Songs and Anthems | Legends and Supporters | History of the song
Hail Hail, the Celts are here,
What the hell do we care,
What the hell do we care,
Hail Hail, the Celts are here,
What the hell do we care now…
History of the song
The Hail! Hail! song has become synonymous with Celtic.
It all starts in 1853 with the Opera Il Trovatore (The Troubadour), written by Verdi. In act II, scene 1, the gypsies sing the famous Anvil Chorus
You can watch a performance of the Anvil Chorus below. Pay attention at 0:58 in:
Youtube Link – The Anvil Chorus
Fast forward to 1879. W.S Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan write the comic opera The Pirates of Penzance. They heavily rip off Verdi’s Anvil chorus for the song “With cat-like tread, upon our prey we steal”, which is sung by the pirates at the climax of the show.
You can watch a performance of “With cat-like tread” below:
Youtube Link – With Cat-Like Tread
Pay attention to the chorus at 0:37, the words are:
Come, friends, who plough the sea,
Truce to navigation;
Take another station;
Let’s vary piracee
With a little burglaree!
Come, friends, who plough the sea,
Truce to navigation;
Take another station;
Let’s vary piracee
With a little burglaree!
Now fast forward to 1917. A military marching song is written by D.A. Estron and Theodore Morse called “Hail Hail the gang’s all here”, based on “With Cat-like Tread”. The song is first recorded by Irving Kaufman, and becomes a number one hit in 1918.
Click below to listen to “Hail Hail the gangs all here” as sung by Kaufman in 1917.
Archive.org link – Hail Hail the gangs all here
Sounds familiar doesn’t it?
The lyrics to the chorus are:
Hail! Hail! the gang’s all here,
What the deuce do we care,
What the deuce do we care,
Hail! Hail! we’re full of cheer,
What the deuce do we care Bill!
After this, at some point prior to the 1960’s the song is sung on the Parkhead Terraces as:
Hail Hail, the Celts are here,
What the hell do we care,
What the hell do we care,
Hail Hail, the Celts are here,
What the hell do we care now…
Then, in 1961, “Mr Glasgow” Glen Daly records a completely unrelated song called “The Celtic Song”. The Hail! Hail! lyrics became used to by fans to introduce the Celtic Song. You can get full details here of that tune.