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Baseball songs

Swan Swan H Apr 15 2009 09:16 AM

I have a lot of songs in my collection that owe some inspiration or context to baseball. Some are clearly baseball novelty songs, others use the game in some sort of metaphorical sense, some use it to set a sense of time and place. About half are by Dan Bern. Last week I bought the new Felice Brothers CD 'Yonder is the Clock,' and on the CD is a really moving song called 'Cooperstown.' I thought I'd share it here, and open this up to everyone to post stuff that others may not be aware of. You can hear the song in its entirety at the Brothers Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/thefelicebrothers And here are the lyrics: The water's wide, it's deep and wide It's down a long and windy road And everyone knows that a boy can't swim it In Narrow's Church, the white walled church They're singing that gospel song "Bye and Bye, I will see my King" The clouds will break, and the pews shake And the choir softly cries And it's Georgia in the spring of 1905 Old Ty Cobb, you're dead and gone You had a game like a war machine And through the great Hall of Fame you wander In Tigers Field, a girl in heels She had a face like a magazine And through the long metal stands she wandered The ball soared , and the crowd roared The scoreboard sweetly hummed And tomorrow you'll surely know whose won I'm on First, and you're on Third And all the wolves are all between And everyone's sure that the game is over The catcher's hard, he's mean and hard And he nips at the batter's heels And everyone's sure that the game is over The ball soars, and the crowd roars And the scoreboard sweetly hums And tomorrow you'll surely know whose won The water's wide, it's deep and wide It's a down a long and windy road And everyone knows that a boy can't swim it The clouds break, and the pews shake And the preacher's feet do pound As the rain beats the streets of Cooperstown

cooby Apr 16 2009 07:53 PM

Anybody remember American City Suite? That seems like a baseball song to me

A Boy Named Seo Apr 22 2009 01:23 PM

I love these guys. This song's called "Caroline" and the original version had lyrics about Ozzie Smith doing backflips, and he said something like "We were the biggest Cardinals fans there were". He changed it up some on the latest release and it's still cool. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lYuhlX5cR20&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lYuhlX5cR20&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> "Caroline" by Old Crow Medicine Show You were born in St. Clare's Hospital But I say you were born up in the sky You come floatin' down over New Orleans To the sweet, green levee on the riverside And your voice shined like your Sunday shoes And mama always said we had nothin' to lose And so we danced on the street corner Oh, Caroline Heartbroken hard times, they never got us down Walkin' the same line through every shady southern town Hand-in-hand, your arm 'round mine Caroline, you do just fine We were the Gashouse Gang I'll be Ozzie Smith, you be Sarah, my wife Till we got traded away To the red clay league somewhere on the Georgia line You'd be the pitcher and the catcher too I'm the homerun king for his muscles grew Gonna knock the cover off this time Oh, Caroline Heartbroken hard times, they never got us down Walkin' the same line through every shady southern town Hand-in-hand, your arm 'round mine Caroline, you do just fine Well I called you the other day You sounded like you'd been up all night crying I used to wonder if we had really run away Would they discover where we were hiding? But there ain't no way we could be so free As we were back in '83 So what's the use in even tryin? Oh Caroline I seen it all changin', watch it change some more Seen hard times standin' right outside your door But I'd say you do just fine. You do just fine, Oh Caroline Oh Caroline, Oh Caroline Oh Caroline, Oh Caroline Oh Caroline, Oh Caroline

Swan Swan H Apr 22 2009 01:59 PM

Nice, Seo. My friend Chris is a huge fan of these guys, and he's always killing me to get into them. Looks like I may just have to.

A Boy Named Seo Apr 22 2009 02:09 PM

I'd start with "OCMS", but the latest one "Tennessee Pusher" is a very close second.

Swan Swan H Apr 24 2009 02:57 PM

I just re-read all the references to Vin Scully in the MLB Network thread and I thought of this one by Dan Bern. I'll spare him the Yankees reference, since I know he's really a Giants fan. This has never been released, but I've seen him perform it twice. Vin Scully Tonight I feel so far away, so far away from you What did you do tonight I'm drivin the truck up and down the coast From north of Seattle to the Mexico line Right now, I'm in San Bernadino All day long it was 95 degrees But at least tonight I get to hear The golden voice of Vin Scully I've been stuck in this goin' no place desk job For too many months, it's time to move on If I quit and just tried to just do my paintings I wonder if I could come up with the rent I still root for the Yankees back east Never did take to these local teams But at least tonight I get to hear The golden voice of Vin Scully Ooh, I do my share, I knock about Ooh, is anything gonna work out Sometimes I'm almost out of range and I head south of the valley And pick up the game Pull off the road, step out of the van Lean against the hood still hot from the drive Trees fade out in the black of the night Some days it don’t hardly seem worth the fight But at least tonight I get to hear The golden voice of Vin Scully

A Boy Named Seo Apr 24 2009 03:07 PM

Awesome. Never heard that one before. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5nBGG7kbkio&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5nBGG7kbkio&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Swan Swan H Apr 24 2009 05:08 PM

Nice find, Seo. Thanks for that one. I know I talked about this a long time ago, but Bern did two shows at the little theater in the Baseball Hall of Fame a few years back. It was January, and the snow in Cooperstown was piled shoulder-high, and it was a really great show. The museum was pretty empty, so we got to take our time and enjoy the exhibits during the day The show was in the evening, of course, after the museum had closed. He did nothing but baseball songs, and he didn't even do all of the ones he has written - there are a bunch.

Swan Swan H May 31 2009 08:13 AM

With the Mets' catching gyrations in the news this weekend I thought of this song by one of my favorite folkie groups, Eddie From Ohio. This was written by Mike Clem, one of the band's two primary songwriters. Clem's songs can sometimes be too clever for their own good, but this is a bittersweet tune about the steady eddies in our lives, and a bit of an homage to the band's namesake, drummer Eddie Hartness. It's on their anagrammatically titled 1995 album I Rode Fido Home. Catchers, Drummers, Anchormen In ’75, oh, what a beautiful sight The flight of a Spalding on an October night The iron man Fisk hit a prayer in the air And with the wave of his arms He kept it fair And with the wave of his arms he kept it fair Now it’s ’93 and wouldn’t you know They gave him his streak and then they let him go Oh, the catchers, the drummers And the anchormen The most dependable joes that ever been They squat at the plate And don’t seem to mind They don’t play the notes But they keep the time They give all their heart to holding the line You never hear these guys say when Catchers, drummers, anchormen During lunch there’s a vendor in the park Taps the day away and heads home by dark Said he played the skins in a Motown band At the Newport Jazz shook Buddy’s hand At the Newport Jazz shook Buddy’s hand Now he says he hears his songs all the time But the way they signed ‘em then He don’t see a dime Chorus Everyone knows a catcher doin’ good And we all have a drummer In our neighborhood They’re the silent support They’re the odd men out They’re the anchoring point You don’t hear about In ’75, oh, what a beautiful sight The flight of a Spalding on an October night The iron man Fisk hit a prayer in the air And with the wave of his arms He kept it fair And with the wave of his arms Chorus