BYU Needs a Crowd Song & Here's 5 Options
Lots of schools have songs that then entire crowd sings with their entire chest - and it's high time the Cougars adopt one. Here's a few suggestions for AD of Marketing David Almodova and his in-game experience crew.
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Other Schools
You've probably seen some other schools crowds belt out a song in unison. If you haven't, here's a couple examples:
Side Note: We should've claimed Mr. Brightside long ago and invited Brother Flowers to a game. And I can't listen to Dixieland Delight with out saying "{bleep} Auburn, and LSU and Tennessee too!" in my head. War Sad Eagle.
Requirements
There's a few things these types of songs have in common.
- They're not overly fast, it's easy for a crowd to keep up
- They're pretty neutral in terms of style
- You could hear it at the denitst office on the "workplace radio" station
- It's a few years older and was a major hit so knowing the words spans multiple generation
There's some songs that are popular but miss the mark. For example, lots of people know the words to "Life is a Highway", but there's some parts that are too fast and the crowd would sound jumbled. There's also songs like "Roar" by Katy Perry that are super catchy, but the older crowd probably hasn't heard of it (which is a damn shame, because it's a banger).
The List
Signed, Sealed, Delivered - Stevie Wonder
This is a classic. Most people know it, and it makes it into enough movie soundtracks that even the younger crowd has heard it a time or two and can at least get the chorus out.
Downside here is that with the lyrics being a bit repetitive, there's not a good spot to work in some BYU flair like Bama fans do. The upside of that is you don't need to do the entire song - which can be a long time and lose it's luster on the crowd.
Homegrown - Zac Brown Band
They've fallen of a cliff stylistically, but classic ZBB is always a good time. Homegrown has great segments and you could change the lyrics a bit like syaing "Here in [Provo], where it feels like home, I've got everything I need and nothing that I don't".
The second verse talks about sipping whiskey out of a bottle, which surely won't do well with the powers that be in Provo, and the song ends on a bridge which is a little weird - but if you've gotta cut it up anyway to make it about 90 seconds, then you can repeat the chorus.
Wrinkles - Diamond Rio
Some may not like this one because it's a very country song - but the message is good, the song is clean, the keyboard player Dan Truman is a BYU alum. It is got a catchy melody and the song has a very "beltable" bridge where you can let it all loose.
And sorry, country music and football just go together like the PAC-12 and losing OOC games.
I Wanna Hold Your Hand - The Beatles
It's a classic - one of the top 20 songs of all time. Pretty much everybody knows the words. It's only 2 minutes and 19 seconds long.
It also describes half the guys in the ROC trying to put the moves on their date.
The Middle - Jimmy Eat World
This one checks all the boxes: super catchy chorus, it's known universally by all millennials who are now the bulk of the fan base (this was the first CD I ever owned), it's up tempo. The crowd can really get into this one.
Missed the Cut:
"Go Your Own Way" by Fleetwood Mac - everything hits on this one, but it's a breakup song. Then again Mr Brightside is about someone cheating?
"Since U Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson - people would get into this one, but it would be butchered. Kelly deserves better. Also a break up song.
"Ignition (Remix)" by R Kelly - Highly inappropriate but I didn't catch onto that when I was 12 and learned all the words. Just a great song all around. I mostly just wanted to type this because it just came on while working on this.
Not Even Considered:
"Popcorn Popping" - thank goodness this stopped getting played. Never again.