InterviewIan Broudie on LFC songbook, Klopp impact and Lightning Seeds return
“It is the obvious one…”
And given the powerful emotional impression You’ll Never Walk Alone made on a young Ian Broudie – founder of The Lightning Seeds – his choice of favourite Liverpool song is little surprise.
Raised in a family of Reds and Anfield season ticket holders, Broudie recalls no specific moment that he ‘became’ a supporter too, the process instead a wholly natural, organic one.
He certainly remembers his first, transforming experience of Anfield, however, on a mid-1960s evening when Bill Shankly’s red machine clashed with Leeds United.
“I remember going with my dad and my uncle and just it being overwhelming,” Broudie tells Liverpoolfc.com. “Walking in, floodlights, the green of the grass, red kit, white kit.
“When everyone sang You’ll Never Walk Alone, I’ve never really seen my dad or my uncle sing. I felt like bursting into tears. The Kop singing in the ’60s was amazing.
“That was the fusion of football and music probably. It was very musical. Even at that age I’d sneak into my brother’s room to play Beatles albums and whatever he had in there. So it was like this overwhelming two things that is probably the map of my life, that moment, in a way. What I like to do is watch Liverpool and listen to songs.”
Broudie has been doing so ever since, watching on – from the stands at Anfield whenever possible – as the Reds collected trophies at home and abroad and the fans created ever more tunes to toast them during the almost-sixty intervening years.
Encompassing odes to individual players and managers past and present, tales of glorious moments in history and motivational chants, Liverpool supporters’ songbook increases in richness and variation with every passing season.
So, as a professional singer/songwriter, just how much does Broudie appreciate the strength of the musical connection in place at the club?
“I love it,” he says. “I love the Klopp song, it’s great. I don’t think any other clubs do what we do in that way really. Since seeing the Kop singing the Beatles and all that sort of stuff, that has always stayed on. There’s a humour.
“I’m not a fan of singing about other teams, I’ve never been a fan of songs about someone else, and I think that’s what I love about Liverpool: we sing about ourselves, we don’t really sing too much about anyone else, it’s mainly about ourselves and I love that.
“I used to like all the Spanish ones, that era when [Rafael] Benitez came in, there were some very funny songs when we were adopting all that stuff, it was like a new thing.
“But You’ll Never Walk Alone, it is a hymn. It sort of encapsulates everything. The way Jürgen suits Liverpool, that song suits Liverpool, it’s community and it’s just everything really in that song.”
Liverpool fans have had plenty to sing and shout about in recent years, of course.
Galvanised by Jürgen Klopp following his appointment to the dugout in October 2015, the Reds have made major honours a habit again, lifting the Premier League and Champions League among the seven trophies won during the manager’s reign to date.
Broudie witnessed a large chunk of Shankly’s revolutionary spell at the helm and he draws parallels between the legendary Scot and Klopp.
“The thing about Shankly was that he fitted Liverpool like a glove – and Jürgen does as well. It’s just a match made in heaven,” he says.
“You’ve kind of just got to be lucky as a club every now and again to get someone like that. And obviously they’ve got to be good.
“I think his whole insight, when you look at it now and look back at it, obviously he has been great with the players but even just the way he has managed us from being kind of in the past in our glory and he has managed to respect the past but take it to a new future. I think that’s a really tricky thing to do.
“It’s very tricky to go, ‘We respect that, that is beautiful, but right now it doesn’t matter and we need to create a new situation.’ I don’t think he gets enough credit [for that]. It’s gargantuan.”
The Lightning Seeds are back with a new studio album this year, a first since 2009.
Having spent the time in between focusing on, and thoroughly enjoying, live performances – including an appearance at Liverpool’s Champions League final fan event in May – See You In The Stars releases on October 14.
The album is a ‘more overtly emotional, very personal and hopefully uplifting’ record, with Broudie’s stated mission to ‘make it really positive’.
“I really started enjoying playing the songs, playing live and having more of a troubadour kind of existence,” he says of the break between albums.
“And I thought, ‘You don’t need a record – I love playing with the band, going wherever we go, going to different towns and countries. I love this.’ It was like a troubadour and I just put it out of my head.
“I thought if I write some tunes that feel right, I can really get behind them and they are The Lightning Seeds – whatever that is, that they are that – it becomes a bit of an abstract thought. Then when you write a couple and it’s not abstract anymore, there’s a couple of tunes, you go, ‘I really like these, I wish people could hear these, I want to do this’ then it takes on a whole different thing, you just become committed to the songs.
“It’s not like some kind of plan, you just emotionally commit and write some more and you end up with this album.”
Also looming for the band is a return to the city to perform live.
On the same day the Reds are due to host Southampton in the Premier League at Anfield – November 12 – The Lightning Seeds will run through their repertoire and showcase the new songs at the Liverpool Olympia.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” finishes Broudie. “I’ve never played in the Olympia, I’ve been to a couple of gigs there and when it rocks it’s a great venue. The Olympia just fits that bill really well. So I’m really excited.
“We haven’t played in Liverpool for a while and it will be great to do a rock and roll gig. And it’s after a game, Southampton – so hopefully we can beat Southampton and then go down the road and come the gig!”
For more information on The Lightning Seeds’ new album, See You In The Stars, and to get tickets for the Liverpool Olympia show, visit the band’s official website here.