BOTB RESULTS: OCT. 1, 2022 (Or, THE 'FIGHT SONG' FIGHT)

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First & foremost, I want to announce that our friend dIEDRE has (timidly) entered the 'Battle Of The Bands' Family. So please be sure to visit her, welcome her, and add her blog to your links of BOTB Participants. dIEDRE's BOTBing can be found at [link> StreamPebbles.

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My most recent Battle took place HERE, and it was a 'Fight Song' theme which included 'Fight Song' (Rachel Platten), 'Behind Blue Eyes' (The Who), and 'Long Promised Road' (The Beach Boys). It turned out to be a very close fight -- no knockdowns, no knockouts.

I really appreciate all y'all who took time to vote. And I double appreciate everyone who submitted a personal fight song of their own. Here are the Fight Songs songs which got mentioned in the comment section: 'I Won't Back Down', 'Fight The Good Fight', 'The Real Me', 'Eye Of The Tiger', 'We Are The Champions', 'Straight Shootin' Woman', and 'Face The Blood'.

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The idea of a 'Fight Song' is entirely subjective; whatever works for a person is what works. Period. The songs don't even necessarily need to mention any sort of conflict. Sometimes it's just a powerful feeling induced by a beat, a rhythm, or the sound of certain instruments. I remember a day in the late 1970s when just prior to a high school wrestling match I happened to hear the following song played on the radio and it really revved me up for that battle:

'Black Betty' -- Ram Jam

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_2D8Eo15wE

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'Black Betty' doesn't have a thing to do with fighting, wrestling, or conflict of any kind, but it has a certain aggressive sound & rhythm that did the trick for me that day.

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Here's another song that really gets me ready to step into the ring when I hear it, even though I'm not Jewish and the song is specifically about God fighting the Battles for Israel:

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'No Weapon Formed Against You Shall Prosper' -- Joel Chernoff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNZMLyje3PM

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If you were a llama opposing the authorities attempting to imprison you, I suppose even 'Yakety Sax' could be your 'Fight Song':

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Llama Chase set to Yakety Sax

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8mUMSi5M8g&t=13s

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With my BOTB bote for 'Long Promised Road', the Results look like this:

FINAL TALLY

Rachel Platten = 2 votes

The Who = 5 votes

The Beach Boys = 6 votes

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I'm pretty shocked that The Who did not win this, but I'm pleased I was able to introduce some folks to a song they weren't familiar with and who were pleasantly surprised by it. For me, personally, since 1997, The Beach Boys' 'LONG PROMISED ROAD' has not only been a Fight Song, but actually my ULTIMATE FIGHT SONG!

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In '97, I purchased a Beach Boys CD which contained a number of complex songs that were new-to-me.

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I was working on a writing project at the time, so for a few days I played this CD on 'Repeat', as just background music to write to, until unusual songs like ''Til I Die', 'Surf's Up', 'The Trader', and 'California Saga' seeped into my mind. Another one which I gradually began to consciously understand was 'Long Promised Road'. After awhile, I found myself getting fired up by that "Get Outta My Way!" chorus.

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The lyrics seemed a bit abstract until I started to reflect on the last lines which, initially, seemed oddly out of place. It was like the finale of the recording was turning into a Love song. "I'd love to see you... I'd love to see you". Suddenly it clicked! "YOU" was GOD, and the whole song was about a person fighting his way back to his Creator! It's not just a physical fight song, it's a Spiritual fight song! 

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But I hit hard at the battle that's confronting me, yeah.  Knock down all the roadblocks a-stumbling me.  Throw off all the shackles that are binding me down.

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That's the singer (Carl Wilson) removing every thing in "this world" that is impeding his path to The Lord. ("Enter by the narrow gate... Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.") The Battle is in recognizing one's pure Spiritual identity and in overcoming the obstructions & illusions of "this world" that attempt to block the road to one's understanding, self-awareness & Divine Destination.

