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When I first heard WGN was having a contest to replace Steve Goodman’s song ‘Go Cubs Go’ my first thought was “Why?” This question has never been answered. I put my background as a Cubs fan at the end since this article is about a new song, not me.
“Why?” I don’t know. Lou Malnatti’s Pizzeria isn’t changing their recipe. Ron Santo never changed his personality. Harry Caray never stopped being honest about players and their performances. Wrigley Field isn’t removing the Ivy for a safer, padded wall. Why not? Because these things were/are perfect and you don’t change perfection. Steve Goodman wrote the perfect song for the Chicago Cubs. Go Cubs Go captured the mood of Wrigley Field perfectly. When the cubs win and it’s played over the loud speakers, that is joy. Twenty-three games out of first place but that song comes on and nothing matters other than you are at Wrigley, the Cubs won, the sun is shining and no matter what else is happening in your life, you smile and feel good for that moment.
The new song voted on and chosen by WGN as their new intro/theme song into a Cubs broadcast is called Let’s Go Cubbies. It was written by a band named The Fold. I don’t know and can’t seem to find out if this is going to replace Go Cubs Go as the song played inside Wrigley after a win. If you know, please, let me know in the comments section below. If it is replacing it inside Wrigley, I will not attend one game this year.
This new song is so bad for so many reasons and the word ‘bad’ in this case is like calling September 11, 2001 a bit of a rough day in New York. If you judge the song just as a regular song that has nothing to do with the Cubs, it is atrocious, a travesty in the form of song and an embarrassment to mankind. We as a species have come too far to have produced this.
Now, when judged as the new theme song for the Chicago Cubs, my Cubbies, my childhood, it becomes something different. I say this without hyperbole or exaggeration. It is the worst thing that has ever happened. It is the worst thing ever created by any sentient being. Yes, that includes aliens from another planet, if they exist.
The song is clip art rock. It is generic and formulaic. It’s a bad pop-punk song, which is a category in which everything is terrible and they are the worst in that category. The singer doesn’t so much sing as he does whine the lyrics. There is an often repeated lyric where the singer whines “Wrigley screaming.” Whine is very much an appropriate word. It’s like Blink 182 but worse. Then there is the lyric “go cubs go” that is screamed at the listener in anger. And therein lies the biggest problem with this song. The mood. I don’t know if these guys have ever been to Wrigley, because anyone who has would never associate the mood of this song with Wrigley or the Cubs. The mood is anger. The sound is loud, fast and full of distortion. The vocals whine. The result is headache.
I hate it so much.
If you watched the video at the top of this article nowhere will you find anger, despite almost always losing. Nobody is whining about the losing, they smile and say “wait till next year.” The pace is relaxed and the music soft but optimistic. Wrigley Field is the greatest place to watch a baseball game. Period. The day games in the sun are unique in baseball and they give you an excuse to drink beer during the day or take a day off work. It is a relaxing, welcoming place. The Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field is so completely accurate. Every time you go, when you walk up those stairs and a world of green and blue opens up to you like Dorothy opening the door after the tornado in Wizard of Oz and seeing color, it is almost spiritual.
The neighborhood Wrigley is located in is almost as important as the Cubs and stadium. Murphy’s Bleachers, yes it’s crowded and there is an occasional fight, but for the most part the people are nice Cubs fans just looking for a W and relaxing day in the sun. The neighborhood is clean, safe and full of places serving drinks and good times. Listen to this travesty of a song in the video below and realize it is a song with lyrics about the Cubs but a mood that fits Chicago’s South Side team’s atmosphere and mood much much more. That alone should get these guys banned from Wrigley for life. They wrote a White Sox song for the Cubs. (I recommend not listening to it on the band’s website, every time I tried it froze my computer).
For comparison’s sake
“There is one thing I will never believe, and that is the Sox are better than the Cubs.” – Frank Chance. Chicago Cubs manager and first baseman.
