The North Melbourne Kangaroos’ team son is third of maybe four of the VFL-era songs that just fail to excite me.
I realise this makes it three in a row in a similar vein, so while it might be somewhat dull, bear with me – we have to get through them all.
It’s based on ‘Wee Deoch ‘n Doris’, a Scottish drinking song about finishing one last quick one at the door of the local on your way out and home to the wife.
It was written by Sir Harry Lauder around 1911, a renown Scottish entertainer. He toured Australia around this time, so perhaps it came into earshot of Arden Street around then, although the earliest recorded use of the song with its familiar augmented lyrics is sometime during the 20s.
They actually incorporated that as a chorus to an already establish club song – it became the chorus to the existing verses.
Those verses potentially predate the songs from any other club, although these aren’t now performed by players in victory, nor included in the official recording of the song.
(The absence of those verses at least explains the current song commencing with the conjunction ‘so’).
These verses aren’t bad, though much less catchy. Who wouldn’t enjoy hearing about how “We train so hard, we play the game, we must win every day / Lots of fun, heaps of fun, enjoy yourself today.”
And what’s left is a nice, happy ditty. I do like the songs that are… friendly, I suppose is the word.
There’s no talk of beating other clubs, it’s not threatening, it’s just about a bunch of blokes trying their best to “win for you and me”.
But it’s also not particularly rousing. There’s no pizzazz, no chutzpah.
It ties for equal spot as the shortest song in the catalogue and while it’s inoffensive, you want some kind of edge, that unquantifiable x-factor that gets us revved up about our club through song.
And sadly, ‘Join in the chorus’ does not get me revved up.
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