Tuesday 26 January 2016

The 2015 Season in Music

It's no secret that I love music, and it's no secret that music and sports montages go hand-in-hand.
Here are a few of the songs that I can't help but associate with the team this season. If you have any more suggestions for songs I could add, leave them in the comments!

Artist: Imagine Dragons
Title: 'I Bet My Life'
Reason: This track was used around the beginning of the season in a Sportsnet ad that prominently featured Josh Donaldson staring directly into the camera without blinking. While that image was a little creepy, there's no doubt that the booming chorus of the song fit perfectly with the slew of JD homers that also were featured in it. Plus, if we're going for symbolism, the 'life' of Toronto fans' hope this season rested squarely on Donaldson's shoulders at the time these promos aired.



Artist: American Authors
Title: 'Go Big or Go Home'
Reason: Much like the one above, this song was used in a mid-season commercial that included, among other people, Drew Hutchison. Unlike the one above, I hadn't heard this one as frequently prior to seeing it featured in the ads, so it stuck much more definitively as 'Hey, that's the song from the Blue Jays commercial'. I thought it was kind of clever using this song's chorus, because the Blue Jays' offense often chose the secret third option: going big and then going home (plate). See what I did there? Wordplay.


Artist: Pitbull ft. Ne-Yo
Title: 'Time of Our Lives'
Reason: This is the first song on this list that's here because I associate it with a single player. For the majority of the season, this was Kevin Pillar's walk-up song, and so it always reminded me of him. I really like this song, even though I'm not a fan of Pitbull I thought it was incredibly catchy from the first moment I heard it. It's likely my favourite of the players' walk-up songs.
This is also one of the walk-up songs that can be the most clearly heard when you're watching a game on TV, probably because of the high-pitched chorus. There were a few times that I heard it come on the radio and I had an instant of excitement mixed with slight trepidation - until I remembered where I was, and that hearing the song did not mean Pillar would not be stepping up to bat. I like Kevin, I admire his work ethic, and I truly believe he 'works his ass off' as the song says. Here's an awesome video I found, set to this song, of some of his best plays from 2014 and earlier this season. He looks so young in some of the older footage!



Artist: Sam Roberts Band
Title: 'We're All In This Together'
Reason: This song was used in snippets in one commercial, and then when they used it on Canada Day for a montage of the team, I completely fell in love with that idea. I'm a huge Sam Roberts fan, so I already knew the song, plus they're Canadian so that's an added bonus, but the way the song title blends so perfectly with the #ComeTogether slogan, and the fans being brought together by the team is just a match made in music heaven.
The chorus embodies the Jays' playoff momentum since the trade deadline, particularly the line "We may never be the same again/Keep it moving don't stop/Keep it moving just go, go, GO!" It's an energetic, confident tune that just makes you feel in anticipation of... Something. And if that something happens to be the playoffs...
I really wish I could find that epic montage they used for Canada Day, but since it doesn't seem to live on the Internet, here's the original music video:


Update: Yeah I was mad that the Internet was bereft of a Blue Jays montage set to this song, so I made my own. See it below, with its super-outdated thumbnail:



Artist: Drake
Song: Pick a Drake song, pick literally any Drake song.
Reason: He represents Toronto, and especially the young players, (who all seem to be fans of his) so well. Seriously, at one point there were 3 or 4 guys in the lineup that had various songs by him as their walk-up music. David Price was a fan, too, he tweeted Drake lyrics all the time even before we traded for him. And then a whole bunch of the players went to OVO fest together! Drew Storen might have been on to something when he assumed that liking Drake was a prerequisite for being a Blue Jay...

Here are the two most relevant ones: Back to Back because it came out right in the middle of the season and the single's cover art references the Blue Jays back to back WS championships in '92 and '93.

Miss Me because of the line 'gone for surgery but now I'm back again' pretty much sums up the triumphant return of Marcus Stroman. (Which is definitely why Stro used it as his walkup song).


Honorable mention goes to Hotline Bling because that one was all over the place right around the playoffs and it's just the funniest thing ever.

Artist: Aloe Blacc
Song: I'm The Man
Reason: Tulo. He's the man. This is his walkup song. Nuff said.



Artist: The late, great Johnny Cash
Song: God's Gonna Cut You Down
Reason: This video. This amazing video. This video is one of the best baseball-related things I've ever seen on Youtube.
If only the song was longer so we could fit in every single home run from the entire season.


Bonus reason: After the Jays recently acquired Drew Storen, it was discovered that this just so happens to be his warmup song. It's a match made in musical baseball heaven.

Artist: AC/DC
Song: Thunderstruck
Reason: Another viral video is my reason for this, it was put together by another creative genius on Youtube as a promo for the Jays making the playoffs. In terms of sports montages, this is about as high-caliber as it gets. Much like in the video above, the cracking of bats is set perfectly with the beat of the song, and the powerful shots of lightning outside the Dome are so damn dramatic I get chills whenever I watch it. Josh Donaldson may bring the rain, this video brings the actual thunder.



Artist: Taylor Swift(ish)
Song: Blank Space(ish)
Reason: This one is a little out of left field, but let me explain: The sign of a good parody is that it gets so ingrained in your head that you can't tell the difference between it and the original lyrics. And that's exactly what Adam Jesin did with his Blue Jays song 'First Place'. Now, every time I hear the original I immediately think of this beauty. IT'S SO DAMN CATCHY!


(And then I get sad because it makes me think of AA and David Price... COME ON ALEX ROLL THE DICE!)

Artist: Hedley
Song: Hello
Reason: Another entry by a Canadian group on this list, because some brilliant person over in the Rogers marketing department chose this track to be in a fan commercial for the Blue Jays that ran during the playoffs. I remember sitting in my basement during Game 3 of the ALDS, when I heard these remarkably prescient lyrics:
It gets better don’t ever lose hope
Never giving up
Not the end of the show
I’m not scared
Don’t let go
Don’t say goodbye
Just say hello


Somehow I knew we weren't done just yet.
And while it's true that the remainder of the song has nothing to do with baseball, that part always makes me smile.



Artist: Blue Swede
Song: Hooked on a Feeling
Reason: Last but not least on this list, the song that became our anthem throughout September and the playoffs. I don't know whose idea it was to play this during the 8th inning at Jays games (or when exactly the tradition started) but I sure as hell hope they keep doing it, and I also hope it keeps being such good luck. If it becomes the Blue Jays equivalent of 'Sweet Caroline' I am more than fine with that. I love a good sing-along, and the energy in the Dome when they play this one is so much fun. In fact, I associate this tune so much with our boys in blue that I was watching Reservior Dogs recently, and this song was in it, and I just started laughing.


Also there's this wicked dramatic commercial they used it for (I definitely clapped along with the song every time it was on TV, much to the annoyance of my family and roommates). This is the kind of video montage that deserves awards. 



Are there any songs that you associate with this season that I might have missed? Let me know in the comments!

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