You'll never walk alone in Daydreaming on the Porch

Lately, I’ve been going to YouTube and listening to favorite old songs from the sixties. I guess as I get older, I get more and more nostalgic for that seemingly simpler time in my life. Certain groups stand out for me like Herman’s Hermit’s, Gerry and the Pacemakers, The Righteous Brothers, The Easy Beats, The Monkees, Jan and Dean, the Beach Boys – the list goes on. They all bring back so many memories of the “innocent” years of the early and mid-sixties before the dark years of the King and Kennedy assassinations, race riots, and the Viet Nam war debacle reaching a crescendo of folly, violence and protests. For awhile when I was in 9th and 10th grade in 1965 and 1966, life was fresh and new (or so it seems now by comparison), I was growing up and maturing, I was trying to discover who I was, and I was not yet worried about being drafted into the Vietnam War.

I’d always known about Gerry and the Pacemakers’ hit from 1963, “You’ll never walk alone,” but until recently it was just another favorite oldie, one I liked but hadn’t paid particular attention to. But when I first saw the video with the Liverpool residents and football fans singing the song over the recording, I was moved beyond words. I keep listening to it, especially when I’m feeling down or need a lift. There’s something about the people in that video, drawn from all walks of life, old and young, singing their version of the song that touches me deeply and gives me hope for humanity.

Maybe you’ve seen the video. If not, here it is:

Last updated October 28, 2016