Last month I produced an English Language pamphlet to hand out to FC Ryukyu fans at both home and away matches. The pamphlet contained useful information about the club, members of the supporter’s group and the songs that the fans sing at matches translated into English. But that got me thinking, why not have an English song unique to the club? There are so many famous songs for larger football clubs that include: “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” (West Ham), “Glory Glory Man United” (Manchester United) “Marching on Together” (Leeds United), “Cant del Barça” (FC Barcelona) and of course, You’ll Never Walk Alone” (Liverpool). So, what makes a football song unique? Is it the lyrics? Is it the timing of when it is first sung in and around the grounds? Or, is it simply a case of several thousand supporters singing in unison that brings chills to the spine and goosebumps to the skin?
Over the course of the past few years I toyed with a number of songs to see if I could get one to stick but never found the right combination. I thought I could take the Dropkick Murphy’s Song “Barroom Hero” and turn it into an FC Ryukyu Song by signing the opening verse and then adding in the famous FC Ryukyu supporter chant at the end:
‘Face Down in the gutter won’t admit defeat, though his clothes are soiled and black.’
‘He’s a big strong man with a child’s mind, don’t you take his booze away!’
‘HEY!
‘FC Ryukyu’-then clap quick 5 times, ‘FC Ryukyu’-then end with 5 quick claps.
I think if the majority of the Japanese FC Ryukyu supporters understood what I was saying they would largely agree that this song is very applicable to my situation. However, I remain the only fool shouting this one out every week, but I really enjoy it.
Next, I thought, what about a song to counteract the opposing teams’ fans after the opposition scores against FC Ryukyu? Well, the one I came up with has been permanently shelved as it contains nothing but profanity and there are way too many people attending games these days to be saying these things. Back when it was just Hiro, myself and the supporters crew at the home games it may have gone unnoticed, but now with many kids sitting in and around my group of English-speaking friends, we cannot act this way or teach kids this type of language. Plus, it is borderline skirting the rules of proper fan behavior according to the J League so need to risk being thrown out of the stadium and incurring a lengthy ban.
So back to the problem at hand. Shortly after completing the pamphlet and with the notion of an English song unique to the club fresh in my mind, I stumbled across a song that I thought could be the one. But there were some things I needed to consider before choosing just any old song for this club and its supporters.
First, there are simply not enough of English-speaking fans to join in and some Americans here don’t feel like “making a scene.” Some may also feel embarrassed about signing in pubic due to ridicule so I needed something simple and that could pertain to both Okinawa and the rest of the world. Second, I needed to find a song that I could tailor the lyrics to suit the club and the island and that was no easy task. Third, the song needed to be both easy enough to remember as well as limited to just a few minutes since no one wants to sing a lengthy song. Finally, the song itself is not meant to compete with the entrance song that the FC Ryukyu supporters sing as the club walks out of the tunnel. The song is better suited for waiting outside of the grounds with many fans or just before the goalies come out for their warm-up or when both teams’ head into the locker just prior to kickoff.
With that in mind, I present to you, the song I feel that best captures the island, the club and its supporters. I give you, John Denver’s “Country Roads” tailored to the FC Ryukyu fans.
3:13 (Total Length of Song)
VERSE 1
Almost Heaven, Okinawa, Kunagami Mountains, Shuri Castle.
Life is old there, older than the trees, Younger than the mountains, growing like a breeze.
CHORUS
Country roads, take me home, To the place I belong
Okinawa!, FC Ryukyu!
Take me home, country roads.
VERSE 2
All my memories gather ’round her, Fisherman’s lady, no stranger to blue water.
Dark and sandy, Painted on the sky, Misty taste of Awamori, Teardrops in my eyes.
CHORUS
Country roads, take me home, To the place I belong
Okinawa!, FC Ryukyu!
Take me home, country roads.
BRIDGE
I hear her voice in the morning hour she calls me; the radio reminds me of my home far away.
Driving down the road I get a feeling That I should have been home yesterday, yesterday.
CHORUS
Country roads, take me home, To the place I belong
Okinawa!, FC Ryukyu!
Take me home, country roads.
Country roads, take me home, to the place I belong
Okinawa!, FC Ryukyu!
Take me home, country roads.
OUTRO
Take me home, (Down) country roads. Take me home, (Down) country roads.
The YouTube video so you can all hear how John Denver sang it back in 1976. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vrEljMfXYo
I encourage you to listen and then follow along to the lyrics I posted so you can see where I made changes.
In closing, I am not sure if this song will stick, or if many will like it, but there is no doubt it will be unique to this club here in Asia. Let me know what you think and when you see me at games, let’s sing this together. Whenever the season resumes of course.
ryukyuarmy.com 