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| This may be the single most Bostonian photo I have ever posted... |
I've written about the Murphys before, discussing a song from the first album to feature Al Barr as lead vocalist. This song is from the third featuring Barr, Blackout, and it's a love letter to the Boston Bruins.
....which doesn't surprise me, truth be told. A quick look at the Murphys' history will show the band's love of their local sports teams--this is the band that reached national notoriety when they were asked to record the Red Sox anthem 'Tessie' for the 2004 season, after all. But they seem to have a particular love for the world's fastest sport. Back in 1999, they recorded a song called 'I Had Enough' for a tribute album to that ubiquitous hockey film, Slapshot, and other songs have been featured on the soundtrack to EA Sports' NHL line of video games.
What I like the most about this particular song is how it's actually a song about being a fan. Yeah, there's the cheering for 'Black and Gold' at the beginning, but the bulk of the song tries to capture the experience of leaving work, getting together with your pals, and taking the subway to root for your team. It's the perfect song to get yourself all worked up for some action, propelled fully by a riotous melody that benefits from its own chaotic nature. It's definitely one of the things I feel I can hand a non-sports fan to give them an understanding of why sports is important to so many people--myself included. And while that stupid lockout that closed down the NHL for an entire season cooled my ardor for a sport I used to love, this song does remind me what I saw in it in the first place.
The Murphys are still a Boston institution, and are touring right now in support of Going Out In Style: Fenway Park Bonus Edition, which couples their concept album from last year with a live concert CD recorded at the Mecca of Baseball.
Here's the song merged with photos of The Boston Bruins in action.
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