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July 8, 2021 9:00 am  #1


The Unlikely Oldie That's Turned Into A Worldwide Sports Anthem

Think about any sport where fans gather in big numbers and it's easy to imagine which tunes played over the sound system would excite the crowd: "We Will Rock You" and "We Are The Champions" both by Queen, or "Na, Na, Na, Na, Hey, Hey, Kiss Him Goodbye," from Steam. 

But Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline?"

It's not only an anthem at Boston's Fenway Park during Red Sox games, it's also frequently used by other teams, including The New York Mets and the Carolina Panthers of the NFL. But it's not just North America. If you watch soccer, you'll be hearing it during the final, when England plays Italy in the Euro Cup. And it's even turned up in Australia. 

Of all the songs I could imagine being pump-me-up sports tunes, "Sweet Caroline" might be last on that list. But there it is - and its good times have apparently never seemed so good. 

How ‘Sweet Caroline’ became Fenway’s beloved (and detested) ballpark anthem    

How Sweet Caroline - England's unofficial Euro song - almost never happened

 

July 10, 2021 8:03 am  #2


Re: The Unlikely Oldie That's Turned Into A Worldwide Sports Anthem

aflem wrote:

Think about any sport where fans gather in big numbers and it's easy to imagine which tunes played over the sound system would excite the crowd: "We Will Rock You" and "We Are The Champions" both by Queen, or "Na, Na, Na, Na, Hey, Hey, Kiss Him Goodbye," from Steam. 

But Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline?"

It's not only an anthem at Boston's Fenway Park during Red Sox games, it's also frequently used by other teams, including The New York Mets and the Carolina Panthers of the NFL. But it's not just North America. If you watch soccer, you'll be hearing it during the final, when England plays Italy in the Euro Cup. And it's even turned up in Australia. 

Of all the songs I could imagine being pump-me-up sports tunes, "Sweet Caroline" might be last on that list. But there it is - and its good times have apparently never seemed so good. 

How ‘Sweet Caroline’ became Fenway’s beloved (and detested) ballpark anthem    

How Sweet Caroline - England's unofficial Euro song - almost never happened

...and a song that may be even more popular at sporting events, although it's not really an oldie, is The White Stripes' Seven Nation Army, which I've heard at most of this year's Euro matches, Buffalo Bills games and college football games. You may not know the title, but you should recognize the riff.


 

 

July 10, 2021 12:38 pm  #3


Re: The Unlikely Oldie That's Turned Into A Worldwide Sports Anthem

I'm not recognizing it, but maybe I'll notice it now that you've posted this. And whether or not I had originally liked the oldies that get played, hearing them repeatedly used at sporting events for so many years has gotten quite tiresome for me ... kind of like oldies stations with overly narrow playlists, but worse because you're pretty much stuck with listening to them. I'd like to hear more in the way of newer material like this song instead; if I'm fast enough, I use Shazam to find out the title and artist.

 

July 10, 2021 1:17 pm  #4


Re: The Unlikely Oldie That's Turned Into A Worldwide Sports Anthem

Lorne wrote:

I'm not recognizing it, but maybe I'll notice it now that you've posted this. And whether or not I had originally liked the oldies that get played, hearing them repeatedly used at sporting events for so many years has gotten quite tiresome for me ... kind of like oldies stations with overly narrow playlists, but worse because you're pretty much stuck with listening to them. I'd like to hear more in the way of newer material like this song instead; if I'm fast enough, I use Shazam to find out the title and artist.

All the stadium song consists of is fans repeating Oh-Uh-oh-Uh-oh-oh to the song's guitar/bass riff. Here's a rousing rendition from Euro 2018. 


 
 

 

July 10, 2021 1:29 pm  #5


Re: The Unlikely Oldie That's Turned Into A Worldwide Sports Anthem

Thanks. I think it's got a kind of generic sound when used in that way, but that's not a knock against it ... it works pretty well in that context. And I'd certainly rather hear it than We Will Rock You in particular, a song that wore out its welcome for me a long time ago.

 

July 11, 2021 7:17 pm  #6


Re: The Unlikely Oldie That's Turned Into A Worldwide Sports Anthem

I don't know if I would call it an anthem, but Boston Red Sox have been playing Dirty Water by the Standells after any game they win at home.

 

July 12, 2021 9:07 am  #7


Re: The Unlikely Oldie That's Turned Into A Worldwide Sports Anthem

The Colorado Rockies play "Hey Baby" during the seventh inning stretch, although it's not by Bruce Chanel, but rather by someone named DJ Otzi.

 

July 12, 2021 9:46 am  #8


Re: The Unlikely Oldie That's Turned Into A Worldwide Sports Anthem

That version was also chosen by the Canadian hockey team to be played after each of their goals at the 2018 World Junior Hockey Championship. I'm guessing that the addition of "Uhh, Ahh" in the chorus of this version (these words are even included in parentheses in the official title) is the reason why it's getting used at sporting events. However, I found it very tiresome especially because Canada scored a lot of goals at that tournament. I wonder if Colorado was already using it before the Canadian juniors did, because it was a bit of a mystery at the time as to how and why it got chosen. 
https://www.bardown.com/ark-masters-has-figured-out-how-hey-baby-became-team-canada-s-world-junior-goal-song-1.956052

 

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