SEC Championship Playlist – Another Opinion

After reading the dueling playlists of a couple days ago, our pal and U of A grad Jack Roberts sent us his take on what makes a good playlist for this weekend’s stomping of the Gators. If you haven’t already had enough music on a Tide sports blog, read on…

So… Jason Killingsworth, editor-of-some-sort, for Paste magazine has compiled a list of songs to listen to while “The Gators Spank Alabama in the 2008 SEC Championship Game.” Good for him, I guess.

I’ve read over his song list, and frankly I was pretty unimpressed. Like the Florida Gators, Killingsworth’s compilation is all flash and glittery fluff – songs that nobody will be able to name (much less sing) by bands nobody will remember a decade from now. These songs are mere blips on the Pop music radar, just like the Florida Gators will be a mere footnote in the record books once this 2008 football season is in the bag.

Interestingly, for all his smug self-confidence, Killingsworth doesn’t have the insight to include Molly Hatchet’s excellent Gator Country on his list, which is a pretty glaring sign that he doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about. So it goes without saying that based on his song selections, his football predictions shouldn’t be taken too seriously, either.

Still, the list demands a response. Bama’s an old-school team, playing smash-mouth football and the songs that I’d suggest listing to while they turn the Gators into shoes, purses and other fashionable wardrobe accessories reflects that attitude:

1. Yay Alabama! – Shirley Q. Liquor
All SEC football fans know Shirley, and this rather irreverent take on Bama’s fight song sets the mood: “Bring on them big, beefy Bama boys!” You know, big boys like Terrence Cody, who will soon be making Mr. Tebow’s acquaintance – over and over and over again.

2. Hair of the Dog – Nazareth
I keep hearing from all the pundits and experts that we’re supposed to be scared to death of the Gators… But who, really, have they played this year? And getting beat by Ole Miss? That was embarrassing, wasn’t it? But any Gator fan who thinks this game is going to be a walk in the park (like Mr. Killingsworth, apparently) needs to listen long and hard to the chorus of this little Scottish ditty.

3. Flirtin’ with Disaster – Molly Hatchet
Speaking of Molly Hatchet, this song succinctly sums up the stakes here for both teams coming into this game. Let’s be honest: the SEC Championship this year is pretty much the de facto National Championship game – whoever wins it ought to take the whole enchilada home.

4. Takin’ Care of Business – Bachman-Turner Overdrive
Spend some time watching the Crimson Tide this year and you’ll quickly note this team’s blue collar work ethic. They don’t get riled up. They don’t get rattled and they don’t get upset. They simply roll their sleeves up and go to work on both sides of the ball. In short, they simply take care of business.

5. Train, Train – Blackfoot
This romping Southern stomp really works well on both sides of the ball. You can play it while big Andre Smith and Antoine Caldwell are blasting huge holes in the Gator D line for Glenn Coffee to sprint through, then you can hit “repeat” and hum along with it while Massive Terrence Cody and Rashad Johnson are ramming Tim Tebow’s enormous snout into the turf for the 8 or 9th time. It really works well on both offense and defense for Bama fans.

6. Gimme Back My Bullets – Lynyrd Skynyrd
This is Skynyrd’s first appearance on this list – and somehow, I don’t think it will be their last. But this song really captures the mood of the entire Alabama fanbase – a song about being counted down and out, then coming back strong. Take heed, Gator fans… take heed.

7. Copperhead Road – Steve Earle
I know I’m really pounding this theme into the ground here, but it bears repeating: Take angry, downtrodden, whiskey-fueled Southerners (and their football teams) lightly at your own risk. (And no. I do not consider Florida a Southern state anymore. And Georgia ain’t far from being taken off the list, either.)

8. Burn Your Playhouse Down – George Jones and Keith Richards
Gator fans – just look at the destroyed dreams and destruction Alabama has left in its wake this year… Clemson, Georgia, LSU, Auburn, just to name a few… Why do you think you’re any different?

9. Feelin’ Better– Hank Williams, Jr.
We’ve got to put die-hard Alabama fan and native Bocephus on this list. It just wouldn’t be right to leave him off. I almost went with Whiskey Bent and Hellbound, since that accurately describes 87 percent of Alabama fans on any given football Saturday. But this song (while a tad down-tempo) perfectly captures the resurgent mood in the Heart of Dixie – Bama fans are all feelin’ better because the Tide is back to its historical form and looking to punctuate their season by sending the Gators packing.

10. Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Syknyrd
No surprise here… as Bama’s unofficial victory song, Sweet Home gets played in Bryant-Denny stadium after ever ‘Bama win with the crowd throwing in a few “Roll Tide, Rolls!” into the chorus. (And frankly, it ought to be made the state song, the way Georgia made Ray Charles’ Georgia on my Mind its state song. But no. We’re stuck with lame-ass, 19th century Stars Fell on Alabama –But, I digress…)
Anyway, no song says more about the love of Alabama the Crimson Tide than this one… Roll Tide, Roll! Beat the Gators!