Monday, July 6, 2020

Songs of Sports #MusicMovesMe

It's Monday, and it's time for another episode of Music Moves Me!


Who are the members of Music Moves Me ?  We are bloggers who blog about music each Monday. If you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join!  Just remember our simple rule:  you must include at least one You Tube or Vimeo video or your post may be subject to removal or labeling "NO MUSIC". You are welcome to write about music. too but we need that video!

So let's get started.

Each month, we have a guest co-host and guess who the guest co-host is this month?

You guessed it (I hope):  ME!

My theme for today is:  Songs mentioning sports, or songs commonly played at sporting events.

Why music at sporting events? Teams must be introduced.  Fans must be pumped up to cheer when a team is rallying.  They must be entertained at dead spots in the action.  In baseball, in recent years, players use "walk up" songs that are played when they come to bat.

Some songs have become so identified with one particular team that no other team plays the song. 

So, I have to admit - I chose this theme for today before almost all sports in the United States had to shut down.    Many of us miss pro sports.  Some are trying to start up again, some (such as auto racing) have been able to start up again (but either without fans or with minimal number of fans present).

As for me,  I stopped going to minor league baseball games several years ago, but I have fond memories of some of the songs played there (the then B-Mets - AA farm team for the New York Mets).

For example, the song Cotton Eye Joe, as performed by the Swedish (yes, Swedish) band Rednex. Our minor league team would play it between innings. I've featured this song before but it's a lot of fun.

So is this song, "Lazy Mary (Luna Mezzo Mare)", sung by Lou Monte, from 1958.  Let's Go Mets!


Smash Mouth and "All Star".

As for the one-team songs: The Chicago Bulls play this when introducing their players - Alan Parsons Project's Sirius.


The Boston Patriots have Ozzy Ozbourne's Crazy Train.  Here's Ozzy performing it live at the season opener in 2005.

Although I was born and raised in New York City, I think Boston (I've only visited once) is a wonderful city.  So, there is the love affair of Boston Red Sox fans with Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline.  This is a live performance of the song by Neil Diamond at a Boston Red Sox game after the Boston Marathon bombing.

After playing two Boston oriented songs, I hope I can get back into the good graces of New York fans with one of Noah Syndergaard's walk-up songs, O Fortuna (Carmina Burana) although this is not the performance he uses.

But sports are played around the world, and some of the favorite songs the fans like may surprise you.  I've picked a couple from England to end this.


British football fans from Liverpool have adopted, as their song, the Rogers and Hammerstein Broadway tune "You'll Never Walk Alone".

How about a rendition of "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles", as performed by West Ham United fans? 

That's all for today!

Join me again next Monday, same time, same place.





10 comments:

  1. ...Alana, this morning I feel like I'm out in left field or is right, well it's some field! There perhaps is no one out there who has less interest in sports than me. A few of these I know, but most are like strangers in the night. Thanks for hosting and I hope that I am welcomed here.

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  2. Alana,

    We both used 'Crazy Train' in today's lineup. :) Of your other song picks, I think my favorite has to be Alan Parson's Project Sirius which is new to me. I had to smile at the "Lazy Mary (Luna Mezzo Mare)" mewsic video with all the Sophia Loren movie clips. She has really pretty eyes. Have a boogietastic week, my friend!

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  3. Thank you for Rieu's version of Thor's walk up music. And I love Neil diamond, so your transgression is forgiven. Let's play Lazy Mary again, I need to stretch...

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  4. Oh, my word, I actually knew them all. A couple of particular favourites and one actually brought tears! Well done, Alana!

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  5. We both picked Alan Parsons. Great songs.

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  6. First- congrats on becoming a conductor! Who knew about these songs!(I think U of M uses the Parson Project theme for their basketball intros, too.)

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  7. I’m a huge sports fan and have heard most but not all. It sure brings back great memories though. (Rena)

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  8. Oh, these songs made us very Happy, especially the first three of them. Alan Parson's Project is favourite here and Andre Rieu and his orchestra and the singers is like a Hometown game. (He lives where we also live ;) Thank you for the mewsic, we liked the Theme😺Extra Pawkisses🐾😽💞

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