I highly doubt that German composer Richard Strauss was a big college football fan, but when it comes to slapping a game face on 80,000 crazed fans for kickoff, the man’s got skills.
The 2009 college football season is upon us, my friends, as South Carolina travels north to N.C. State for a season-opening showdown tonight on national television.
Now, I pledge no allegiance to the Gamecocks (more of a Hokie guy), but there’s no better tune than Strauss’ “2001: A Space Odyssey” theme to incite near-riots at major college football stadiums.
It’s a tradition down in Columbia, and even though tonight’s game is in Raleigh, I thought I’d share with all you hybrid music lovers / college football aficionados out there. After all, no matter who you root for, it’s game time.
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I’ve mentioned it before in this blog – the right piece of music can provide the perfect backdrop to any emotional sports scene. I immediately recall the subtle guitar work in Any Given Sunday, drifting and building over Al Pacino’s halftime speech, or “New Noise” by hardcore band The Refused in Friday Night Lights.
The end of Rudy? No question.
This article appears in Sep 1-8, 2009.
You’re so right Pete! I was gonna write about this same thing, my alma mater’s entrance song is Redman’s Smash Somethin’/Middle Finger U and I have to admit I feel like I could go out and play when it comes on!
The song “New Noise” is by the band Refused, not The Refused. And they’re really more post-punk than hardcore, per se. That is all. Thank you.
Green Day also entered to “2001: A Space Odyssey” on their “American Idiot” tour back in 2005. Another notable use of classical to pump up the crowd is Kings of Leon’s coming out to Mozart’s “Requiem”. Check it out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKzskOIMPf4.