Sports songs not always big winners
American culture is saturated with sports and music. But there are few songs about sports that are popular and enduring.
That’s not surprising to Nashville songwriter Trent Summar, who has penned a couple sports tunes of his own.
“Most of them don’t pull it off very well,” Summar said. “They’re either too story-songy or too cheesy. It’s tough to write those without sounding like you’re pandering to NASCAR or the NFL or something or being sappy.”
That said, Summar identified three quality sports-based songs:
* Bruce Springsteen’s “Glory Days” captures the nostalgia of a former high school baseball player “who could throw that speedball by you, make you look like a fool.”
* John Fogerty’s “Centerfield” is a baseball staple, getting at the essence of the game with its stick-in-the-head chorus of “put me in, coach, I’m ready to play, today.”
* Chuck Berry makes passing reference to Jackie Robinson “rounding third and heading for home” in “Brown Eyed Handsome Man.”
Springsteen and Berry had sports as a part of the lyrics rather than the entire song, while Fogerty managed to put his love for the game into words that aren’t overly sentimental or confined to a specific team, time or event, as is the case with most sports-only songs, Summar said.
Summar didn’t include his work on the list. But he’s written a couple of tunes that are among the better sports songs.
In “Horseshoes and Hand Grenades,” the title cut from his 2006 album, Summar starts a guy on his hard-luck path in a high school football game:
Yeah I almost scored that touchdown/
Came close to winning I’m here to tell/
I was running old Blue 47 around the end/
When that Lincoln County boy rang my bell
The lyrics then continue to an equally futile attempt to score with the narrator’s dream girl.
“It’s got to be tied to a character,” Summar said about using sports in songs. “It’s a tough nut to crack, but sometimes you can do it. Blue 47, that’s the first play you learn in high school. It’s just a running back around the end. That’s something anybody who played will get.”
Summar really pulled it off in 2000 with “Paint Your Name in Purple,” arguably the best song ever about stock car racing.
Since I was nine, I spent my time
Out back in daddy's garage
Checkin' points and plugs, tires and lugs
Or learnin' 'bout a big block Dodge
Get her all tuned up for Saturday night
A coat of candy apple red
Lord, it's gonna be tough, it's gonna be tight
That's what my daddy said”
That verse is followed by a catchy chorus that sums up racing and romance in a few lines:
Drive fast, turn left, head for home
I'll tell what I'm gonna do
I'm gonna paint your name in purple
On the side of the door
And drive around and 'round for you”
Summar and co-writer Michael “Supa” Granda thought they were onto something with “Paint Your Name in Purple” and approached NASCAR with the song, figuring it was a natural for some kind of use by the racing league.
“We found out really fast you don’t get into NASCAR, NASCAR gets into you,” Summar said. “But it’s still one of our most popular songs. We do it every show and I know it gets played at tracks. So that’s cool.”
Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com.
That’s not surprising to Nashville songwriter Trent Summar, who has penned a couple sports tunes of his own.
“Most of them don’t pull it off very well,” Summar said. “They’re either too story-songy or too cheesy. It’s tough to write those without sounding like you’re pandering to NASCAR or the NFL or something or being sappy.”
That said, Summar identified three quality sports-based songs:
* Bruce Springsteen’s “Glory Days” captures the nostalgia of a former high school baseball player “who could throw that speedball by you, make you look like a fool.”
* John Fogerty’s “Centerfield” is a baseball staple, getting at the essence of the game with its stick-in-the-head chorus of “put me in, coach, I’m ready to play, today.”
* Chuck Berry makes passing reference to Jackie Robinson “rounding third and heading for home” in “Brown Eyed Handsome Man.”
Springsteen and Berry had sports as a part of the lyrics rather than the entire song, while Fogerty managed to put his love for the game into words that aren’t overly sentimental or confined to a specific team, time or event, as is the case with most sports-only songs, Summar said.
Summar didn’t include his work on the list. But he’s written a couple of tunes that are among the better sports songs.
In “Horseshoes and Hand Grenades,” the title cut from his 2006 album, Summar starts a guy on his hard-luck path in a high school football game:
Yeah I almost scored that touchdown/
Came close to winning I’m here to tell/
I was running old Blue 47 around the end/
When that Lincoln County boy rang my bell
The lyrics then continue to an equally futile attempt to score with the narrator’s dream girl.
“It’s got to be tied to a character,” Summar said about using sports in songs. “It’s a tough nut to crack, but sometimes you can do it. Blue 47, that’s the first play you learn in high school. It’s just a running back around the end. That’s something anybody who played will get.”
Summar really pulled it off in 2000 with “Paint Your Name in Purple,” arguably the best song ever about stock car racing.
Since I was nine, I spent my time
Out back in daddy's garage
Checkin' points and plugs, tires and lugs
Or learnin' 'bout a big block Dodge
Get her all tuned up for Saturday night
A coat of candy apple red
Lord, it's gonna be tough, it's gonna be tight
That's what my daddy said”
That verse is followed by a catchy chorus that sums up racing and romance in a few lines:
Drive fast, turn left, head for home
I'll tell what I'm gonna do
I'm gonna paint your name in purple
On the side of the door
And drive around and 'round for you”
Summar and co-writer Michael “Supa” Granda thought they were onto something with “Paint Your Name in Purple” and approached NASCAR with the song, figuring it was a natural for some kind of use by the racing league.
“We found out really fast you don’t get into NASCAR, NASCAR gets into you,” Summar said. “But it’s still one of our most popular songs. We do it every show and I know it gets played at tracks. So that’s cool.”
Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com.
Copyright © 2002-2009 Lincoln Journal Star. All rights reserved.