Sure the Bailey sings some songs and has some creative chants. But there is no song that has been established to sing before and after every game. A song that the whole stadium could join in on. Atlanta United sings "Georgia on My Mind". Manchester United edits "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" to "Glory, Glory Man United". And several teams have adopted "You'll Never Walk Alone" following the lead of Liverpool. So, I submit to you after much preamble, my top 10 choices for the anthem of FC Cincinnati. Obviously, this is by no means a definitive list. And there is always plenty of disagreement. But perhaps this could start a conversation that the Supporters Council might take into consideration and an actual song may be adopted. Or maybe it will just be for entertainment. Either way, critique the list. Add your suggestions. Send it to friends. Let's have some fun with lists!
RULES: My list, my rules. You don't have to play by them if you don't want to.
- First, no "Zombie Nation" or "Seven Nation Army". Too many college football games. Over-used. "Seven Nation Army" is especially annoying to me.
- It has to be easily singable. Is "Enter Sandman" intimidating? Sure. But, you lose a lot of people trying to sing along.
- It's gotta be easily recognizable or easy to be learned for a majority of the crowd. We want this to be something the whole stadium can sing in unison.
- I'm avoiding swearing.
- Extra consideration to songs or artists with local ties or the song may relate to the team in some way.
Honorable Mentions: "Witch Doctor", "Blue Moon", "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"
10. "Cincinnati, Ohio" by Connie Smith- I know the Reds use this song already, but I mean, it's a song about loving Cincinnati. What else can you ask for? It would probably have to be relegated to just the first verse and the chorus. Too much song to learn.
9. "Shout" by The Isley Brothers- Despite the fact that others have covered it and made it famous, Cincinnati's own Isley Brothers wrote and first performed "Shout". "Shout" is upbeat. It has crowd involvement. There's movement. It's a pretty good choice.
8. "WKRP in Cincinnati"- The theme to the TV show about a fictional radio station in town has a catchy tune and it's not very long. Easy to learn. And again, it's directly about Cincinnati. You gotta love that.
7. "Wooly Bully" by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs- Repeated phrases for easy learning. Nonsense words. A song that's basically shouted. It lends itself well to a stadium setting. Plus, it's just goofy enough to be entertaining.
6. "Let's Go Fly a Kite" David Tomlinson and Dick Van Dyke- In the vein of West Ham United's "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" I added in a totally ridiculous fun song that has nothing to do with soccer, Cincinnati, or really anything other than having fun and flying a kite. And if you don't like it, well you know what you can go do.
5. "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers- It's got a nice, slow cadence. The words are easy to learn. It can also be versatile enough to be sung happy and fast or slow and somber depending on the mood and the result.
4. "Blue Suede Shoes" by Elvis Presley- The idea is obvious here. A song that mentions blue and shoes is going to get a lot of points. Unfortunately, Elvis fails to mention any orange. But he does make his words easy enough to learn that anyone can join in.
3. "Twist and Shout" by The Isley Brothers- The Isley Brothers are back. If you've never heard this song anywhere else, you've probably heard it in 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off'. Ferris does a lip sync during the parade scene. If he can lip sync it, you can learn the words. Another song that can go happy and fast or slow and somber. Plus, as I said, Cincinnati groups get extra points.
2. "Shut Up and Dance" by Walk the Moon- While the Isley Brothers represent the old guard of Cincinnati music, Walk the Moon is my entry for a current band from the Queen City to make it big. How else can you tell the world you love your team? You tell them to shut up, we're going to dance. It has a nice natural clapping beat. However, this one is tougher to sing slow. But, if you want to make people notice you, you sing it loud and happy regardless of the result. Plus, wouldn't it be fun to get the guys to come play it live some day before or after a game too?
1. "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by The Tokens- Spending plenty of time in the Bailey, I'm well aware of the "In the Nati, the mighty Nati, we're gonna win tonight". However, I feel that a full rendition of the real song with the lion in the song is appropriate, given the logo. I also think it's another song that can be sung loud and proud or slow and somber when the situation dictates. Plus, I imagine a large portion of the crowd would already know this one.
As I have said. this is by no means a definitive list. Nor is the order necessarily the most logical. But it's the list I like. Again, got a better one? Think I'm a genius? Let me know. Share my list. Get the conversation going. Or maybe we let enough people know and we can just try some out at the pitch and see how we feel about them.
