'You'll Never Walk Alone:: Its Enduring Appeal

 by Emma Bell

With recent news reporting the passing of Liverpudlian singer Gerry Marsden, and the repeated playing of his most famous recording, it seems a timely chance to explore the enduring appeal of the song, ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’.

Whilst it has undoubtedly become synonymous with Liverpool Football Club as their official club anthem, its beginnings were couched in the bright lights of Broadway. Rogers and Hammerstein wrote the song in 1945 for their musical ‘Carousel’, a surprisingly dark and sad show; the song itself is sung after the lead male is killed after a botched robbery. His widow is comforted by ‘Nettie’ who reminds her that there is strength after such loss:

It is as well to remember that the composers wrote this in during the last year of World War Two when the horrors of conflict in both Europe and the Far East were fully in the public consciousness. To ‘walk on through the wind, walk on through the rain’ was a serious message for people living through the bleakest of times. To remind audiences that they were not alone in their grief was a remarkable gift from the great writers.

The show ran with great success and was made into a film and the song took on a life of its own, with covers from:

opera singers like The Three Tenors: 

popular singers like Frank Sinatra: 

rock and roll stars like Elvis Presley: 

soul and gospel singers like Aretha Franklin: 

instrumental versions like this from Nina Simone: 

as well as contemporary covers by Marcus Mumford, Lana Del Ray and Brittany Hughes giving the song a new lease of life for new audiences.

In Britain, it is of course Gerry and the Pacemakers who defined the song for the Sixties; contemporaries of The Beatles, the band had a terrific sound, songs and a very appealing frontman:

Generations of football fans took it as their own: 

 This particular recording is quite incredible in portrayal of the inclusivity of experience that this song generates.

Most movingly, it became a touchstone after the Hillsborough disaster when 96 Liverpool fans died in horrendous circumstances. The lyrics spoke to so many:

“Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone”.

We can talk about the repetition, the abstract nouns, the inclusive use of the pronouns, the juxtaposition of gold and silver in the lyrics. We could talk about the fact it allows singers of all genres a chance to swell their lungs to the triumphant climax.

But surely, it is the fact that this song contains an eternal and positive message of solidarity, a universality that makes the appeal of this song so timeless: it exists beyond the context of one stage show, one story, one singer. To not ‘be afraid of the dark’; that is a profound notion. Whether we take the message in a religious or secular way, it is identifiable as a message for all ages and times, as evidenced by the Number One spot being taken recently by Captain Tom and Michael Ball offering succour in this age of Covid.

For all of us, to walk on with our ‘heads held high’, knowing that there is someone there, that we will never walk alone: that’s what makes a good song great.