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I never used to like our national anthem. There was always something so bland about it, even when the best singers tried to put a unique rendition together.
But when the Australian national anthem was belted out via Sydney’s Olympic stadium PA in November, 2005, 80,000 fans changed my opinion of Advance Australia Fair.
I’d never heard it sung so passionately at such a booming level.
For the first time, the anthem made the hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention. And that was just from watching the Australia-Uruguay World Cup qualifier on television.
It once again showcased the power of sport to change my opinion about a usually monotonous song and to implant a sense of nationalistic pride.
In saying that, I realise it’s not the best anthem. It doesn’t seem to make grown men cry, like the Italian anthem, and it doesn’t have the historical significance or cultural power of South Africa and New Zealand’s respective gems.
Outside national anthems, there are the specific sporting anthems and theme songs.
I love Rugby’s ‘World in Union’ piece made for the 1991 World Cup, and which has been used ever since. It’s an inspiring song and really gets you in the mood to watch the game they play in heaven.
Then there’s the Champions League theme in football, a classical piece that they play before every fixture.
The crescendo is spectacular.
And we can’t forget that April is fast approaching, which means only one thing to me – golf, specifically The Masters at the Augusta course in Georgia.
The Masters is the only golfing major played at the same course every year, which means there is history everywhere you turn.
As a tribute to the most famous golf course in the world, Dave Loggins wrote the song ‘Augusta’.
The lyrics are full of trivia, like “Sarazan’s double-eagle, at the 15th in 35”, and the American TV networks love to use it because of the delicate piano arrangement that goes perfectly in the background when the scoreboard is on screen.
But it’s not all about inspirational songs.
In the seventies you had the fun of “C’mon Aussie C’mon” for cricket, which captured the era perfectly.
It was an advertising jingle for World Series cricket using the names of all the key players at the time. It was a call to arms for fans to get out and support the heroes of Aussie cricket.
Unfortunately Shannon Noll tried his hand at a modern cover. It was terrible, but at least the money raised went to charity.
Moving on to specific club songs, and for mine you can’t go past Liverpool’s ‘You’ll never walk alone.’
Okay, it’s not strictly Liverpool’s song. It comes from the 1945 musical ‘Carousal’ by Rogers and Hammerstein, and has been covered by many artists since, including Elvis, Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra and Gerry and the Pacemakers.
However, it’s Liverpool’s raw Kop version at every home game that I like best. It’s one of the many reasons why I want to go to Anfield.
Manchester United tried to claim they started singing it first. If this is true, why didn’t they keep singing it? What idiots for giving it up.
Of course, there are also those general sporting songs.
There are so many, but I’ll throw a few out there to get us started: We are the champions – Queen; We Will Rock You – Queen; Holy Grail – Hunters and Collectors; Ole Ole (mainly a soccer song but also used in other sports), and Eye of The Tiger – Survivor.
What songs get the rest of you Roarers in the sporting mood?
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