hmmm…..
If you have ever been to a sports event, you know the song: “Na Na Hey Hey (Goodbye). It’s usually sung by the opposing crowd when a baseball player strikes out or a basketball player fouls out or a soccer player gets replaced. Not very good sportsman like behavior, but nevertheless effective. The boys who came to cheer the girls on my daughter’s high school basketball team loved to chant it as one by one their competition fouled out. Like I say, not very good sportsmanship – but lots of fun.
Today in the news, there was an article about Paul Leka, the composer of the song who passed away a few days ago. Actually the writing of the song was somewhat of a fluke. Leka and a fellow songwriter needed a song to fill the “B” side of a tune they wanted to be a hit. They scattered the lyrics and the record with “Na Na’s” and “Hey, Hey’s’ which should have been the death of it. But instead, it became a No. 1 hit. In 1977 the organist for the Chicago White Sox began using it to shuffle players off the field after striking out and the tune caught on. It is still around … all these years later.
I guess that just goes to show you, be careful what you create, it may become the monster that haunts you, even after you have gone! I am sure that Mr. Leka’s friends and family will remember him for lots more than a silly song that taunts athletes but for the rest of us, the tune has caught on and will long be remembered.
hmmm…..
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