Liverpool Lyrics and Fellowship Songs

You'll Never Walk Alone
"When you walk through a storm

hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark.
At the end of a storm is a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark.
Walk on through the wind,
Walk on through the rain,
Tho' your dreams be tossed and blown.
Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone,
You'll never, ever walk alone.
Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone,
You'll never, ever walk alone."

This Liverpool anthem was a staple for Catholic funerals in my youth. I'd always figured there must be something wrong with a song that could be used without a qualm both for the comfort of the religious and to encourage the football-mad.

It advocated the sort of empty fellowship that could also be created in a fuzzy warm campfire-bonding session, singing songs like:

Dedication
We have shared our morning days
And gone through all rainy nights
Even in the darkest of nights
Stars still light up our way
Tomorrow is a beautiful dream
A dream that will be fulfilled
Cross the bridge of rainbow
In search of the gold
For here we stand (For here we stand)
Our dearest friend (Our dearest friend)
Sincerely from our hearts we wish (From our hearts we wish)
May streams of sunlight
Shine like rays of hope (Shine like rays of hope)
Hand in hand, we work and strive
For the best things in life (For the best things in life)

As One
We were once all strangers
Roaming near and far
Lost in a world of fantasy
Don't know who we are
Then one day destined we were
To stand together here as one
We'll be together, together as one
Day by day our spirits grew
Bonding us with love
Striving, working, never rest
Striving for the best
'Tis our story, 'tis our song
Filled with joy, spirit strong
As one, la la la
We'll be together, together as one
As the years pass us by
In many ways we fly
But the spirit still remains
It can never die
We'll be together, together as one

Friends
Sometimes I wonder if I made a wrong step somewhere
And times don't seem as good as they have been before
It's not so hard then to want to break down and cry
But then I hear a chorus of voices calling from the other shore
"look up look up"

You are my friends, my friends
Just some people walking the same road with hands
Joined as one together
Cross the bridge, see the rainbow
Feel the breeze, watch the flowers grow
Touch the sky, don't you know
We can go higher higher higher?

And through the years, as generations come and go,
Yet still this flame burns strong inside despite the rain.
It's not so wrong then, when I stumble and fall,
It's then I hear a chorus of voices calling from the other shore, "Look up, look up"
These are my friends, my friends,
Just some people walking the same road
With hands joined as one together
Cross the bridge, see the rainbow, feel the breeze, watch the flowers grow, touch the sky

Don't you know, we can go higher, higher, higher...
My friends...

Welcome to the Family
Welcome to the family
We're glad that you have come
to share your life with us
As we grow in love and
May we always be to you
What you would have us be
A family always there
To be strong and to lean on
May be learn to love each other more with each new day
May words of love be on our lips in everything we say
May the spirits warm our hearts and teach us how to love
That we might be a true family

Promises of long-lasting loving relationships and commitment for eternity. And the morning after the campfire, we'd wake up, and carry on with our own lives. All the promises in song of last night quickly forgotten. Empty words based on the good camaraderie at that point in time were put out with the damp ashes.

Surely Christian friendship is different. Surely Christian fellowship is based on a solid foundation and is more thus more lasting. The challenge of this weekend was the hard work of true Christian fellowship when warm fuzzy feelings were completely absent. A fellowship based on the fellowship God graces me with, which is stable and committed and loving and selfless. A fellowship that remains even when affection has evaporated. A fellowship that still cares even when feeling aggrieved.

It is difficult to know what this entails, for lack of experience. Yet, when I consider the faithfulness of God all through thousands of years of ignorant, arrogant, over-reaching, pitifully pompous people like myself, I see dimly through a glass the best model of all - God’s perfect unchanging steadfastness.