The 10 most overplayed songs at sporting events
While some sports fans don’t realize it, music has become an essential part of the sports-viewing experience. Certain songs playing at certain points of the game can create an atmosphere that wouldn’t otherwise exist, and often, fans associate those songs with those moments. Whether it’s the anticipation built from the Chicago Bulls walking out to “Sirius” by The Alan Parsons Project, the collective trauma from playing against Boston sports teams associated with “Kernkraft 400” by Zombie Nation, or how “Gloria” and “La Bamba” have become the anthems of victory for the St. Louis Blues and Edmonton Oilers, music plays a bigger role in building up a sporting moment than many would think.
But for every song that feels like it fits the perfect moment in sports, there are dozens that need to be put out to pasture. Pleasing the crowd often leads to catering to the lowest common denominator, so when something works well a few times for the collective masses, the only option is to spam that song at every possible moment until no one likes it anymore. While this is done out of the goodness of the arena DJ’s heart, as they just want to get the crowd engaged, some songs just get used way too much.
With that in mind, let’s dive into the world of songs at sporting events and look at the tunes which are used way too much. These won’t just be the songs which are used the most; it’s also relative to the quality of the track. So a bad song played a bit too much has as good of a chance of making this list as a good song which is really overplayed.
As someone who is not only a massive sports fan, but also a massive music fan (my 2+ months a year worth of minutes listened on Spotify will back this claim), I’d consider myself an expert on the subject. But if you need further proof, I’m also a Toronto Blue Jays fan. And if you know anything about baseball games at the Rogers Centre, you know their game operations department refuses to give you a second of silence, often to the point where the music kills out any chance of authentic crowd energy. So trust me, I have my fair share of experience with annoying sports songs.
First, some honourable mentions:
Generic classic rock songs – You know the ones. “Blitzkrieg Bop.” “Don’t Stop Believing”. “Livin’ on a Prayer.” “Thunderstruck.” “Welcome to the Jungle.” The ol’ reliables for the sports arena DJ. Your dad will love them because it’s back when music was good, even though when you break the song down, it’s no more derivative than your average pop song today, just with guitars instead of synths. But they’re also heavy enough to fit with the intensity of sports, so they just get overused to the point of exhaustion.
“Heads Will Roll” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs (A-Trak Remix) – “Heads Will Roll” only gets a shoutout because the remix is overused way more than the original version. I love the original version, and I think it has its own place in the sports music rotation. There’s a lot of atmosphere and build-up to it which would work well as a walkout song, or something of that nature. But for some reason this remix is the one which stuck with sports arenas, and I’ve never understood why. There are parts of the remix which add a different vibe which would make some sense to use over the original, but the only part we hear is the chopped up version of the main synth riff, which is probably the worst part of it and done much better in the original version.
Organ player ripping a tune only to end with “Let’s go *team name*” – I always respect the sports teams who still keep an organ player around. Not only is it an ode to the origins of sports, but it’s also just a great way for a musician to show off their skills. Even the most annoying sports song is tolerable when the organ player is jamming it. The only thing that can ruin an organ tune is when they shoehorn in those four notes at the end, cueing the crowd to chant “Let’s go *team name*.” I get why the organ player does it, they’re probably told to, but it just disrupts the flow of the music for me.
10. “Song 2” by Blur
A catchy drum intro. A fun guitar riff. Chorus vocals that include a predictable “woo hoo.” “Song 2” was tailor-made for sports games to get the fans engaged and even has the energy of a goal song. It probably reached its pinnacle as a sports anthem when it was the goal song for the Pittsburgh Penguins during their 2009 Stanley Cup run, but it’s since lost its luster. Now the Ottawa Senators are using it as their goal song? Yeah, maybe it’s time to put this record back on the shelf for a little bit.
9. “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond
“Sweet Caroline” is another song that had its moment for a certain use (in this case, at Boston Red Sox games), but once other teams started to copy it, the magic was lost. It’s a crowd-engaging song, with the “bah bah bah” being the obvious moment which the fans latch onto. But if I have to hear it one more time, I might go insane. At the very least, it’s not as bad as this remix of the song. Then again, it might still be a nice change of pace.
8. “Machinehead” by Bush
“Machinehead” is one of those songs where you might not know the name, but you listen to one second of this song and you instantly clock what it is. This one has become a staple for hockey games, and seems to often get played when the road team scores a disappointing goal in the game. Maybe it’s the trauma associated with those moments, but it’s used far too often for a song which doesn’t have as much popularity as other songs on this list. I don’t know which part I hear more often, the guitar riff or “breathe in, breathe out.”
