surprised to find this on my TIDAL Hi-Fi music streaming subscription!

Graham Gouldman wrote Forever Everton and went on to write with Eric Stewart, 10cc songs, I'm not in Love, I'm Mandy Fly Me, Art for Art's Sake to name just a few of their many hits. Most, if not all 10cc members, Eric, Graham, Lol Creme and Kevin Godley play on Forever Everton.

Keep Z-Cars forever but please ditch that siren. It may be getting used for real anyway, the way things are going.

Good to hear you again Danny, you had us all worried.

Plus the Elton John track that appeared at the end of last season!

So's my bollocks… but I don't want to lose those either.

A group of Street End boys started this off many moons ago but it didn't take off. Now might be an appropriate time.

Maybe change Crosby shoreline to Mersey shoreline?

As a point of interest, the first-ever football team song was E-V-E-R-T-O-N featuring the 1963 team with a picture of the team and their signatures on the sleeve. It's music from a bygone era but it's great.

Someone needs to come up with a second verse for the away following – which is where I've always thought the best songs originate.

I like Z-Cars with the siren, I think it's a great wind-up mechanism to get the crowd engaged.

"There She Goes" seems to have been adopted as a favourite so let's keep that.

And finally "Spirit Of The Blues" has to be a must for me. I'm not too sure of the other regulars as I feel they are a bit dated now for the new era, but hopeful that some musical poster could enlighten us to a new medley.

"Oh wanky wanky, wanky wanky wanky wanky Wanderers" - worked when playing Wolves or Bolton.

"All the grime, all the grit, all the muck and all the shit, that's what Bob Paisley's got in his team"

"Oh I do like to be beside the seaside, oh I do like to be beside the sea, oh I do like to be beside the prom prom prom where the brass band plays 'Fuck off West Brom'"

"We hate Nottingham Forest, we hate Liverpool too (they're shit)..etc etc "

Must be others I've forgotten.

And the Elton John song was a 1984 release and re-worded to "And I guess that is why they call us the Blues".

Anyone remember he was in a suit with the pin-stripes going horizontal not vertical and hand in hand with his wife who was either German or Austrian. Far better looking than the blokes he hitched with later.

There's a very good reason for that Tony.

Z-Cars is us.

Ditch that shite Elton John dirge please. It's lyrics are downright embarrassing ('Rollin' like thunder under the covers': cringe). Why that 30-odd years ago and not Story Of The Blues? What twat with a mullet made the crap choice?

How about:

Ever, ton, ton, ton,
Push pineapple shake the tree,
Ever, ton, ton, ton
Our boss new home is on the Mersey,
To the left, to the right, we are unstoppable,
Come and dance all match long in a blue melody

Oh yes, it's E-V-E-R-T and O and N,
In case you didn't catch it, friend, I'll spell it out again,
Yes, it's E-V-E-R-T and O and N,
The finest team in all the land is gallant Everton.

John#37, I was always a fan of personal songs aimed at the likes of Jack Charlton: “You dirty big giraffe”; John Fitzpatrick: “You dirty little twat”; and Mike Summerbee: “I'd walk a million miles to the end of your nose”.

I would like to see Onward Evertonians revived as the lead in to We Shall Not Be Moved. The rendition of the latter at the Florentina game was probably the loudest single moment I have witnessed at Goodison.

Before Everton games years ago (deffo in the 1970s) the song 'You Are My Sunshine' was sung before most games (or if you're a Manc, "You Are My Sunshhhhheeeeeeiiiiiiine")

Eventually this song just...vanished.

Same happened with 'When You're Smiling', which was sung at every game for years, then gone.

I still remember my late pater laughing (every time) at the last surreal line added by Evertonians...

"...coz when you're smiling, the whooooole world smiles with you, without your kecks on!"

Long before 10cc, he wrote several hit singles for the great Yardbirds and also the Hollies, Wayne Fontana and Herman's Hermits.

Don't hold it against him because he's from Manchester. Still going strong as a performer, he is surely one of our most talented rock and pop composers.

ps: Keep the siren, there aren't many still around who can remember it from 1941 (my late mother living then at Orrell Park hated it ).

Z-Cars is untouchable but does anyone know why they play it at Watford?