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'Long Promised Road' is a fight song and a road song about a person's journey from "this world" to the Perfect Realm of Light & Love that's been promised:

"Do not love the world or the things in the world. ... For all that is in the world... is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away... but he who does the will of God abides forever. Now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him. Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

I'm not going to belabor the point and beat a dead horse by interpreting every verse in the song, but here's one that is very obvious, once a listener understands the true theme of this 'Fight Song':

The title is 'Long Promised Road'. What is that Long Promised Road? It's a Spiritual journey: forty years in the wilderness concluding at The Promised Land.

"Long Promised Road" (Heaven - The Promised Land - at the end for those who faithfully fight the Good Fight). "Trail starts at dawn" (your birth) "carries on to the season's ending" (your death). "Long promised road flows to the Source" (God, the Creator), "gentle Force" (Almighty Love) "Never ending, never ending" (Eternal Life).

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There's one last thing I want to mention about this song that I find very unique. Perhaps this has been done in other musical arrangements, but if so, I'm not aware of it. The Beach Boys were masters at arranging background vocals with Heavenly harmonizing. Everybody knows this. But they did something in 'Long Promised Road' that took me a long time to notice, and I think it adds some "oomph" to the chorus.

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Ordinarily, background vocalists will sing right along with the lead singer, or just slightly behind the lead vocalist. But in the chorus of 'Long Promised Road', the other Beach Boys, singing background, actually start singing the chorus just half a beat BEFORE lead vocalist Carl Wilson does. Here's the chorus again:

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But I Hit hard at the battle that's confronting me, yeah

Knock down all the roadblocks a-stumbling me

Throw off all the shackles that are binding me down

If you listen closely, you'll hear the background vocalists are singing ("Hit"... "Knock"... "Throw"...), like, half a beat  BEFORE lead vocalist Carl Wilson sings those same lines. I've never noticed this sort of thing in any other song, and I feel like it adds an interesting sonic texture and maybe a bit more "oomph" to the chorus. See if you hear that...

'Long Promised Road'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmAqpRFGzRQ

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Thanks again for participating in my 'FIGHT SONG' FIGHT. I intend to return with a new Battle on Nov. 1st, so be here or be... in my doghouse.

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~ Stephen T. McCarthy

BATTLE OF THE BANDS: OCT. 1, 2022 (Or, THE 'FIGHT SONGS' FIGHT)

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Do you have a personal 'FIGHT SONG'? If so, please tell me what it is when you vote in the comment section below. I'd love to learn everyone's personal 'Fight Song'.

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In the realm of sports, the idea of a 'Fight Song' goes way back and was originally a collegiate concept. Boston College's 'For Boston' (1885) may have been the first. 

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In Major League Baseball they are referred to as 'Walk-Up Songs'. [link> 27 Best Baseball Walk-Up Songs (Of All Time)  These are songs that are played in the stadium when a hitter is walking up to the plate and he is looking for that extra "GRRRR!"; looking for that added boost of adrenaline that can come from a feisty, inspirational song just before the batter faces the pitcher and those 100 MPH fastballs. (Even some pitchers have had 'Warm-Up Songs'.)

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In Martial Arts, it's referred to as a [link> 'Walkout Song'. This is a song meant to fire up the fighter and crank his aggression "up to eleven" when he walks out to the field of battle.

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The whole point of a 'Fight Song' (or 'Walk-Up Song', 'Warm-Up Song', or 'Walkout Song') is to awaken and energize the inner lion (or lioness) in a competitor / performer. 

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In 2015, Rachel Platten had a #6 Billboard hit with a very popular song she wrote & recorded titled 'Fight Song'. (I'm not a musician, but in 1980 I wrote my own 'Fight Poem' titled 'The Mad Dog'.) I recently asked my friend Sheboyganboy Six (aka Sixgun McItchyfinger) what his personal 'Fight Song' is and he mentioned two songs by The Who, one of which was 'Behind Blue Eyes'. I've always liked that song because I can relate to it, and also because I have always strongly associated it with my Brother, who was born with pale blue eyes and an innate anger directed at "this world".

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In 1997, after having heard it from eight to ten times, I recognized that a very obscure song by The Beach Boys titled 'Long Promised Road' was my own personal 'Fight Song'.