WGN, please realize you’re being stupid. Jonathon Brandmeier, don’t try to change the recipe for Lou Malnatti’s. Don’t try to replace the Ivy. Just leave perfection alone, but if you can’t do that, don’t replace it with trash.
I know some will disagree with me about the song. Some people will think it’s a good song regardless of subject matter. That’s fine, everyone’s taste in music is different so there is no use in arguing about that. But if you’re a cubs fan and think I am wrong about the mood of the song being the opposite of the Cubs and Wrigley, well that can be argued and I’d love to read your comments in the section below.
Let me give you my quick background: I’ve been a Cubs fan for 28 years, starting when I was five-years-old in 1984. I have only vague memories of that season. I loved them in 1987 when they were scarily bad but Andre Dawson won the MVP, playing through pain that is more often associated with football than baseball. He had no knees and cared enough about the Cubs and his pride to still win the MVP. 1989 I cried when they lost to the Giants in the playoffs but watched a young Mark Grace smile and spray hits everywhere. Pressure didn’t bother him, nor did it years later when he got the first hit off Mariano Rivera in the 9th to start a game-winning, impossible rally for the Diamondbacks to win his World Series. I was happy for Grace. He will always be a Cub, but the Cubs owe him an apology. 1998 was such a fun year and didn’t really hurt very much. Kerry Wood was awesome. Sosa was jacked-up and illegally chasing a record. I didn’t care then and don’t care now, it was so much fun to watch. 2003 crushed me. My dad has 1969, I have 2003. I think that massive implosion actually took a piece of me that I still feel today. I do blame Bartman to a certain extent, but Alex Gonzalez should have made that double play. If I ever met Bartman though, I would be nice to him and I hope all Cubs fans would be as well. I hear he’s a nice guy. The playoffs under Lou don’t really bother me. I don’t know why but for some reason I just kind of knew it was coming and didn’t care.
I’m excited now, as I am every year. I’m excited because I think Theo will make the Cubs competitive annually. But I’m actually excited for this year. I know most prognosticators say the Cubs are rebuilding and it’s going to be a bad year. I’m excited because our division I believe will be terrible and it won’t take much to win it. A lot of talent left teams in our division and LaRussa finally retired. I think the cubs will be within shooting distance of first place this year and if they are close enough in August and September, all it would take is a winning streak and who knows.
Go Cubs Go!
-Scott Bewick
Leave comment below or reach me at 2soonradio@gmail.com
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I happened to stumble across your site – and subsequently this review – researching The Fold myself. Now, first let me say I have NO interest in baseball (let alone the cubs). In fact I am from Australia. Don’t really watch baseball and can’t say I know anything about it. That being said, I’ve listened to the song and taken it for what it is – an artistic celebration of the bands love of their baseball team – The Cubs. Personally, I find the song energetic, catchy and entertaining. The style of music appeals to me – yes, but then again as you say that is where my milage varies to yours.
Their song was voted on, and CHOSEN BY cubs fans via a radio contest to be played on the radio prior to a Cubs game (not “Every commercial break” ala Beiber as you so sourly whine) as a resposne to what THEIR LISTENERS chose. It’s not something they singularly decided upon. Don’t like the radio playing the song pre-game? Don’t listen to that station then.
If you don’t like their music, then that is ENTIRELY your God given right and decission, but to show such a total lack of respect towards another persons artistic representation of support for a club so as to deride it with such venom is reprehensible.
Frankly who are you to question their emotion towards Wrigley field? Angry? I don’t get that vibe at all. What I get is enthusiasm and patriotism. What I get from your blog post however is cynicism and touch of narcicism. Maybe you’re simply writing this blog in an attempt to gain attention to yourself. You seem quite eloquent and educated – it’s a terrible shame you opt to deride instead of encourage.
Constructive criticism is one thing; soap opera bashing is another. The construction and execution of the song is exactly as it is supposed to be. Catchy, enthusiastic, energetic and contagious.
As for why the band or the radio station haven’t bothered replying to what is tantamount to you demanding a reply: frankly who could blame them. If some jackass walking down the street decided to hurl abuse at me whilst I’m going about my business why on Earth would I pay him any due course? What is it they say about bullies? The better man will always walk away.
