West Ham United Songs and Chants: From I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles to West Ham ’Til I Die

It hasn’t been an easy ride for West Ham United fans in recent years, with the club getting relegated out of and then promoted back into the Premier League numerous times. The club left its famous Boleyn Ground, better known to most as Upton Park, playing instead at the former Olympic Stadium, which lacks the intimidating nature of the club’s former home. Even so, the supporters have never lost their love of the club, nor their ability to turn out a tune or two if required. Whilst many are about the opposition, more than a few are about the club and players.

Although West Ham’s success has been sporadic at best, the club certainly does have plenty to celebrate. Obviously some of the songs are aimed at the players lining up for the club at present, but many are a walk down memory lane and a reference to the moments that have come before. The Cockneys know how to add humour into their songs, both self-deprecating and funny in their own right. There is one song that the club is known for about all else, in the form of I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles, which is as much of anthem as almost anything else in world football.

Here is a look at some of the songs that supporters can expect to hear if they spend any time watching a West Ham match, whether that be on the television, as is becoming more and more common, or in person. As with the other clubs on this site, the list is far from exhaustive. That means that there might be a song or two that you know gets sung by Hammers supporters, but that we haven’t included here. Even so, it will help you get a sense of the kinds of songs and chants West Ham fans can engage in during a match:

I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles

As mentioned, I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles is easily the song that is most closely associated with West Ham United. In spite of this association, however, you may be surprised to learn that it is actually an American song, first written in 1918 and released a year later. The music of the song was written by John Kellette, whilst the lyrics are attributed to Jaan Kenbrovin. That, though, is a pseudonym of James Kendis, James Brockman and Nat Vincent, who wrote the song together. It featured in the Broadway musical The Passing Show of 1918.

When the Chicago White Sox threw the 1919 World Series for the Cincinnati Reds, Ring Lardner, a writer, changed the lyrics to I’m Forever Blowing Ball Games. British music halls enjoyed the song during the 1920s, largely thanks to appearances from Dorothy Ward singing it. It is thought that this is when West Ham United fans might have taken it to heart, even though there is no record of them singing it until the 1940s. It had been played in football grounds across the country during the 1920s, with the club’s former manager singing it to Billy J. Murray.

Murray’s nickname was ‘Bubbles’ because he looked a bit like the boy that featured in the painting ‘Bubbles’ by Millais. Such is the association between the club and the song, Blackburn Rovers players sang it in the dressing room at Anfield in the May of 1995 when news broke that the Hammers had drawn 1-1 with Manchester United, handing Blackburn the Premier League title. Perhaps sensing that the club was going to be moving into it, the track featured during the Olympic Opening Ceremony in London in 2012 at the London Olympic Stadium.

Here are the lyrics:

I’m dreaming dreams,
I’m scheming schemes,
I’m building castles high.
They’re born anew,
Their days are few,
Just like a sweet butterfly.
And as the daylight is dawning,
They come again in the morning.

I’m forever blowing bubbles,
Pretty bubbles in the air.
They fly so high,
Nearly reach the sky,
Then like my dreams,
They fade and die.
Fortune’s always hiding,
I’ve looked everywhere,
I’m forever blowing bubbles,
Pretty bubbles in the air.

When shadows creep,
When I’m asleep,
To lands of hope I stray.
Then at daybreak
When you awake,
Your bluebird flutters away.
Happiness new seemed so near me,
Happiness come forth and heal me.

Over Land & Sea

Although West Ham hardly have the European pedigree of teams like Liverpool and Manchester United, the club has enjoyed some time in Europe over the years. Not only that, but some well-known Hammers made up the England squad that won the World Cup in 1966. They also won the Europa Conference League in David Moyes’ last season at the club, when doubtless this song got an airing or two.

WE ALL FOLLOW THE WEST HAM

OVER LAND AND SEA

WE ALL FOLLOW THE WESTTT HAM

ON TO VIIIICTORY pic.twitter.com/DNWB8EImY7

— Central (@WestHam_Central) May 19, 2023

The words are:

We all follow the West Ham,

Over land and sea,

We all follow the West Ham,

On to victory,

(altogether now)

We all follow the West Ham,

Over land and sea,

We all follow the West Ham,

On to victory.

Chim Chiminee

One of the standout things about West Ham United is their Cockney roots. The Hammers might well be considered much more of a London club than the likes of Chelsea and Fulham, in spite of the fact that they play in the same city. Even Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur seem to be more addicted to the fight over who ‘owns’ North London than they are in being considered to be Cockneys in general.

Few films have the same links to London as Mary Poppins, which might help to explain why West Ham supporters have adopted one of the songs from that film for their own use. In fact, that song was most popular during the days of football hooliganism, when the Inter-City Firm ruled the roost. Even so, it does still get a run-out from time to time and it goes like this:

Chim chiminee,

Chim chim cheroo,

We are the bastards

In claret and blue.

Twist and Shout

You’d be forgiven for wondering why, exactly, a song made famous by a band from Liverpool would be associated with West Ham United, but it is. Written by Phil Medley and Bert Berns for The Top Notes and then released by the Isley Brothers before finally gaining recognition when The Beatles did their version for the Please Please Me album, Twist and Shout was adopted by Hammers slightly more recently. Weirdly, it tends to be sung during away games more often than in home ones, often done as something of a call and respond amongst the supporters.

The words aren’t even given a clever West Ham alteration, instead just being as you probably know them:

Well, shake it up, baby, now (shake it up baby)

Twist and shout (twist and shout)

Come on, come on, come, come on, baby, now (come on baby)

Come on and work it on out (work it on out)

Well, work it on out, honey (work it on out)

You know you look so good (look so good)

You know you got me goin’ now (got me goin’)

Just like you knew you would (like I knew you would)

Well, shake it up, baby, now (shake it up baby)

Twist and shout (twist and shout)

Come on, come on, come, come on, baby, now (come on baby)

Come on and work it on out (work it on out)

You know you twist, you little girl (twist little girl)

You know you twist so fine (twist so fine)

Come on and twist a little closer now (twist a little closer)

And let me know that you’re mine, woo

Ah-ah-ah-ah, wow

Baby, now (shake it up baby)

Twist and shout (twist and shout)

Come on, come on, come, come on, baby, now (come on baby)

Come on and work it on out (work it on out)

You know you twist, little girl (twist little girl)

You know you twist so fine (twist so fine)

Come on and twist a little closer now (twist a little closer)

And let me know that you’re mine (know you’re mine ooh)

Well, shake it, shake it, shake it, baby, now (shake it up baby)

Ah-ah-ah-ah

West Ham ’Til I Die

There are some songs that are quite generic in nature, inevitably sung by supporters up and down the country as though they came up with them originally. Even so, the ’til I die’ song is a good reminder that football loyalty is something that goes deep.

Here are the, admittedly rather limited, lyrics to the West Ham version:

West Ham till I die,

I’m West Ham till I die,

I know I am I’m sure I am,

West Ham till I die…

(Repeat)