Get rid of “Thank God I’m a Country Boy?”

[Hank Scorpio]

Play "Orioles Magic" after every home win.

[tntoriole]

The largest internal migration in US history was in the 1950s from Appalachia to cities like Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit etc 

My Dad was one of those.. left the hills and came to steel factory in Baltimore.  He was always a country boy and loved the song and the Os.  Many families in Baltimore have ties to rural America. 
 

Tradition is a beneath the surface phenomena.  I hope the song remains part of the experience of Os baseball but I would understand if it is changed. 

[glenn__davis]

Heresy.

[Pickles]

Nihilo sanctum estne?

[Moshagge3]

I don't particularly like the song and would never choose to listen to it if I were in my car or house or something, but they've played it at every Orioles game I've ever been to in my four decades of life, so it would be weird to stop now.

On another note (no pun intended), they need to bring back Pippin at the beginning of games. This video montage was incredible and could easily be updated with current Orioles.

[Moshagge3]

Just now, Moshagge3 said:

I don't particularly like the song and would never choose to listen to it if I were in my car or house or something, but they've played it at every Orioles game I've ever been to in my four decades of life, so it would be weird to stop now.

*Every Orioles home game. I've seen them on the road before.

[MCO'sFan]

42 minutes ago, Frobby said:

This was raised tangentially in the City Connect thread - is it time for the Orioles to ditch “Thank God I’m a Country Boy?”

If your answer is yes, do you have a suggestion for a specific song or type of song to replace it?   If you answer “Sweet Caroline,” I will personally come to your house and hit you with a sledgehammer.  

Personally, I don’t care much one way or the other.  I was going to games when the tradition started.  It seemed like the O’s were always rallying in the bottom of the 7th after that song got played, so they kept playing it.  Simple as that.  The song has nothing to do with Baltimore, but I guess it makes more sense than “Rocky Mountain High” or “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”
 

 

I voted to keep it only because it is a "thing" now. But, "Take Me Home Country Roads" was at least written about Maryland. 

 

 

Perhaps surprisingly, the inspiration for “Take Me Home, Country Roads” occurred in the state of Maryland. The “country road” was Clopper Road in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The song was originated by Bill Danoff and Mary Catherine “Taffy” Nivert. Taffy was his wife at the time.Sep 18, 2016

[AdamK]

I had to know...

How John Denver became an Orioles staple
 

Quote

According to legend, longtime Orioles shortstop Mark Belanger was the first to suggest “Country Boy” to general manager Frank Cashen, who, by the summer of 1975, was looking to infuse more contemporary music into the fan experience at Memorial Stadium. “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” was a No. 1 hit, reaching the top spot on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Hot Country chart that summer. The song beta tested better than any other the O's had tried out in that season...

...By 1976, “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” had done what catchy songs do: it nested in the ears of the people who listened to it all the time and took root.

And this was surprising to me (born in 79):
 

Quote

(also in 1976) ...One night, as a way to kill time on the bench, three Orioles -- Doug DeCinces, Tim Nordbrook and Tony Muser -- formed a pantomime band and put on a pretend performance during the seventh-inning stretch. They turned baseball equipment into air guitars, fiddles and microphones, to the delight of the scoreboard cameras that caught the act on film.

It became a thing. Soon, the three were “performing” most nights, until one night, when the O’s were trailing in a tense one-run game, they stopped. It did not feel like the time for goofing around. But that was when the famously superstitious Earl Weaver chastised the trio for not playing. The way Weaver saw it, Denver's hit brought the Birds important mojo.

 

Seeing the reaction around City Connect's departure from cartoonishness, I would be careful to change the 7th inning song for fear of a total meltdown of "tradition." 

Maybe leave it up to Mr. Splash to decide what would replace it since he operates with anonymity. 

 

[deward]

I'd be a little sad if they dropped it, mostly from watching yet another tradition I grew up with die. The crowds back in the day always seemed to have fun singing along to it, it never needed to make more sense than that.

[tntoriole]

49 minutes ago, UMDTerrapins said:

At no point in my lifetime did that song make sense to me. Musically it’s kind of a cool crowd song, but there is nothing lyrically associative with Baltimore. 

Like Sweet Caroline and Boston?  Lol 

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, tntoriole said:

Like Sweet Caroline and Boston?  Lol 

It was inspired by Caroline Kennedy.

 

[Aglets]

It would make more sense for the Orioles to use Crabs for Christmas in the 7th inning than Country Boy.

I'd settle for just about anything other than what we have now.  Probably the only thing I consistently dread about going to Orioles games is having to hear that song.

[Moose Milligan]

6 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

It was inspired by Caroline Kennedy.

 

Who cares

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, Aglets said:

It would make more sense for the Orioles to use Crabs for Christmas in the 7th inning than Country Boy.

I'd settle for just about anything other than what we have now.  Probably the only thing I consistently dread about going to Orioles games is having to hear that song.

Or just Crab Rave.

 

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, Moose Milligan said:

Who cares

I care (about correcting folks).