Manchester Choose Love

In May this year, as you remember, a lone terrorist targeted young people leaving an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, UK, killing 22 people; all too familiar in the world today.

The day after the attack a candle-lit vigil was held in the city and what you need to understand is that Manchester is a very strong and proud city with so much history; from Emmeline Pankhurst, founder of the Suffragette movement to inventing the world’s first computer.

Let’s not forget Manchester is home to two football clubs whose names are known across the world and so many famous bands have emerged from the city. The world’s first intercity railway station was also opened in Manchester in 1830.

After an attack cities always come together but the spirit shown in Manchester did feel different; the adopted theme in the days after the attack was choose love. During the candle-lit vigil a poet named Tony Walsh was asked to read a poem he’d written a few years before and it was a really uplifting moment.

During the vigil a person in the crowd started singing the Oasis song "Don’t look back in anger". Oasis were from Manchester. That song then became an anthem and sung whenever people got together in the days and weeks following the attack.

Inspired by the spirit of Manchester on June 3rd Ariana Grande returned to the city and put together an amazing concert supported by groups from around the world … ONE LOVE MANCHESTER. Every single performance was superb and remember this was just days after the attack.

The group Coldplay performed "Don’t look back in anger" and somehow the words of the song took on new meaning.

A bee is one symbol used in Manchester to link the city back to the industrial revolution; Manchester was at the heart of the industrial revolution in the UK and the bee symbolises hard work.

To show solidarity with Manchester hundreds queued to have a Manchester bee tattoo and those numbers grew and grew into thousands in the weeks following the attack.

When you have love and support for each other terrorists will never win.

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Try reading the poem "This is the place". It contains a few local slang terms for example 'nowt' is 'nothing' and a 'brew' is a 'cup of tea' (see post "Языковые причуды" for more tips #Manchester).

THIS IS THE PLACE (full version)

written and performed by Tony Walsh for Forever Manchester

This is the place in the North West of England

It’s ace, it’s the best and the songs that we sing

From the stands, from our bands set the whole planet shaking

Our inventions are legends! There’s nowt we can’t make and

So we make brilliant music. We make brilliant bands

We make goals that make souls leap from seats in the stands

And we make things from steel and we make things from cotton

And we make people laugh, take the mick summat rotten

And we make you at home and we make you feel welcome

And we make summat happen, we can’t seem to help it

And if you’re looking for history then yes, we’ve a wealth

But the Manchester way is to make it yourself

And make us a record, a new number one

And make us a brew while you’re up, love. Go on!

And make us feel proud that you’re winning the league

And make us sing louder and make us believe it

That this is the place that has helped shape the world

And that this the place where a Manchester girl

Name of Emmeline Pankhurst from the streets of Moss Side

Led a Suffragette City with sisterhood pride

And this is the place with appliance of science

We’re on it, atomic, we strut with defiance

In the face of a challenge we always stand tall

Mancunians in union delivered it all

Such as housing and libraries, and health, education

And unions and co-ops, the first railway station

So we’re sorry! Bear with us! We invented commuters!

But we hope you forgive us – we invented computers!

And this is the place Henry Royce strolled with Rolls

And we’ve rocked and we’ve rolled with our own Northern Soul

And so this is the place to do business, then dance

Where go-getters and goal setters know they’ve a chance

And this is the place where we first played as kids

And me Mam lived and died here, she loved it she did

And this is the place where our folks came to work

Where they struggled in puddles, they hurt in the dirt

And they built us a city. They built us these towns

And they coughed on the cobbles to the deafening sound

Of the steaming machines and the screaming of slaves

They were scheming for greatness, they dreamed to their graves

And they left us a spirit, they left us a vibe

The Mancunian Way to survive and to thrive

And to work and to build, to connect and create and

Greater Manchester’s greatness is keeping it great

And so this is the place now we’ve kids of our own

Some are born here, some drawn here but we all call it home

And they’ve covered the cobbles, but they’ll never defeat

All the dreamers and schemers who still teem through these streets

Because this is a place that has been through some hard times

Oppressions, recessions, depressions and dark times

But we keep fighting back with Greater Manchester spirit

Northern grit, northern wit in Greater Manchester’s lyrics

And there’s hard times again in these streets of our city

But we won’t take defeat and we don’t want your pity

Because this a place where we stand strong together

With a smile on our face, Mancunians Forever

And we’ve got this* as the place where a team with a dream (*Forever Manchester)

Can get funding and something to help with their scheme

Because this is the place that understands your grand plans

We don’t do No Can Do, we just stress Yes We Can!

Forever Manchester’s a charity for people round ‘ere

You can fundraise, donate. You can be a volunteer

You can live local, give local. We can honestly say

We do charity differently, that Mancunian Way

And we fund local kids, and we fund local teams

We support local dreamers to work for their dreams

We support local groups and the great work they do

So can you …help us help… local people like you?

Because this is the place in our hearts, in our homes

Because this is the place that’s a part of our bones

‘Cos Greater Manchester gives us such strength from the fact

That this is the place. We should give something back.

Always remember. Never forget. Forever Manchester.