For die hard fans everywhere, stadium traditions are everything. They create constancy and history for the tribe. But the Nats are still a young franchise, and our fan traditions are still works in progress. In my humble opinion, our greatest lack is a home-grown musical identity. Think of all the great 7th and 8th inning fan sing-a-longs out there, like John Denver’s “Thank God I’m a Country Boy“at Camden Yards, or Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” at Fenway. Meanwhile, Nationals Park is afflicted with the 8th inning abomination of A-Ha’s “Take on Me”! For the love of all that’s sacred about music and baseball, I dare us to do better than a one-hit wonder from Sweden. Apologies to my Swedish friends, but seriously, look at these denim-drenched “yokers” and ask yourself if they represent the best of the Nats nation.
A-Ha? Nuh-uh!
Let’s examine the Nats’ current playlist. For starters, if you listen closely, you’ll get that “Join or Die” feeling as the theme from HBO’s John Adams mini-series leads into the national anthem, which hardly compares to the battle cry of Orioles nation yelling “O” at the top of their lungs during the old “Star Spangled Banner”; a little ditty that was, of course, actually written about Baltimore.
I get as amped as the next guy when our Nats take the field to AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck“, but it’s just another generic arena rock track. Maybe our home stand playlist needs a more personal touch; an infusion of hometown pride. After all, DC is a rare town with it’s very own musical genres and tapping Go Go and DC Hardcore for inspiration should be a no-brainer.
And it just so happens that the Nats front office is taking requests. As John Guagliano, Nats’ VP of Marketing and Broadcasting, told ESPN Magazine, “We sent out surveys asking what people want to hear for a win or for a home run. We’re seeing what our fans react to, and then we’ll take it from there.” I want all our readers to play DJ in the comments below and suggest songs that you think belong in the Nat’s stadium set list. We’ll put the top tracks to a formal vote here on the blog and present the winners to Mr. Guagliano and his merry marketeers. I am going to come right out and nominate an undeniable post-home home run jam: Chuck Brown’s “Bustin’ Loose“! Am I right, or am I right?!? As Chuck said: “Keep what you got until you get what you need y’all…”
Categories: For the Fans
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Bustin Loose is perfect! Or what about Fugazi – Waiting Room.
Fugazi’s “Waiting Room” could be PERFECT for pitching changes or warm ups. Along with “Bustin’ Loose”, I might add Bad Brains’ “Sailing On” to the list of potential post-homerun jams.
Waiting Room for pitching changes—mos def.
This post needs more ear candy. For the uninitiated, here’s Fugazi’s “Waiting Room”: http://youtu.be/cMOAXm94VWo Is it not the perfect cut for pitching changes?
There’s also a Chuck Brown cut called “Game Seven” that we could save for special occasions 🙂 Give it a listen here: http://youtu.be/adPHiOkaUvU