It ebbs and flows, but you're gonna hear it."ĭaoud Tyler-Ameen adapted this story for the Web."Seven Nation Army" is a song by American rock duo The White Stripes. "But at every major soccer tournament, you start hearing it again. "To be honest, I started to get tired of hearing it," he says. Fan culture, he says, is a living thing that's always changing: "There are some songs that we sang in the first season that aren't really sung as much anymore, because we come up with new ones gradually."Īs far as sporting events worldwide, however, Siegel says The White Stripes' riff hasn't worn out its welcome just yet. Govoni agrees in principle, but he's over "Seven Nation Army" as a chant - especially after all the exposure at this summer's World Cup. "It might get people interested in music who might not otherwise be - like, 'Maybe I'll join the choir!' " "At a moment when music education and arts education is at such a crisis point, I find any moment of public group singing is exciting," he adds. The moments today that allow us to access that more ritual and more social role of music are rare - like when we're singing 'Happy Birthday' or 'Auld Lang Syne.' "Technology has eroded that in many ways, because so much music is now recorded. "This is how people sang for a long time, especially before the advent of notation when music was strictly an oral tradition," he says. Part of that power comes from hearing so many fans chant together in unison - an experience Sloan likens to being "a tuning fork in a sea of tuning forks."Īmerican Anthem How 'The Battle Hymn Of The Republic' Became Everybody's Anthem To have your home fans chanting together - it's very powerful and a moving experience." Sometimes I don't even know what they're saying, 'cause they're just so loud."īut two-time Olympic gold medalist and World Cup champion goalkeeper Briana Scurry says fan chants make a big difference to professionals."A lot of players might say professionally, 'Oh, we don't hear it,' " Scurry says. "I can't say I've heard one yet that I've really picked up on. NYC FC defender Sebastien Ibeagha says he is too busy to listen when he's playing: "Half the time I don't really hear them," he says. Professional soccer players disagree on whether chants make a difference down on the pitch. That cadence works a lot with many different players." "And when Andrea Pirlo was here, that was also used for him. 10, " says Neil Govoni, a supporter of the Major League Soccer team New York City FC. Today, many soccer fans use the "Seven Nation Army" chant to sing the praises of players - especially those with five-syllable names, which notch neatly into the riff's last five notes. "The riff has been deracinated and transformed into this instantly translatable chant." Within a few years, the song had entered the pantheon of stadium jams, alongside Metallica's "Enter Sandman" and Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger." But Sloan says "Seven Nation Army" has something that those anthems lack: singability. And music publishers sold thousands of arrangements for marching bands. NBA and NHL teams blared the recording during games. (Siegel says it was introduced by an executive in the school's athletic department who had heard fans singing it during Italy's championship run.) From there, other universities picked it up. Within a year, the song had made its way from European soccer to American football, starting with fans of Penn State's Nittany Lions. "At that point, it sort of becomes the anthem of the Italian national team - and Italy wins the World Cup," Siegel says. That summer, Italian fans made the "Seven Nation Army" riff their own in the run-up to the 2006 World Cup, where they would score again. Roma, and the tables turned the other way: The Romans headed home with a 2-1 victory - and a brand-new stadium anthem that they'd learned from the Belgians. Three years later, Club Brugge played host to another Italian team, A.S. "And then Brugge, which is not a traditional power, ended up upsetting Milan." The Belgians sang the riff as their team eked out a 1-0 victory, then brought it home as an unofficial club anthem. "Some supporter groups were having some drinks before the match, and 'Seven Nation Army' was playing," Siegel says. Its life as a sports anthem began six months later, when fans of the Belgian soccer team Club Brugge KV traveled to Italy for a UEFA Champions League match against one of the giants of European football, A.C. 76 on the Billboard Hot 100 after its release in March 2003 (though it did top the Alternative Songs chart). "Seven Nation Army" didn't catch on right away: The song only made it to No. The riff has been deracinated and transformed into this instantly translatable chant.
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