One of the key factors that make West Ham United a distinctive club is their club anthem. West Ham United would simply not be West Ham United without their famous ‘bubbles’ song. The club anthem is sung by the West Ham fans on match days all over the country. The song has been associated with the club since the 1920s and since then, generations of West Ham fans have sung it at football stadiums across the world. This article will focus on how a very incongruous song for a football crowd made its way into the terraces of Upton Park and the importance of the song for West Ham fans.
The song was written by a group of US composers in 1919 and it was made popular in Britain by Miss Dorothy Ward. She used to sing the American song in British music halls and theatres during the 1920s. From there the song became associated with West Ham with a bizarre combination of a soap advert and a young curly headed football player based at the club. Although this theory has been questioned by many historians and West Ham bloggers however, this theory remains the most accepted of them all.
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During the 1920s school boy football was extremely important for everyday life. Sport in school was seen as a character building activity and would help young boys prepare to serve for the British Empire. In the East End crowds in their thousands would turn out to watch local boys play football. One of the most successful schools in the West Ham area was Park School and their head master was a very keen football follower. Furthermore, Mr Cornelius Beal also had great talent in music and rhymes, and wrote special words to the most fashionable song of the time ‘Bubbles’. Whenever a young boy was performing well, the crowd would sing his name in a parody of the ‘Bubbles’ tune.
In the Park School team was a fair-haired young football player named Billy ‘Bubbles’ Murray. He was nicknamed bubbles because his hair resembled to the boy in the famous bubbles painting. The artwork was painted by Sir John Millais in 1829 illustrates a young boy watching a soap bubble. This painting was very popular in Britain because it was used to advertise Pears Soap. Whenever ‘Bubbles’ Murray represented West Ham boys at Upton Park, the crowd were heard singing ‘I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles’. Although ‘Bubbles’ Murray did not play for the first team, the famous song still lingered in the minds of the Upton Park faithful. The crowd started to sing the song every time West Ham played, making them one of the first crowds in English football to sing on the terraces.
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The song’s association with school football gradually faded. It became forever associated with West Ham United when the club’s officials started to bring in local bands to play the song during match days. The local Beckton Gas Works Band performed the song twenty minutes before kick off and ten minutes at half-time during the late 1920s. The crowd would join in with the band to sing the song and it quickly became a crowd favourite. The tradition of a band singing the song on match days continued up until the 1970s through the Metropolitan Police Band, the Leyton Silver Band and finally the British Legion Band. Over the years the Upton Park faithful adopted the song to encourage the team and it is always sung on match days each time West Ham plays a game of football.
It is extraordinary that a song that talks about bubbles rising in the air, fortunes always hiding and dreams dying became associated with tough men and women of the East End. However, up until the late 1950s the song might have been appropriate for a club that could never quite fulfil the dreams of its supporters. The history of the song gives an insight into character of the people who have continued to make West Ham a unique club. East London has been a place for dreamers, even if few dreams come true. Singing ‘Bubbles’ was a way to develop a sense of humour tinged with a dose of irony.
Little was known that a school boy player that did not play for the first team, had hair that resembled a boy in a famous painting used to advertise soap that brought him the nickname ‘Bubbles’, during the same time ‘I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles’ was a world-wide hit, would have such a long-lasting significant impact on the club. Nevertheless, the famous song will forever be associated with West Ham United, even if dreams stop dying and fortunes are eventually found. Without the famous sad song, West Ham United would simply not be West Ham United.
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