This morning, my thoughts turned to Malcolm McClaren’s single “Double Dutch” – a ridiculously catchy song. It’s about the prowess of the New York-based high school competitive skipping teams in the 80s. If you’re not familiar, watch the clip – it’s truly amazing.
Now. Malcolm could have put a song together about anything. Yet, on this occasion, he’s so impressed by the Double Dutch skipping teams that he devotes a whole song to it. Unusual? I say yes. How many other songs are written about sport from people outside of sport? Not many.
I can think of one more relatively obvious one but I will let you work that one out so I don’t hog the limelight.
To be very clear on this – I am not talking about songs by sportspersons, or songs to promote personalities, clubs or events like FA Cup Finals or World Cups. No comedy songs either. So “Howzat!” by Beefy and the Middle Stumps will not qualify here. Or that wretched rave single about Cantona.
I want the song you nominate to be a sincere tribute to a particular sport where the writer is so inspired that they have to write a song about it. I trust I make myself clear.
Ice hockey
Hit somebody – Warren Zevon
Baseball
Centrefield – John Fogerty
Cricket
When an old
Cricketer leaves
The crease – Roy Harper
Hit Somebody was my first thought – great song
The Real Sounds – Tournados vs Dynamos. Splendid stuff.
That is brilliant. You get the feeling that this 13 minutes is edited highlights of a 90 minute song…
It’s part of my very limited Zimbabwe record collection (basically this and some Bhundi Boys). My Mum and Dad went to Zimbabwe to see my aunt who lived there. I gave them a small list of records to buy and they did a good job.
I know the Roy Harper one – a great example. Don’t know the other two so I’ll take your word for it.
@jaygee
The Fogerty one is terrific, Hit Somebody less so
This one’s a knockout!
He was the greatest but I am not looking for songs about particular personalities.
Snooker Loopy?
Mainly a comedy song though isn’t it?
Joe Pernice, an avid Boston Red Sox fan, released this tribute to a Red Sox player, Manny Ramirez, when they won something or other in whichever rubbish American sport it was (Baseball I presume, if he’s hitting something), after not winning anything for years. It’s not his greatest song by a long way, but it was for charidee, so we can let him off.
Looks like this is a bit of a personality-based platter…
Mmm … Football, isn’t it. Jumpers for Goalposts. Cloughie. John Robertson. Mmm… isn’t it.
I don’t really follow what they’re getting at. Football’s not good enough for God…? Or too good for God? I’ll have to find my Albert Camus Brodies Notes.
Long balls for Bengt!
Seems to be a comedy song and about a personality. It’s not looking good on all available levels.
However, terrific Chris Isaak-type guitar. Really liked that.
Cake – The Distance
Endurance racing, though possibly about other things as well, gives a good feel for the driving experience through the music.
Half Man Half Biscuit – covers both motor racing (Scalextric) and Football (Subbuteo)…..
This was the first HMHB song I ever heard. I was in a record shop and they were playing it over the PA. Loved it and them instantly.
Ha! I’m sitting here in a Dukla Prague away shirt, as I wore it to the footy today and wanted something neutral to wear. Barrow v Carlisle. A long way to go for a poor game of football, but just need to go to Sutton United now and then I’m back in the 92 club. Could wait till next season, as we might be going there with Barnsley for a League One game. We nearly got promoted to the Premiership last season. Funny old game, etc.
@paul-wad an ex work colleague posted this about the game, you may like to read this.
https://www.facebook.com/100006498570268/posts/3490949291131656/
@hubert-rawlinson Could you please try the link again, as it just takes me to my Facebook feed, which is empty (I don’t use Facebook and only signed up because I had to so that I could register my son’s VR device)
@paul-wad for many years I commiserated with* my Luton Town supporting friend as Ipswich seemed to establish a solid and permanent presence in the Championship. Eating humble pie now.
*laughed at
Well at least you can take your customary 6 points against us next season. If we go down, which is looking likely, we’re going to lose half our team and half our crowd.
