For previous Inappropriate Walk Up Music posts, click here.
Every day until Opening Day, Scratchbomb presents three tunes that are completely, unequivocally inappropriate for use as major league walk-up
music.
These are not necessarily bad songs–although that
certainly helps. They are merely songs that don’t evoke the fear and dread one traditionally associates with the walk-up song. In fact, they evoke the exact opposite.
Imagine yourself in the on-deck circle. Bottom of the 9th. Down by one. Man on second, two out. You hear the PA system blare, The centerfielder, number 20… The crowd roars at the sound of your name. And as you stroll to the batter’s box, you are greeted with the strains of one of these songs:
* “Dust in the Wind”, Kansas
Suggested by Jon from Maplewood over at the Friends of Tom forum. As he put it, “I have always felt that “Dust In the Wind” would be incredibly
unsettling to everyone involved. The diverting effect of sports
temporarily wiped away…all in earshot reminded of the existential
truths about life. Does this next pitch matter? Not really. Ultimately, we will all die.” Batter up!
* “Dude Looks Like a Lady”, Aerosmith
Another FOT shoutout to Steve of Bloomington for this suggestion. In fact, pretty much any Aerosmith tune mid-80s onward works for our purposes. They all contain extremely high levels of suck. But this tune has some extra levels of inappropriateness to it that should be fairly obvious. It’s one of those songs whose mere existence amazes me, never mind that it was a huge hit.
Speaking of which, seen Steven Tyler lately? Good god, he looks like Joan Rivers. Dress as Latter-Day Steven Tyler next Halloween–trust me, you’ll clear the sidewalk.
* “No Language in Our Lungs”, XTC
I’ve never tried to parse out my 50 favorite songs ever, but I’m sure this makes the list. In the XTC catalog, “Dear God” might be slightly more inappropriate as walk-up music, what with its aggressive and poignant atheistic message. But “No Language in Our Lungs” gets my nod for being more heart-wrenching. Plus, I’ll always associate it with the scene in Freaks and Geeks where Bill begs not to be picked last for softball. He doesn’t want to be picked first; he just wants to not be picked last for once in his life. I’m sure you can guess what happens. Lord, this kills me.