A song for the Cup and glory8230;

So, what were the soccer fans singing about? Sure, most of what was sung at World Cup were patriotic chants along the lines of 8220;Vamos, vamos Argentina8221; ...

So, what were the soccer fans singing about? Sure, most of what was sung at World Cup were patriotic chants along the lines of 8220;Vamos, vamos Argentina8221; or 8212; as in yesterday8217;s World Cup final 8212; 8220;Forza Italia!8221; But few supporters squander a chance to lob musical barbs at opposing fans 8212; the more politically or historically charged, the better. Setting their words to well-known pop songs or even Charles Wesley hymns, they save all their creative pepper for the words. Crude, tasteless and often hilarious 8212; when you can decipher what they8217;re singing.

The Dutch and the British all but relive World War II when their teams draw Germany. The Brits fall back on old-time jingoism 8212; 8220;Hun8221; and 8220;Jerry8221; 8212; and whistle or dum-di-dum their way through the theme from 8220;The Great Escape,8221; the 1963 Steve McQueen flick about British and American POWs trying to tunnel out of a German camp. When the Dutch sing 8220;I want my bicycle back,8221; they8217;re referring to the bikes and vehicles confiscated by the German army in the 1939 invasion. When they8217;re feeling particularly caustic, says the University of Amsterdam8217;s Daan Scheepers, who has written about the psychology of soccer supporters, they also sing 8220;I want my grandmother back8221; 8212; a sardonic reminder of the Dutch Jews and non-Jews lost to the Holocaust.

Naturally, the majority of the songs are meant to rally the team or salute a favorite player who8217;s just scored. Soccer songs can be as innocuous and innocent as 8220;I8217;m Forever Blowing Bubbles,8221; penned in 1919 by Jaan Kenbrovin and John William Kellette, which London8217;s West Ham United adopted decades ago, probably in honor of a popular player of the era, Billy 8220;Bubbles8221; Murray. Some sound sweet, but aren8217;t. A favorite in British grounds set to 8220;Guantanamera8221; is, 8220;Sing when you8217;re winning / You only sing when you8217;re winning.8221;

More often, the songs are crude and insulting and unprintable. Others are just low blows: Manchester United lost eight team members in a plane crash on a snowy Munich runway in 1958, which provided fodder for generations of rival fans.

One recent taunt 8212; to the Monty Python tune 8220;Always Look on the Bright Side of Life8221; 8212; goes: 8220;Always look on the runway for ice.8221; In Glasgow, the Rangers is supported mostly by Protestants, while Celtic, the other Glasgow club, has a considerable Catholic following. Which is why Celtic fans sing in favor of the Provisional Irish Republican Army 8220;Say Hello to the provos / Say hello to the brave / Say hello to the provos / And Ireland shall be saved.8221;

In some cases, singing has been a form of political expression. When Spain8217;s Gen. Francisco Franco banned the use of the Basque and Catalan languages in the 1930s, such clubs as Barcelona 8212; which considered its team a symbol for its beloved Catalonia 8212; and Atletico Bilbao in the heart of Basque country defiantly sang songs in their own tongue. And Brazilian soccer club Vasco da Gama which, in the 1920s was the only Rio club that allowed black players, sings songs with African themes and chants 8212; often in contention with the richer Rio teams of Flamengo and Fluminense.

But regardless of what they8217;re singing, there remains the question: Why do soccer fans around the world sing?

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Visit any American ballpark, arena or dome and you barely hear a warble 8212; aside from dutiful intoning of the national anthem and 8220;Take Me Out to the Ball Game,8221; some shouty 8220;Sweet Caroline8221; and the collective barkings to 8220;Who Let the Dogs Out?8221; It8217;s mostly officially sanctioned sounds, led by the stadium8217;s chosen soundtrack. 8220;I8217;m unlikely to break out in song,8221; says sports sociologist Merrill J. Melnick, co-author of 8220;Sports Fans: The Psychology and Social Impact of Spectators,8221; 8220;if I8217;m not familiar with the people around me.8221; That idea, a fan8217;s social identity 8212; 8220;I8221; vs. 8220;we8221; 8212; is key, according to Scheepers, a social and organizational psychologist at the University of Amsterdam.

In the US, he says, 8220;there is more of a balance between keeping one8217;s distinctiveness as a person and, on the other hand, identifying with a team. But in Europe, it8217;s more like an all-or-nothing phenomenon: People completely lose their personal identification and switch to their social identity in the stadium.8221;

But hasn8217;t America by now exported this idea of individuality by way of Hollywood, globally televised Lakers games and McDonald8217;s? Scheepers clarifies that 8220;although the social structure in many European countries is less fixed than it was ages ago 8212; resulting in more options for 8216;individual mobility,8217; i.e., the 8216;American dream8217; 8212; thinking in group terms is still more prevalent when it comes to self-definition. The different classes are replaced by different soccer teams one can identify with.8221;

That group identity gets a boost from the nature of soccer clubs abroad, which often hail from neighborhoods with distinctive socioeconomic, class or ethnic makeups, points out Franklin Foer, editor of the New Republic and author of How Soccer Explains the World. But most American teams represent entire cities, states or regions. When a franchise 8220;tries to represent everybody,8221; Foer says, 8220;they end up representing nobody.8221;

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8220;The English, the French, the Italians and the Brazilians have homogenous cultures that has been there thousands of years,8221; says Mark Spacone, co-founder of Sam8217;s Army, the official fan club of soccer8217;s Team America. 8220;But the culture of America is individual freedom. So you have 80,000 individuals doing their own thing.8221;

A significant element in the emotional algebra of singing is game atmosphere, according to Foer, who says most American sporting rituals 8220;feel kitschy to me. When I go to English soccer games 8212; even though I can8217;t understand half the songs 8212; I8217;m not ashamed to join in, because it feels more authentic.8221; Soccer fans sing, in large part, to influence the play on the field, says Foer. But in the US, where 8220;American sports has always been so professional, there8217;s a sense of detachment from what8217;s happening on the field.8221; And although Americans are in the stands to see their team win, they8217;re also conditioned 8212; for the most part 8212; to accentuate the positive and not taunt the losers; they partake less of schadenfreude, according to Scheepers. In other words, America8217;s stadiums will resonate with song only when its sports fans learn how to sing in the key of human misery.

8211;Desson Thomson