7. “All I Do Is Win” by DJ Khaled
As someone who was a musical snob, I try to be a lot more open-minded about songs and artists, particularly in popular music. But I will still never understand what DJ Khaled contributes to music besides shouting his name at the beginning of the song as a warning to change the station. “All I Do Is Win” is the pinnacle of DJ Khaled’s persona, bragging about his success despite the fact he doesn’t do a whole lot. When you think about it that way, it doesn’t belong at sports games considering how much work athletes put in to succeed. And yet, this is a staple at games, especially as the post-game win song.
6. “Boom Boom Boom” by The Outhere Brothers
This pick could be pure Toronto bias, because to be honest, I don’t know how often I hear “Boom Boom Boom” outside of Blue Jays games. But oh my god, do the Blue Jays use the “boom boom boom, let me here you say ayo” part way too much. If you can go to a game and hear this song less than five times, it was a good night. Again, I get why songs like this are used, as the “ayo” call and response is built for this environment, but this song is the perfect example of how the Rogers Centre refuses to allow a second of empty space for the crowd to build a natural energy.
5. “Live is Life” by Opus
Fun fact about “Live is Life”: more than half of the lines in this song feature “na-na, na, na-na” in it. The song was tailor-made as a sing-a-long song for concerts, and it has quickly caught fire in the sporting world. It seems to have gained popularity in sports much more recently as well, or at least I feel like I’ve heard it a lot more in the past few years. The “na-na, na, na-na’s” aren’t even the worst part of the song, as I find singer Herwig Rüdisser’s vocals when he sings “live is life” grating in this song. At the very least, this seems to be a “commercial break” song, so if I’m watching the game from home, I’m spared from most of this song.
4. “HandClap” by Fitz and the Tantrums
A moment of truth here: I like “HandClap.” The verses are nice, and the chorus is catchy as hell. The only part of this song I don’t like is the refrain (better known as “I can make your hands clap”), which is unfortunately the part of the song which gets played EVERYWHERE. I get it, it’s the classic sports arena trope of telling the crowd what to do to get them engaged, and the song even comes with a hand-clapping rhythm to follow along. I see why they always play that part. But I challenge anyone to play another part of the song; the people may like that too.
3. “Narco” by Blasterjaxx & Timmy Trumpet
“Narco” is the perfect example of when a song needs to stay in its damn lane. It first became popular when all-star MLB relief pitcher Edwin Diaz used it as his walkout song, and it worked very well for that. But it seeped its way into the sports arena playlist rotation, and now it is played everywhere. You can’t go to a sports game without hearing it at least once, and now most sports broadcasts use it as a “cut to commercial” transition song. The worst part is how the stupid trumpet line gets stuck in my head every time. It’s a classic example of how oversaturation can ruin what was otherwise a cool thing Diaz had going on.
2. “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes
The upset of this list for most people is probably “Seven Nation Army” not cracking #1, but once you hear my top pick, you won’t be as upset. Don’t get me wrong, this song is easily the most overplayed at sporting events, but it’s at least a kickass enough tune to justify its popularity. That said, much like a lot of songs on this list, there’s a specific part of the song which the casual sports fan latches on to (in this case, the iconic bass line), and it gets them singing along and into the game. It’s why sports arenas play it so damn much, even if this song needs to be retired.
There are numerous moments in recent sports history which involved “Seven Nation Army” that could justify saying this song is played too much, but I think the peak may have only been a matter of days ago during the World Cup Final halftime show. Nine-time Grammy-winning conductor Gustavo Dudamel was a part of the act (with the Muppets, for some reason), and what was his song of choice? No, not a classically composed piece. He decided to play the easy game, and go with “Seven Nation Army” (or maybe he was told to and it’s not his fault). If that doesn’t sum up how overrated this song has become in the sports sphere, I don’t know what will.
1. “Hey Baby” by DJ Otzi
Most songs on this list are songs which aren’t bad in a vacuum, they’re just extremely overplayed. If you didn’t have to hear them at every single sporting event, you probably wouldn’t hate them as much. Other songs are bad, but not played too much, so they don’t drive you insane. “Hey Baby” is the only song which is a combination of both. It wasn’t used for a while, but for some reason, the last five to 10 years have seen a rapid rise in the use of the song at sporting events, and now you can’t escape it.
The song is just so, so bad. Most of the time, music is subjective. But there are some songs which are so good or so bad, it overrides subjective opinion. This song is so bad, it overrides subjectivity. I get it, the callback “oohs” and “aahs” appeal to the average person. The Millennial Whoop is a musical concept for a reason. But it’s hard to call this song anything better than terrible, and the fact that it’s overplayed at sporting events so much has only soured its’ legacy even more. Perhaps the biggest blemish this song has for me is how my biggest association with it as a “sports anthem” is as the goal song for the 2018 Canadian World Junior team… yes, that team.
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