I very impressed with the information.
Thank you for opining up this topic.
Love you blog. Great job.
Wow. This blog is cool. How can I make it look like this .
Oh, and by the way, if you think I’m just trolling, actually it’s that I’m trolling in response to your trolling. Quit being a dick. Don’t try to hurt peoples feelings just because you’re a miserable Cubs fan. I’m glad I don’t know you personally, because I would smack the crap out of you. And relentlessly make fun of you for being a Cubs fan. Peace out.
Hey Jason and Tony,
Thanks for sharing your opinions, I welcome positive and negative feedback. Now, if I may borrow what has become a cliched line from Pulp Fiction, “Well then, if you’ll allow me to retort.”
I will be addressing points made by Tony and Jason in no particular order because I don’t want to spend too much time on this. So forgive me if you find this response a little unorganized.
I very clearly pointed out in the post my problem with the song is the mood being the complete antithesis of the Cubs and Wrigley field. Yes, I said I hate it as a song but there’s no point in arguing that. People have different tastes, I personally hate this genre, others like it, so what? But when it is used to lead into a Cubs game, the pieces don’t fit. It’d be like using it for the intro to ’2001: A Space Odyssey.’ It would sound ridiculous, as it does leading into a Cubs game. Also, I clearly pointed out the lyrics were fine for the Cubs but the music was better suited for the White Sox.
When I wrote this, it was unclear to me if it was replacing ‘Go Cubs Go,’ at Wrigley, which I subsequently found out it was not, soon after I posted the article. Had I known that, I probably wouldn’t have cared enough to write it. But it all still applies to WGN. As I understand it, WGN picked a few songs out of many to be voted on, so it wasn’t really a true fan vote. I didn’t hear the others, I can’t imagine how bad they must have been.
This song leading into a Cubs broadcast is similar to watching the Bulls play the Lakers on X-mas day this year to start the NBA season. Every commercial break they shoved Justin Beiber in front of my face singing ‘Little Drummer Boy.’ There is a time and place for Justin Beiber, but it’s not on my TV 50 times when I just want to watch the Bulls. The puberty-stricken, androgynous kid creeps me out because every time they showed him that X-mas I knew an angel was getting its wings and somewhere a pedophile was getting off.
“It sounds angry,” relative to a sunny day at Wrigley, it most certainly does. They scream the chorus and I don’t want to hear anyone screaming at me at Wrigley or if I’m about to listen to a Cubs broadcast. I said the singer whines. I don’t know how you could say otherwise. Cubs fans don’t whine, no matter how bad the team is. People boo and call for new management and ownership etc…but come mid-February when pitchers and catchers report, there is always misplaced optimism and hope for the new year.
Yes there are douche bag/frat boys that attend games in droves, not all is perfect. But, watching the Cubs on TV with my dad, or going to a cubs game with him are some of the greatest memories I’ll ever have, and this song belongs nowhere on the soundtrack to those memories.
I would never say any band or any artist needs to defend what they produce. That would be absurd. But this was a contest, so I don’t want to hear anyone defend the song on its own merits, that’s up to each individual listener. What I would like is for the band or WGN to explain how the mood of this song belongs anywhere near the Cubs. I don’t give a shit about the song in and of itself, I’m sure there are a ton of people who would despise my iTunes collection.
Finally to Tony, regarding how bad the Cubs are, have been or will forever be and the notion of looking at the team with reverence. What I’m about to write is going to seem ridiculous to you and solidify my place in your head as an asshole. It is however 100 percent true. You just don’t get it.
Sorry if I missed any points made and if this was poorly written. I do appreciate any comments and I hope everyone is healthy and happy, it is after all, just a game, a song and a blog post.
Best regards,
-Scott Bewick
2Soon Radio
http://www.2Soon.com
yeah. no hard feelings or anything. i just disagree with you on most of your points. w/e though.
If everybody agreed on everything, the world would be a very boring place.