I love There She Goes being sung. A new generation of Evertonians organically adopting a song from the previous era. And it's a cool song by a cool band. And when someone asks in the future how we ended up singing it, there will be a nice nod to Goodison's farewell in the answer. It's a song that marks the end of one special thing and the start of another.

Marching down the Goodison Road likewise works as a throwback and a nod to Goodison and our history. I don't think it has to make sense in a BMD context - it already didn't really make much sense in a 21st century context.

In My Life holds a slightly different place for me. It will always be the song that went in between the two trumpet Z-Cars and broke me. For me, it's now a song that reminds me of saying goodbye to Goodison.

Or maybe I'm overthinking things and it doesn't matter that much!

Can't remember most of the words, but it ended …. “And most of all, bless Alan Ball.”

"Bless them all, bless them all/Bless the long and the short and the tall/Bless our Alex, Shirley too/Bless all the lads who are wearing the blue" and repeat.

Don't smoke and post, kids.

As I have said before, the first sound we hear for us to know the players are coming should be Z-Cars. It is Z-Cars that should get the spine chilled and the heart racing, not a siren!

They started with There She Goes then went through sound bites of all the faves, including Forever Everton, Grand Old Team, and Spirit Of The Blues. Everybody by then was standing and singing and waving the little free flags. The siren pumped it up and Z-Cars then increased in volume in 3 stages until it became a crescendo.

Absolutely hair-raising! The Brighton fans appeared stunned!

If you find the use of the word Jurgen
offensive please substitute shithead.

I recall standing in Gwladys St in 1980 as we beat Crystal Palace 5-0. To the tune of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall”, a very determined aspiring lyricist near me persisted with singing “Malcolm Allison, you’re just another prick with two balls”.

Try as he might, he couldn’t make it catch on.

I spoke to a lady from New Brighton the day after the Brighton game and she said she was in her garden just before kick off and could hear the siren and Z Cars as clear as day.

That’s what we want on match day: something that’s 100% ‘Everton’ stamping its mark on the city and surrounding area.

“Herr Klopp”.

You’re welcome. 😁

Never, ever get rid of Z cars. It's Everton (and, if my memory serves me right, don't Watford play it?) The siren is a no-go.

Taking quite a bit longer to load compared to other websites.

And the 'woooo' in Spirit of the Blues can go as well. Someone needs to come up with something different.

I wish we'd ditch all the old songs really as part of the modernisation of the football club as a whole. Part of me wonders if things will get phased out in the coming seasons - it would probably be too much for some Evertonians to have dropped all the pre/post match songs as soon as we moved to BMD, but give it time I hope they drop them all and play modern music.

It's not 1965 anymore and Goodison is gone. We need a thorough culture shift and this is all part of that.

I understand the significance.

It just reminds me of depressing relegation battles.
Leave it behind at Goodison.

Start something new.

The siren makes me cringe, unfortunately.
My personal opinion.

Z Cars is a military-style tune so they work really well together. Hopefully it scares the shit out of visiting teams too.

Ditch the siren, keep Johnny Todd / Z-Cars. There are a couple of JT songs on Spotify (with lyrics) one by Liverpool group The Spinners.

Mark #46,

George Wood's verse – didn't it go:

Georgie, Georgie, Georgie Wood,
If he could, if he could!!!

Origin and Adaption

In the early 1960s, the tune was arranged by Fritz Spiegl and his wife, Bridget Fry, for the television series Z-Cars, a police drama. Several versions of the arranged theme music were released as records in 1962, with Johnny Keating's version being the most successful.

Everton's supporters adopted the Z-Cars theme, also known as Johnny Todd, as their unofficial club anthem. The tune was first played to honor actor Leonard Williams, who appeared on the show and supported the club.

The Song's Narrative

The song tells the story of Johnny Todd, a young man from Liverpool who takes to the sea. He leaves behind a heartbroken lover, who ultimately moves on with another sailor.

He came to ride in England with the crouching style that all jockeys now use, they used to all ride sitting bolt upright till he came along.

Cockneys already used "Jack Jones" to mean on your own. Tod Sloan was a jockey btw.

Now, I loved Alan Ball, but, whoopy fucking doo!

UTFT