It is specifically about life at school, and is meant to give pupils now an idea of what it will be like in forty years when they return to their old school, and to remind old boys about their school life.
It is the main school song of Harrow School, and is sung there at the end of any "Songs" – occasions when old boys of the school return to hear the schools songs being sung by current boys, or an occasion within houses for singing the same songs at the end of each term – followed by "Auld Lang Syne" and the British national anthem ("God Save the King"). The "Churchill" verse, written to celebrate the life of one most famous Old Harrovian, Sir Winston Churchill is only sung once a year at a special Churchill Songs. Traditionally, verse three is sung by Old Harrovians in attendance at School Songs. The Churchill verse The penultimate Follow Up! in each chorus is sung unaccompanied by the School XII, which is made up of the best singers in the top year.
"With the tramp of the twenty-two men" refers to the twenty-two players on the field during a game of Harrow football, a game that is ancestral to association football and played exclusively at Harrow School - this part may be likewise altered at other schools for other sports like rugby or football that may be more significant to the school.
Forty years on, when afar and asunder Parted are those who are singing today, When you look back, and forgetfully wonder What you were like in your work and your play, Then, it may be, there will often come o’er you, Glimpses of notes like the catch of a song – Visions of boyhood shall float them before you, Echoes of dreamland shall bear them along,
Follow up! Follow up! Follow up Follow up! Follow up Till the field ring again and again, With the tramp of the twenty-two men. Follow up! Follow up!
Routs and discomfitures, rushes and rallies, Bases attempted, and rescued, and won, Strife without anger and art without malice, – How will it seem to you, forty years on? Then, you will say, not a feverish minute Strained the weak heart and the wavering knee, Never the battle raged hottest, but in it. Neither the last nor the faintest, were we!
Follow up! etc....
Oh the great days, in the distance enchanted, Days of fresh air, in the rain and the sun, How we rejoiced as we struggled and panted – Hardly believable, forty years on! How we discoursed of them, one with another, Auguring triumph, or balancing fate, Loved the ally with the heart of a brother, Hated the foe with a playing at hate!
Follow up etc.
Forty years on, growing older and older, Shorter in wind, as in memory long, Feeble of foot, and rheumatic of shoulder, What will it help you that once you were strong? God give us bases to guard or beleaguer, Games to play out, whether earnest or fun; Fights for the fearless, and goals for the eager, Twenty, and thirty, and forty years on!
Follow up etc.
Churchill Verse:
Blazoned in honour! For each generation You kindled courage to stand and to stay; You led our fathers to fight for the nation, Called "Follow up" and yourself showed the way. We who were born in the calm after thunder Cherish our freedom to think and to do; If in our turn we forgetfully wonder, Yet we'll remember we owe it to you.
Follow up! etc.
The original Churchill verse, sung to him on 12 November 1954, was as follows:
Sixty years on—though in time growing older, Younger at heart you return to the Hill: You, who in days of defeat ever bolder, Led us to Victory, serve Britain still. Still there are bases to guard or beleaguer, Still must the battle for Freedom be won: Long may you fight, Sir, who fearless and eager Look back to-day more than sixty years on
The Starehe Boys' Centre and School rendition
Adapted from the Harrow School version, written in 1872:
Forty years on, when afar and asunder, Parted are those who are singing today, When we look back and forgetfully wonder What we were like in our work and our play: Brotherhood strong and our teachers devoted, Assembly, Chapel, the House where we grew, Posho, Githeri, the Founders' Day dinner, Talks in Baraza, the friendship we knew.
Lenga Juu! Lenga Juu! Lenga Juu! Lenga Juu! Lenga Juu! Lenga Juu! Give honour again and again, To Starehe where we became men, Lenga Juu! Lenga Juu!
O the great days in the distance enchanted, Hours in the classroom and hours in the field, In games and athletics we struggled and panted, Learning to strive hard and never to yield, Scouting, exploring, those long expeditions, Fighting of fires, swimming and First Aid, Playing of music, debating and drama, Voluntary service – our first steps we made.
Lenga Juu! Lenga Juu! etc.
Forty years on growing older and older, Shorter in wind as in memory long, Feeble of foot and rheumatic of shoulder, What will it help us that once we were strong? God gives us duty for us to discharge it, Problems to face, struggle with and overcome, Service to render and glory to covet, Twenty and thirty and forty years on!
In Australia, the song is sung at a number of schools. In the Australian state of Victoria, the song is sung regularly at prestigious independent schools Wesley College, Melbourne, Haileybury, Melbourne, Carey Baptist Grammar School, Camberwell Grammar School and Scotch College, Melbourne, being the official Old Boy anthem and at Melbourne High School's Speech Night (Graduation Night). Wynnum State high and Rockhampton Girl's Grammar School (School Song). Only the first and last verses (excluding the Winston Churchill verse) are sung. Rather than the "tramp of the twenty-two men", Haileybury College, Carey, Camberwell Grammar School, Scotch College and Melbourne High School all replace the line with the "tramp of the thirty-six men" in reference to Australian rules football being the dominant football code in Victoria. It is also the school song of Frensham School in NSW, an all-girls boarding school, where it is traditionally sung on the school's birthday and at Old Girl's reunions.
In the King's School, Canterbury, the song was sung in the 1920s. It was replaced with 'The School of Theodore' hymn.[when?]
In the United States: sung at the Cranbrook Kingswood School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan (excluding the Winston Churchill verse) at the commencement ceremony. Also sung at St. Timothy's School in Stevenson, Maryland as part of a tradition dating back to 1882 (though it is sung faster and with some major alterations in the lyrics).
In South Africa: at Pretoria Boys High School, Pretoria, it is sung at all School Valedictions and assemblies at which Old Boys are present, with certain minor adaptions. "Twenty-two good men" is substituted by "thirty good men". It is also sung at Westville Boys' High School, Durban, when the matrics have their speech night and ring the Swain bell symbolizing their departure from the school and continued ties to its family. The ringing of the bell is the final act of the Matric group before the final exams. Also the school song for girls' school Girls Collegiate School, Pietermaritzburg - references to males replaced with female one's.
In Thailand, at Vajiravudh College considered to be the country's best boarding school built by King Rama VI (King Vajiravudh) in 1910, the "tramp of twenty-two men" became "The Might of Thirty Best Men" in reference to the school's supremacy in Rugby. There are also lyrics in Thai which is sung each year before the King of Thailand at the Graduation Ceremony.
In Hong Kong, the melody is used by Queen's College as its school song, with its lyrics written by Headmaster Mr. William Kay (1920). The school song of Heep Yunn School is also adapted from this song but its lyrics are in Chinese, rather than English which Queen's College uses.
In Canada, the girls at Havergal College in Toronto also sing this at their candlelight ceremony - a "passing of the torch" between the incoming and outgoing graduating classes.
A shortened and slightly altered version of this song is used near the beginning of the 2010 film adaptation of Never Let Me Go.
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