Recently, on my way home, I heard a sound that sent the hairs on the back of my neck standing. Like something out of the dawn of history, and maybe not heard in Manchester since
Caractacus fought the Romans .... Well alright, slight exaggeration, since the last time a German team came for a football match.
It was the massed ranks of the Bayern Munich football fans marching through the city centre, and chanting a battle cry!
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| Bayern Fans Chants Like A Primeval Echo |
I say battle cry because it was unified singing, and without a doubt was a song of conquest or victory.
A loud repetition, of the same anthem .... it echoed off the walls of the high buildings and could be heard on and off throughout the city, long before they hove into my view. It reminded me of the Zulu chants in the
movie of the same name, when they could only be heard through gaps in the hills. Or in this case, the gaps in the cities urban canyon walls .... Until suddenly they emerged in their thousands.
Maybe, the General Varus and Roman soldiers in the
Teutoberg forest, would have heard the same sounds as they fought a final last stand, in any event it was something else.
Sadly I didn't record it on audio or video, or I would have posted my version of it, but I hope I have given you a pen portrait of a small, but dramatic moment .... and someone has at least posted a version of the chanting from their march on YouTube, so although not as I heard it, its something of the effect.
Oh yes, in case your wondering, it was a prophetic chant, as their team won 1 - 4 against Manchester City
