South Sydney Rabbitohs Victory Song
At the end of last Saturdays game we all sat back and enjoyed the famous rendition of the players song by our legendary captain John Sattler.
But where did it come from as Steve Mavin from Bunnies TV asked me one day. So I went on another Rabbit hole mission to find its origin.
115 Year History
The song spans the 115 year history of the club and is sung after every victory by the players of South Sydney. It has been passed down by generation to generation but the words when it was first penned echo true to this day.
Today it is sung loud and fast after every game.
The Words
Here are the words of that famous song as it is sung today –
And now that we’re all round the bar
and the captain’s declared it a quorum
we’re drinking our way through the night
and we’re having the time of our lives
throw the empties away, start again – start again
for the boys of South Sydney are together
and we’ll drink till dawn breaks again
& may the sessions of South Sydney last forever.
Up the Rabbitohs!
Different Versions
Singing the song loud and fast, wasn’t always the case. Here are the lyrics when it was sung back in the 1970s.
And now that we’re all round the bar
and the captain’s declared it a quorum
we’re drinking our way through the night
and we’re having the time of our life
throw the empties away, start again
for the boys of South Sydney are together
and we’ll drink till dawn breaks again
& may the sessions of South Sydney last forever.
And now that the beer has all gone
and we’re wending our way slowly homeward
we’re singing this happy refrain
to the girls that we’ll meet once again
for we know that we always can go
to the club where the good beer’s always flowing
and we’ll drink till the dawn breaks again
& may the sessions of South Sydney last forever.
Up the Rabbitohs!
Evolution
The song has evolved over the years and had a number of verses.
And now that we’re all round the bar
and the captain’s declared it a quorum
we’re drinking our way through the night
and we’re having the time of our lives
throw the empties away, start again – start again
for the boys of South Sydney are together
and we’ll drink till dawn breaks again
& may the sessions of South Sydney last forever.
Oh! we never stagger, never fall
We sober up on pure alcohol
Our royal sons go marching up for more
We’ll guzzle, guzzle, guzzle and we’ll tip it down our muzzle
And we’ll sing out the order loud and clear: More beer!
And we’ll drink all night until we’re very tight
At the shades of wherever we are
Six hefty forwards and seven greasy backs
And plenty rabbit barrackers to keep the bludgers back
When the skin and hair is flying and the slaughter has begun
Three cheers for the good, old Rabbitohs
For the victory we have won
Up the Rabbitohs!
Origins
But what is the history of the players song?
Talking to former players like Fred Jackson from 1963 remind us that the song has been around a long time. You quickly find out that it pre-dates the modern era and goes before the 70’s era as players from the 1950’s would sing it with the young players of the 60’s. It would be sung on the team bus, at the old end of season South Sydney annual balls.
Before The Wars
In fact just listening to tune and reading the original words you realise it pre-dates World War II.
The tune gives us a guide to the age of the origins of the song as it also pre-dates World War I. The melody was a popular melody in British pubs at the turn of 18th-century. It was based upon a tune from Anacreontic Society, an 18th-century club of amateur musicians in London. That society was dedicated to ancient Greek poet Anacreon, who was renowned for his drinking songs and odes to love. This society would meet and combine musical appreciation with eating and drinking.
Sung By Convicts
The melody came to Australia with the early settlers and convicts and sung on many occasions at the bars around Sydney. With the famous drinking melody being picked up by many it was no surprise to see sports folks also pick up this melody as a song to sing after the game.
Former first grade player Les McDonald (1933-41), in a interview in 1994, said that it was adapted by Bill Hinson (brother of 1930’s premiership winning player Eddie Hinson) after hearing the song sung by the Curl Curl Lifesavers at a weekend camp at Patonga in the 1930s.
Star-Spangled Banner
While on the other side of the world, the melody became famous when the tune was also picked up and used by Francis Scott Key in his famous 1776 poem “Defence of Fort McHenry”. And this British pub melody and the words by Key became known as the “The Star-Spangled Banner” which was adopted as the national anthem of the United States in 1931.
A song sung from the days of the formation of South Sydney endures to this day and was proudly remembered by the club after the game when fans at Accor Stadium stood in silence listening to John Sattler sing again one last time to its original tune.
It was fitting that on weekend we not only played Manly the 1970 Grand Finalists, when Sattler broke his jaw but after that famous Patonga weekend the Curl Curl Lifesavers formed the first Manly junior district rugby league club.
South Sydney Rabbitohs Victory Song.
By Marco Sivis for Bunnies TV.
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