It’s no big secret, if anyone were mad enough to scream in the French capital, home of the Paris Saint-Germain, “Allez l’OM” (OM = Olympique de Marseille), chances are, people will say that he or she is en train de chercher la petite bête (literally meaning “looking for the small beast”, and meaning “picking for a fight.”)

Look at it as if you went to Madrid and started chanting songs praising their bête noire, FC Barcelona…

Get the picture?

To get you a “vibe” of the of the especially fun “ambiance” prevailing in the stadiums in company of the die-hard Marseillais fans, you’re invited today to discover their team’s most cherished songs.

In other words, their very own “Marseillaises.”

* LES CHANTS DE L’OM au STADE VELODROME (The Songs of the OM team in the “Velodrome” Stadium):

The first song is a Marseille classic called “Aux armes” (from 0 s to 40s in the video above), which makes a clear echo to the French national anthem called “La Marseillaise” starting with its famous “Aux armes citoyens” (“To arms, citizens.”)

It goes like this: Aux Armes! (To arms!) Aux Armes! (To arms!) Nous sommes les marseillais (We are the people of Marseille) Et nous allons gagner (And we’re going to win) Allez l’OM! (Go OM!)

If you thought that was easy to remember, then check this one out: “Qui ne saute pas n’est pas marseillais” (from 40s to 1min): Qui ne saute pas n’est pas marseillais…-ais (x8) (easy…) Who doesn’t jump is not from Marseille!

The third song: Allez l’OM, allez (Go OM, go), du virage Depé s’élevera la ferveur du peuple marseillais (from the Depé curve will rise the fervor of the people of Marseille), allez l’OM! (Go OM!)

What is the “virage Depé“?

Well, wait and see.

The fourth song (starting 1:38): Tout le Velodrome reprend comme un seul homme la chanson du virage qui raisonne (twice), meaning “all the Velodrome stadium sings like one man the song of the curve that resounds.” Quand le virage se met à chanter (“When the curve starts singing”), c’est tout le stade qui va s’enflammer! (“It’s the whole stadium that will be set on fire!”) Il faut chanter, il faut chanter (“You’ve got to sing, you’ve got to sing), et notre équipe va gagner (“and our team will win”), allez, allez, Go, go, Allez, allez l’OM allez … Go, go OM go…

The last song (starting 2:30): Allez l’OM, allez marseillais, as indicated above, means Go OM, go people of Marseille, followed by: “Hissez haut, les drapeaux” (“rise the flags high”), tous unis sous les mêmes couleurs (“all united under the same colors”), le virage reprendra en coeur (“the curve will sing all together”): Allez l’OM, allez marseillais (“Go OM, go people of Marseille”)

Now, if you want to understand what the fans are referring to when they mention the “curve”, you have to listen to the story of “le virage Depé”
_________________________________
Picture shared by Shivapat via Flickr