I didn't play high school football. In fact, my only 'real' football experience consists of one season of The Little Ute Conference when I was in the fourth grade. Even without being a 'real' football player, I spent nearly 6 hours per day during my youth involved with football in one way or another between the months of August and February. Recesses were spent playing games that would go on for days. After school we would all rush home, change into our favorite players' jerseys and sweat pants and get a game going on any piece of land that was rectangular enough (or sometimes not) to be a field whether it be grass, cement, snow or mud. Once Christmas rolled around there were countless hours spent playing the latest video game on the
Atari,
Nintendo,
Sega, and then
Playstation. Another fun rite of fall passage was the high school football highlight video. Since I had no older brother I was at the mercy of my friends to secure a copy of this annual holy grail. Once we got our grass stained and video game callused hands on the tape it was passed around and re-recorded more times than Star Wars.
This weekend is the High School State Championship game and sadly the seasons have ended for my alma mater, my childrens' future alma mater and the teams coached by my friends (Coach ET, Dogface and Brohammas). This week I also received a random Facebook friend request from an old friend and our former high school QB so I figured this was as good of a week as ever to breakout tonight's playlist:
The Ultimate High School Football Highlight Video Soundtrack
Football is a violent sport and therefore the music must be a representation of the exciting plays and bone jarring hits. However, it must not be too hardcore as to scare off or offend the teammates who were also on the Seminary Council or any parents who will be watching the video. Because of this the best type of music is some form of hard rock or metal, preferably from the 1970's or 1980's. Here is the best of the best.
AC/DC - Thunderstruck or
Big Gun - AC/DC should not be left off the soundtrack under any circumstances. Pick one of these or both.
Black Sabbath - Iron Man - Just ask P and 2oots. This song is always a crowd pleaser.
White Lion - Little Fighter - Perhaps a little less known than their other 'hits', this White Lion song is so good that after hearing it on a video a young KG and Dogface called every music store in the Salt Lake Valley and had Dogface's mother BonBon drive us to Fashion Place mall to secure it. Sure we thought it was actually 'Little Fire' which might have made the search more difficult than it needed to be but we found it and we played the crap outta that cassette.
Living Colour - The Cult of Personality - If I have to explain to you why this song is supposed to be on this list then you obviously have never heard it and if that is the case then shame on you. Speaking of misheard lyrics, once upon a time I was blasting this song while getting ready for school and just as Corey Glover was belting out 'I'm am the cult of...' repeatedly at the climax of the song, Crazy Sue burst into my room and said, "What is this crap? I am a dodo? I am a dodo? Turn this off."
Guns N Roses - Paradise City - This song has the great intro where you can show the team walking from the bus or heading onto the field, etc and then the ball is kicked off, it hangs in the air and just as your team slams into the poor sap who had to return the kickoff there is a whistle and the song explodes into fury that can carry the rest of the game footage.
Van Halen - Dreams - Well you did it. Your team has made it to the semis and is going to play in the stadium of your local university. You need a song that is inspirational yet reflective. Something that says, "We made it but we haven't quite won it all..." Thank you, Sammy Hagar.
Cinderella - Don't Know What You Got (Til It's Gone) - There are only two songs that can be used for the final game. This is obviously not the one who want to closeout your video but was on every video that I watched as a child.
Queen - We Are the Champions - Of course, this song is the other option. It only happened once but it was awesome. I could not have been more proud of my boys and deep down felt a small sense of pride that they couldn't have done it without me and the 1000 hours of football I played with them as they honed their craft. Ok so they could have done it without me but back off. Boys sports had a tough run during my high school years and I sure as crap can't claim any piece of the numerous titles won by our girls teams. Just let me have this...
May all of the highlights of your life end with this song, win or lose.
