“It’s almost poetic”… How the Lyon song “Take me away” became the ultimate symbol of the derby

For its return after almost three years of absence, will the OL-ASSE derby this Sunday (8:45 p.m.) be the first match in the history of Ligue 1 not to end due to homophobic chants in the stands of Parc OL? Given the gegenpressing of ministers Bruno Retailleau and Gil Avérous against the LFP due to the non-interruption for three weeks of PSG-Strasbourg and ASSE-Strasbourg, the referee Willy Delajod will in any case be on the lookout +++ this type of incident.

And if Greens supporters are, as usual, prohibited from traveling for this derby (they have never been able to go to Décines since the inauguration of the stadium in 2016), the animosity between the two great Rhône-Alpes rivals could push the corners of Lyon to launch, as often, the problematic chant “Les Stéphanois, c’est p…. “.

A song born just before Lyon's septuplet in Ligue 1

According to our information, OL management has also raised awareness among supporter groups on this thorny subject in recent days, aware that this shock broadcast in prime time on DAZN could serve as an example. That said, the most emblematic Lyonnais (and anti-Stéphanois) song cannot be considered homophobic. While the biopic Mr Aznavour a hit at the box office, the air ofTake me will resonate even more at Parc OL this Sunday than all summer on the various sites of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

But with lyrics suited to the derby: “Take me to Geoffroy-Guichard, take me to the land of bastards. It seems to me that it would be miserable to be a supporter of the Greens.” The words of this song were invented in 2001 by two regulars from the southern bend of Gerland. We were 20 years old, we were enjoying time and OL were going to achieve an incredible septuplet (from 2002 to 2008), while ASSE was languishing in Ligue 2, before its return to the elite in 2004.

“It’s not insulting, well apart from ‘bastards’, OK…”

“It has become a tradition to throw Take me in the 42nd minute of play [numéro du département de la Loire]explains Jean-Pierre, a subscriber to the north bend for twenty-five years. Initially, it was to heat things up when the derby was getting closer. And then we sing it almost every match now. »

“Even if the derby has become sanitized on many points, we want to remind the 'Stephs' how much we don't like them, whoever our opponent is for the evening,” adds Richard from the south turn. We never tried to invent an anti-Marseillais song. Our only real rivalry is with Saint-Etienne. »

And the Lyon supporters are damn proud of the results of their Take meand the place he now occupies in the culture of the French stands. On the Beaujoire side, the Loire Brigade has sometimes taken it over for matches between FC Nantes and ASSE.

« The tune of “Emmenez-moi” is legendary, everyone knows it. And there, the words stick perfectly. Saint-Etienne is the Greens and nothing else, where there is an immense heritage in Lyon. But it's nice, it's even almost poetic. And then it’s not insulting, well apart from “bastards”, OK… »

A controversy with Lacazette and Aulas at the helm

So, how has this song been perceived for more than twenty years, 60 km southwest of Lyon? “We are not going to say that the song was well received in Sainté, but it is above all sarcastic,” says Luc (40 years old), who runs the ASSE Memories account on Twitter/X. And then the insult is not incredibly strong, apart from the words “misery” and “bastards” which have connotations. It's far from being the worst infamy in the history of the derby in any case. »

Know that this Take me Lyonnais actually has three long verses that can be found on YouTube, but never sung at the stadium. If certain homophobic terms are present this time, we let you appreciate this punchline : “I who knew Platini in the golden years, now we have Antonetti and we swallow the dead”.

In 2012, the song is still entitled to its lively controversy. Because eight OL players are filmed chanting it on the balcony of the Town Hall, in front of thousands of supporters, after winning the Coupe de France. Among them, we find the pure products of the OL training center Lacazette, Lopes, Umtiti, Gonalons and Grenier, all sanctioned by the National Ethics Council (CNE) with a suspended match suspension and 5,000 fine euros.

“The Larousse will be authentic”, dared JMA against Caïazzo

“There, it was a bad experience because it came out of conflict between supporters,” explains Luc from ASSE Memories. We were in a non-derby context, so after this episode, the Lacazette generation and company were particularly hated in Saint-Etienne. And then Jean-Michel Aulas had also tried to defend the meaning of the word “bastard”…”

Because yes, among the cult sequences of JMA's 36 years of Lyon faith at the head of OL, there is this exchange from May 2012 on RMC Sport with his Saint-Etienne counterpart Bernard Caïazzo: “If we do the exegesis of couplet: “bastard”, in the dictionary, is a child from an unmarried couple. There was no insult, just excessive joy. The Larousse will be authentic to people who feel moved.”

A song in the wake of a violent banner

The term “bastard” in this song later found an echo in several insulting banners deployed by Lyon supporters in the history of the derby, such as the “Stop breeding in family” released in the Chaudron in 2017. However, it was a time when folklore was much softer between the two enemy camps.

“In the 1990s, there was more of a battle of fans than of songs between the two clubs, and it remained solely within the framework of football,” recalls Luc from ASSE Memories. And then there was the Lugdunum banner in 2000 which moved the rivalry onto the social field, with the big city facing the poverty of Saint-Etienne. This banner was perceived as a very strong insult to Saint-Etienne, and it left a lot of bitterness for many years. »

The Saint-Etienne ultras quickly responded with a song

And for good reason, eight years before the immense controversy surrounding the anti-Ch'tis banner for PSG-Lens, the violence of words was just as present, on September 6, 2000 in the Geoffroy-Guichard visitor's park: “Les Gones invented cinema… when your fathers were dying in the mines.” If ASSE has long dismissed its dear neighbor for its meager record and the supposed lack of fervor of its public, banners “Death to Lyon” and “The hunt is on, kill them” appeared in the 2000s. even as a song in direct response to Take me Lyonnais.

Our file on the derby

To the tune (a little less noble than Aznavour) of She comes down from the mountainthe statement testifies to the growing violence in the relationship between the ultras of the two clubs: “And if one day I die at Gerland, there will be ten red and blue bastards dead at my feet”. We are indeed very far from a nice person here The Lion died tonight sometimes sung to Geoffroy-Guichard in the 1990s. And faced with this escalation of provocations, the 42nd minute of the OL-ASSE derby this Sunday will be scrutinized like never before in France, including at the head of state.