Join in the Chorus

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Join in the Chorus is the official anthem of the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League.

Contents 1 Lyrics (Traditional Version) 2 Lyrics (Early 00's version) 3 Meaning/Trivia 4 Shovels to Shovels version 5 Other Uses

[edit] Lyrics (Traditional Version)

Hearts to hearts and hands to hands, Beneath the Blue and White we stand, We shout, God bless our native land North Melbourne, North Melbourne.

Out we come, out we come, out we come to play, Just for recreation sake to pass the time away. Lots of fun, heaps of fun, enjoy yourself today, North Melbourne's boys are hard to beat, when they come out to play.

So join in the chorus and sing it one and all, Join in the chorus, North Melbourne's on the ball. Good old North Melbourne, they're champions you'll agree, North Melbourne will be premiers, just you wait and see!

[edit] Lyrics (Early 00's version)

Join in the chorus and sing it one and all,

Join in the chorus, the roos are on the ball.

Good old kangas, they're champions you'll agree,

The Kangaroos will be premiers, just you wait and see!

This version is no longer sung as a result of a board vote. The original is now used.

[edit] Meaning/Trivia

Sometimes the last line is replaced with "North Melbourne will be premiers in .." if the year rhymes (ie. Nineteen Ninety Three, Two thousand and Three etc.). Also, the last line is replaced with "North Melbourne will be premiers, just you wait and see".

In both the song played over the PA systems at matches and the rendition sung by players and coaches after a win, the line "We train so hard, we play the game, we must win every day" is no longer used. Instead, the line goes "Just for recreations sake to pass the time away".

During the late 1990s, early 2000s when North Melbourne were facing a real push into the Sydney market, they made a point of using "Kangas", "Roos" or "Kangaroos" instead of North Melbourne in most lines of the song to draw away from their Melbourne influence. However this has now been reverted to the traditional song.

Sometimes, the last line is "North Melbourne is the team that plays, to win for you and me"

[edit] Shovels to Shovels version

Shovels to Shovels, and Picks to Picks, On the North Melbourne ground you'll stick like shit, So get up you dirty bastard or we'll hit you with a brick!

Or "get up you dirty bastards or we will kick you in the shins"

This version is a favourite of the old North Melbourne faithful when it was sung around the ground of Arden St.

[edit] Other Uses

The song is also used by the Victorian Bushrangers, with "Victoria" substituted for North Melbourne.

It has a real Victorian identity, with Ted Whitten famously leading the rendition of the song after many Victorian State of Origin victories in the 1960s and 1970s.

Other clubs that use this anthem include:

• North Albury Football Club (Ovens and Murray Football League)