The Sound of Sports
There are many ways in which music affects sports, whether it is during training, special events, or cues about something related to the game, there is no doubt that music plays a big part in what makes sports such a great and exciting experience.
Rapper Kendrick Lamar commented on the big influence of music in sports, more specifically, hip-hop:
“Hip-hop and being a pro athlete go hand in hand. When they come together, it’s a win, not just for your business brand but also for culture. I always use the word ‘culture,’ because that’s first — everything else falls behind it. When they see that this guy loves rap the way he does, and this guy loves basketball like he does, the business is gonna flow behind it.”
Training and Before Games
Many athletes listen to music during training for a few reasons, but in general, it does make it easier to deal with the hard routine of someone who dedicates all of their life to a specific sport.
According to Ashley Samson there are a few interesting benefits from music and myths that deserve some attention.
“In general, people tend to believe that listening to heavy rock or intense rap music would pump up the individual and classical music would calm them down; however, it depends on the person and how she or he depicts the meaning of the song which would lead to either claiming down or hyping up,” said Samson.
“I do work with several student-athletes. Listening to music is sort of their pre-game or pre-completion preparation routine, and that is something they felt very strongly about in terms of having their headphones in while getting their clothes on,”
Sports Music
Everyone knows the organ that sounds in baseball, that famous tune that even if you don’t like baseball you can easily identify. This little tune had an interesting story.
The first time the organ was played at a baseball game was in
Baseball also has one of the most interesting music stories in America, which is a little song called “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”.
Katie Casey was baseball mad,
Had the fever and had it bad.
Just to root for the home town crew,
Ev’ry sou Katie blew.
On a Saturday her young beau
Called to see if she’d like to go
To see a show, but Miss Kate said “No,
I’ll tell you what you can do:
Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd;
Just buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,
I don’t care if I never get back.
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don’t win, it’s a shame.
For it’s one, two, three strikes, you’re out,
At the old ball game.
Katie Casey saw all the games,
Knew the players by their first names.
Told the umpire he was wrong,
All along,
Good and strong.
When the score was just two to two,
Katie Casey knew what to do,
Just to cheer up the boys she knew,
She made the gang sing this song:
Take me out to the ball game….
It was inspired by a woman named Katie Casey, a fan who knew every single player and couldn’t miss a game. It’s interesting because at the time sports was “men’s territory”, yet the ispiration for a song that seeks to show the passion for baseball was a woman.
Popular Crowd Anthems
There are many songs that have become very popular due to being played and sung during games, these are some of the most famous anthems.
Special Events and National Anthems
Sports are filled with special events and celebrations such as finals, openings, world cups, and superbowls. Each of these events usually features a big artist to put a show for everyone, which tends to be very big and a big thing for the artist.
The biggest shows come from the olympics which can be quite long and involve many performances.
There is also the tradition of singing national anthems, whether it’s before a game in a world cup or a special guest invitation in a baseball game, it is something that to this day remains to be both emotional and encouraging for the people involved in the game.