In my head, Luton are still that pretty decent team with Ricky Stein etc.
Neil Hannon & Thomas Walsh made a couple of cricket based albums under the name of The Duckworth Lewis Method. These are two of my favourites from the first. The second song is about the ‘ball of the century’.
I think DLM fulfil the brief by having entire albums devoted to a sport and also naming themselves after a complex scoring method that assesses team performances fairly when rain interrupts play.
This is the other one I was thinking of:
Kraftwerk – Tour de France
This is very good. I had a similar experience (girlfriend thinking it was amusing to keep turning the channel over when I was trying to watch Leeds in the FA Cup Semi (lost 3-2 after extra time)). It ended that relationship.
‘I am just a poor boy, though my story’s seldom told…”
Dear Mr. Poxham, would you kindly excuse Steven from games today? He has had a nasty cold over the weekend and still has headaches and feels a bit snotty. I don’t feel he should be outside with the rougher type of boy, as he Is a little delicate.
Hoping you will understand,
yours sincerely,
Nellie Maynard, Mrs.
Giff him a nice kold shower!!
Harlow’s finest musical export, early-90s Big Beaters Collapsed Lung with their only hit, Eat My Goal. I think it is supposed to be an ode to the Beautiful Game but, hearing it again, I’m not quite sure what it is about.
My pal used to play bass with them, you know.
Great hip-hop tracks inspired by Alan Partridge, along with Ol Dirty Bastard’s “Do Your Frank Spencer”.
Sex and cricket are never far apart.
This is like Mambo number 5 but with filthy cricket innuendo.
A couple more in praise of the bat and ball.
Those are really, really good. Thanks for posting them.
Admiration for the sport, probably. Not necessarily his team.
There are some Italians writing songs about rugby right now 🙁
(Actually pleased for them)
Not a huge rugby fan but literally just turned on the TV to see Italy score their brilliant last minute try.
Easy conversion but after a losing streak of 30-odd games, the pressure on the guy taking it must have been huge.
Forget those other tunes – go for the sports with the big balls…
Ahh!
The curative qualities of bowling by Camper Van Beethoven.
Not many songs on that subject.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKfMlQ7KWFE
Being one of the ‘odd boys’ who doesn’t like sport.
I did enjoy reading these.
Fairport’s Full House.
There’s a couple of songs above that I enjoy however.
My Dad used to play this when I was a nipper.
Broke My Heart by the Saw Doctors captures the disappointment arising from a school football match, but also includes the word ‘parallelogram ‘…
So does Motorhead’s, er, “Motorhead”. Exalted company.
Does this count? Golf Girl by Caravan
https://youtu.be/hkSbhGUO4j4
Very nice, but the admiration there is most definitely for the girl and not the game.
Here’s the classic golf song
They came to face the stiffest course since Tring.
Harold took an eight iron at the first.
Luther strode up crying “Winter Rules”
“Holy mackerel” cried the Papal prince
“You’re out of bounds, I’m really quite convinced”
Luther drew his driver, but the pope pulled out a fiver
So they halved the hole on points of sacraments
Calling @bargepole
Is wrestling fixed?
Horse racing’s a sport, right?
See also RT The Angels Took my Racehorse Away and Both Ends Burning.
Bit of an obscure one, but Mr Carbohydrate by Manic Street Preachers (b-side to A Design for Life) contains a paean to Nicky Wire’s favourite cricketer, Glamorgan’s Matthew Maynard.
It doesn’t have to be competitive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdxYS_zVByg
Pigeon racing?
Johnny Wakelin “In Zaire”
Trying in vain to find a sensible song about Ferreting.
Aside from snooker loopy, this is the only song I know about snooker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_Sp8AsbMVk
‘Country sports’ are particularly well represented in the folk world, but – spoiler alert – 80 years later, the white hare is still going strong.
The ultimate, surely? Played at every single baseball game (still?)