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This is a 3-Way 'Fight Song' Fight between Rachel Platten's 'Fight Song', The Who's 'Behind Blue Eyes', and The Beach Boys' 'Long Promised Road'. Please tell me in the comment section which of these 3 songs appeals to you the most (for any reason whatsoever, and not necessarily as a 'Fight Song'). And please tell me if you have your own favorite 'Fight Song' that speaks to you and makes your inner lion or lioness roar. 

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I'm including the lyrics to all 3 songs for those who want to sing along.

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FIGHT SONG (#6 on Billboard, 2015) by Rachel Platten 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp3nx6YFJH0

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FIGHT SONG lyrics:

Like a small boat

On the ocean

Sending big waves

Into motion

Like how a single word

Can make a heart open

I might only have one match

But I can make an explosion

And all those things I didn't say

Wrecking balls inside my brain

I will scream them loud tonight

Can you hear my voice this time?

This is my fight song

Take back my life song

Prove I'm alright song

My power's turned on

Starting right now I'll be strong

I'll play my fight song

And I don't really care if nobody else believes

'Cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me

Losing friends and I'm chasing sleep

Everybody's worried about me

In too deep

Say I'm in too deep (in too deep)

And it's been two years, I miss my home

But there's a fire burning in my bones

Still believe

Yeah, I still believe

And all those things I didn't say

Wrecking balls inside my brain

I will scream them loud tonight

Can you hear my voice this time?

This is my fight song

Take back my life song

Prove I'm alright song

My power's turned on

Starting right now I'll be strong

I'll play my fight song

And I don't really care if nobody else believes

'Cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me

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BEHIND BLUE EYES (#34 on Billboard, 1971) by The Who

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMrImMedYRo

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BEHIND BLUE EYES lyrics:

No one knows what it's like

To be the bad man

To be the sad man

Behind blue eyes

No one knows what it's like

To be hated

To be fated

To telling only lies

But my dreams, they aren't as empty

As my conscience seems to be

I have hours, only lonely

My love is vengeance that's never free

No one knows what it's like

To feel these feelings

Like I do

And I blame you

No one bites back as hard

On their anger

None of my pain and woe

Can show through

But my dreams, they aren't as empty

As my conscience seems to be

I have hours, only lonely

My love is vengeance that's never free

When my fist clenches, crack it open

Before I use it and lose my cool

When I smile, tell me some bad news

Before I laugh and act like a fool

And if I swallow anything evil

Put your finger down my throat

And if I shiver, please give me a blanket

Keep me warm, let me wear your coat

No one knows what it's like

To be the bad man

To be the sad man

Behind blue eyes

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LONG PROMISED ROAD (#89 on Billboard, 1970) by The Beach Boys 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmAqpRFGzRQ

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LONG PROMISED ROAD lyrics:

So hard to answer future's riddle

When ahead is seeming so far behind

So hard to laugh a child-like giggle

When the tears start to torture my mind

So hard to shed the life of before

To let my soul automatically soar

But I hit hard at the battle that's confronting me, yeah

Knock down all the roadblocks a-stumbling me

Throw off all the shackles that are binding me down

Sew up the wounds of revolution

And the Now starts to get in my way

So what if life's a revelation

If the mind speaks of only today?

So real, the pain of growing in soul

Of climbing up to reality's goal

But I hit hard at the battle that's confronting me, yeah

Knock down all the roadblocks a-stumbling me

Throw off all the shackles that are binding me down

Long promised road

Trail starts at dawn

Carries on to the season's ending

Long promised road

Flows to the Source, gentle Force

Never ending, never ending

So hard to lift the jeweled sceptre

When the weight turns a smile to a frown

So hard to drink of passion nectar

When the taste of life's holding me down

So hard to plant the seed of reform

To set my sights on defeating the storm

So I hit hard at the battle that's confronting me, yeah

Knock down all the roadblocks a-stumbling me

Throw off all the shackles that are binding me down

I'd love to see You

I'd love to see You

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I thank y'all in advance for your participation. I'll return here on or about October 8th to announce the results.

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~ Stephen T. McCarthy