Tuning Up the Express
perhaps it's time for the hometown team to get a signature song
Express game in Carson Park.
In this edition of “Athletic Aesthetic,” we’re talkin’ baseball. We’re turnin’ up the heat. We’re having good times that never felt so good, so good, so good. We’re gonna watch that baseball soar. All while singing and eating peanuts and Cracker Jack.
The game of baseball is accompanied by many traditions. Witness the retro ballpark boom of the past two decades, the reliance on hand-operated scoreboards, the plain templates of most uniforms, the myriad unwritten rules. In a way, baseball does a better job of transporting us to the 1940s than any other sport in America.
Another part of that nostalgia is the baseball song. Not only does the game feature “The Star-Spangled Banner” before play starts, but regularly includes its unofficial theme song , “Take Me Out to The Ballgame” (perhaps the only American sport to have such a prominent tune in pop culture), during the 7th inning stretch. Baseball even added the singing of “God Bless America” to the stretch as a new post-September 11th tradition.
Go to individual parks and you’ll see local vocal features, like the Brewers’ “Roll Out The Barrel” (with dugout roof polka dancing), the Cubs’ having a celebrity lead the crowd in “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” and iconic post-game tunes like the Yankees’ “New York, New York” and Red Sox’ “Dirty Water.” Everywhere you go, songs and themes adorn America’s Game.
Teams even have their own theme songs. Many are unofficial, but a few MLB squads, like the Twins (“We’re Gonna Win, Twins”) and Mets (“Meet The Mets”) have a song officially written for the team, a ditty played in-stadium for the actual games. Meanwhile, “Turnin’ Up The Heat” became an unofficial anthem for the Harvey’s Wallbangers-era Brewers. This is one of the best signs of a musical connection between the sport and the fans, and these songs have endeared generations to their team, despite the occasionally corny verses and instrumentation.
Several months ago, a thought dawned on me: our main hometown baseball team, the Eau Claire Express, lack a true theme song. Something to play when the players take the field, when the team records the final out of a victory, and when the team runs TV ads and weekly specials.
The Express have introduced their line-up to Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train,” appropriate given the train-themed nature of the team. Otherwise, with the possible exception of longtime Beer Batter jingle “Chug-A-Lug,” the franchise seems to be lacking in an instantly definable, unique song that makes everyone at the park think “This is Express baseball.” The team needs a sufficiently catchy theme song that people from Stanley to Strum will be humming on their way to and from Carson Park.
I hereby humbly nominate myself to write a theme song for the Express.
You may be wondering why I, Volume One sports columnist and regional on-air radio personality, would be qualified to write a baseball theme song. I have done a little songwriting for my performances in our area renaissance faires, so I have a basic idea of how to put together a melody, chords and lyrics. Plus, as the instigator of this idea, I can pretty much set the qualifications as I see fit.
An Express theme song needs to be up-tempo and celebratory, but should not be too evocative of current musical trends. A track that sounds like it missed the cut for the latest Pitbull or Katy Perry album is going to be ditched within a couple years, putting all my effort to naught.
I consulted with the skilled musician/arranger of my family – my mother – and the collaboration yielded “All Aboard Express.” It features an anthemic chorus (“Express/Express/All aboard Express/We will win Express!”), some “go get’em” lyrics (i.e. “Ball in the air/You hit it with flair”), a funky piano part and some tom-tom drums reminiscent of the clickety-clack of train wheels. I recorded the parts (mainly on my iPhone) and put together a music video with some Express fans, so check it out and see what you think.
Perhaps the Express will like what they hear. If you like it, get a hold of them and tell them to make this their theme song. All aboard, Express!