-2Soon Radio
http://www.2Soon.com
I had to comment on your blog because I saw your post on The Fold’s blog after just revisiting their site after years of not keeping up with them: I used to like a couple of their older albums. That being said, you sir, are just a complete and total ass. Is the song very good? No. But you know what makes it worse? That you actually think the Cubs are worth treating reverentially. Let me help you: the Cubs literally suck so bad that I am surprised they are allowed to still be considered an MLB team. Hell, your team probably wouldn’t win in AA or AAA. So the fact that you need to take umbrage with a band just trying to keep doing what they love shows how much vitriol you have in your life. I can’t blame you too much: you do root for probably the worst team in baseball. I’m a Nats fan, and I loved coming into Wrigley and kicking your ass a couple times this past weekend. You’re lucky we didn’t come back in game 3. Samargijzoijcemwhateverthehellhisnameis had a whale of a game. (110 pitches for a reliever’s first start in the big leagues though?–let’s see how bad he gets shellacked in his next start). Long story short, your Cubs really really really REALLY suck, and always will, so get off your high horse, douchebag.
And why should this band have to defend their song? Ridiculous. Sorry, i just came across this article and had free time, so i felt like commenting. I found it funny.
Also, LOL at not attending a game if that song is played instead of “Go Cubs Go.” There are reasons to boycott something, but this is hardly one. Wrigley and The Cubs stem from a very long line of baseball tradition. I would argue that this franchise has kept it as real as any team out there. Regardless, some things are going to change. You can’t expect the organization to keep every single thing the way it is. Change is inevitable.. and desirable to a degree.There are a slew of us that can’t stand that old song as it was. It’s just so damn catchy it gets stuck in our heads all the time.. like Christmas tunes.
The first thing I’d like to mention is that this song didn’t really replace Go Cubs Go. It’s just being used for WGN radio broadcasts before games. That’s the original intent, anyway. I don’t get the whole “it sounds angry” thing. It’s a catchy pop song that’s true to the music that this band plays. They’re from Chicago, are Cubs fans, and the lyrics seem to be right on.. At least, in my opinion. I can understand not liking the song, but I don’t think for any of the reasons mentioned above. Cubs fans and WGN listeners were also the ones that chose the winner.
I don’t comment on blogs very much, but I felt I had to so that you, Scott, know that you’re not alone. As a guy actually plays pop punk in and around Chicago, and has been listening to that genre since jr. high, I have to say that I 100% agree with you. This song is terrible. It does not capture any sort of spirit of anything resembling Wrigley Field. It’s barely even cookie cutter. I get being repetive for the sake of being catchy and having a chant… but it does not work for the intented purpose. You are right, it ends up sounding less anthmatic and more angry, which does not make sense. Sounds like something the Bros are going to yell as they drunkenly fight in the bleachers. I’m not saying anything bad about The Fold. I’m not confident this represents them as a band as a whole, I would say these same comments if anyone had written this terrible song. Not every song a band writes can be a winner, but this song should not have won anything.
Thanks Josh, not so much for agreeing with me, (although I’m happy you do) but for leaving a comment on the article. I sent this to the band via their website and facebook page. I don’t know if they read it or not but I wish someone in the band would argue on the song’s behalf. I’d love to read it. I also sent it to WGN in various ways. So far all I’ve heard back from them is, and I’m paraphrasing here, The contest was good.
I’m so excited for today and I don’t even have a ticket, just going to Murphy’s, and no matter what happens on the field, I’ll be happy to be there and happy the sun is shining. I doubt I’ll be aggressive in any way.
Go Cubbies,
-Scott Bewick
Author of this post
Thanks Meg, I’m glad there is at least one person in this wretched situation that agrees with me. “hey listen to this song”
“hmmm, is it for douche bags to listen to while working their pecs?”
“no, it’s for the cubs.”
you said it, this song blows, the cubs are perfectly fine, don’t ruin a good thing. Down with The Fold up with Go Cubs Go! I’m posting this @WGN.