Most of you will know the song, many of you will sing it week in and week out, either standing on our famous Spion Kop or sitting at home on your sofa watching the game. The question is, do you know the story behind it?
The chant was first heard on the famous Standing Kop in the 60’s, during my personal favourite time in Liverpool history under, in my opinion, the greatest manger who ever lived Bill Shankly. There’s two distinct tunes in the song, even though they do blend well together. The first tune is ‘Red River Valley’ and the second part is a tune called ‘The Sash’.
Although the song was first sang on the Kop in the 60’s there is one distinct modification that many of you will know about. In 1982 we had a historic Merseyside derby win against our rivals Everton, the song boasts Ian Rush’s four goals in the game in an almost mocking way towards our counterparts across Stanley Park. This can usually be followed with a rousing verse of ‘all you need is Rush’ to the tune of The Beatles classic ‘All you need is love’.
The story is about a young Scouser who’s sent off to fight in the war, unfortunately the lad is shot down and with his last breaths he utters the verse that begins with ‘oh I am a Liverpudlian’ just to show his love for the team he supports. One common misconception is the line ‘Under the Libyan sun’ many confuse this with ‘Under the Arabian sun’ or ‘Under the Radiant Sun’. However, the line is ‘Under the Libyan’ so don’t forget that next time you’re in the stands!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this breif history of the Kop classic. Hopefully of the course of the next few weeks I’ll bring more stories behind Kop chants, especially those that are lesser known such as ‘Those Were The Days My Friend’ and ‘The Reds Are Coming Up The Hill Boys’.
That’s it for now, thanks for reading!
Can I tell you the story of a poor boy
Who was sent far away from his home
To fight for his king and his country
And also the old folks back home
Now they put him in a Highland division
Sent him off to a far foreign land
Where the flies flew around in their thousands
And there’s nothing to see but the sand
Well the battle started next morning
Under the Libyan sun
I remember that poor Scouser Tommy
Who was shot by an old nazi gun
As he lay on the battle field dying (dying dying)
With blood gushing out of his head
As he lay on the battle field dying (dying dying)
These were the last words he said…
Ohhhhhh… I am a Liverpudlian
I come from the Spion Kop
I like to sing, I like to shout
I go there quite a lot* (Every Week)
We support the team thats dressed in Red
A team that you all know
A team that we call Liverpool
And to glory we will go
We’ve won the League, we’ve won the Cup
And we’ve been to Europe too
We played the toffees for a laugh
And we left them feeling blue – Five Nil!
One two
One two three
One two three four
Five nil!
Rush scored one
Rush scored two
Rush scored three
And Rush scored four
Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na
All You Need Is Rush, de de de de de
All You Need Is Rush, de de de de de
All You Need Is Rush, Rush,
Rush Is All You Need.