You'll Never Walk Alone; thoughts on being a volunteer (amateur) singer with NTW

As I write it's Tuesday lunchtime, April 26th, and news has just broken that the long-awaited verdict, in the inquiry into what has become known as the Hillsborough Disaster, has finally been reached.

In 1989, ninety-six football fans died when they were crushed in the mass exodus from the stands, after a football game. Today's verdict of 'unlawful killing' was called 'a victory for truth and justice' on the R2 Jeremy Vine show, and was followed by Gerry & the Pacemakers version of 'You'll Never Walk Alone', a song that is the Anthem of Liverpool football suporters. So today this song has a bitter-sweet poignancy, not just for relatives and friends of the dead, but for anyone with an ounce of humanity and empathy.

Yesterday evening however, for me, locked as I was in a struggle to sing the right notes preferably in the right order, the very same song was, forgive the pun, quite a different ball-game.

Monday evenings are currently the time when members of the Chorus in Patrick Jones's new play ' Before I Leave' can be found rehearsing a variety of songs, under the guidance of our dedicated choir leader, Greg. Greg is a great teacher being always encouraging, patient, enthusiastic and I would also add, twinkly.

Greg twinkles when anyone, (including he himself), makes a mistake; he twinkles when he threatens not to give us a tea break until we get some difficult phrase or other right; he twinkles when we are made to sing something through twice, because it was so good the first time he's worried it may have been a fluke.

I think Greg also twinkles when he refers to the Tenors in the chorus as the chaps/fellas/men/gents, because three of us are actually women, but he somehow gets away with it..

The song 'You'll Never Walk Alone' is for us, the Tenors, mostly sung very low. It's a song that not for the first time makes me wonder why as a woman I wasn't born to be a sweet, soaring, Soprano? Or perhaps an angelic Alto? But that's of course as futile as regretting that I am a left-hander in a right handed world, or that I was born on Friday 13th which for all of my younger years felt like some kind of curse.. Some things in life just are as they are and must be endured.

And so it's just a fact that Tenors mostly don't get to sing the tune, and sometimes have to sing right down in their boots in quite a dirgey kind of way. But then in 'You'll Never Walk Alone' eventually, having laboured through the very bootsy lower parts at the beginning of the song, and then risen to reach the rather lovely relative heights of  'at the end of the storm,' we plough on through to the golden sky and the sweet silver song of the lark, and this brings it's own special pleasure. By the time the song is ended, and we have mastered (more or less) it's various challenges, there follows a great feeling of team effort having once again brought it's own sweet reward.

So thank you to NTW for the opportunity to be involved, and to Ben for organising us so well.

I still think it's tough being a Tenor. But I'll definitely be back next week for more...

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Comment by Rhian Richards on April 26, 2016 at 23:32

This is awesome Erin, thanks for sharing with us :)

2qjkymiztlzjw Comment by 2qjkymiztlzjw on April 26, 2016 at 23:21

Thanks for posting this Erin, great to hear how it's all going! Looking forward to meeting you all!

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