Game day is something athletes spend time working their way up to, getting ready for days prior, right up to the pre-game clock ticking down to zero. Every athlete has their own game day rituals and superstitions. For me, the biggest thing I have to do — my superstition for game day — is listen to music that gets the heart pumping and the head bopping, but also some songs to slow down the rhythm and relax. So here are my top songs for the big day: game day.
This song gives a person a sense of power, along with being fearless. This song right here is my walk-up song this year, and I hear it every time I go up to bat for a home game. The song sets me in the right mood to go up there with focus and drive. It has an eerie melody with a strong bass line and a hip-hop vibe to it.
Talk about white girl party music. In my opinion, this type of music is some of the best game day music, with its catchy tune and upbeat pop sound. This song is a staple in my game day music list because of some of these exact things. You need the upbeat tones to keep yourself pumped up. It is also a good song to listen to with a couple of your teammates on the drive to the court, or, in my case, the field.
Now I talk about these upbeat songs being essential to a game day playlist, but slow songs like these are also very helpful to getting into that game day mindset for me. Maybe not the Stranger Things, but this song makes me feel like I am in a movie fighting for my life to save the day, and that is almost how it feels as an athlete as well. Sometimes you are fighting for your life in a game. But this song is slow, but can be fast at times with its horns and drumming in the background.
Yes, just like everyone, I am on the “K-pop Demon Hunters” hype. But these songs are musical masterpieces that are a part of these movies. This song has a chokehold on me, and I can’t exactly explain why, but it does. Maybe because the beat is incredible and is exciting, it gets the blood pumping and going, or it makes me feel like I’m in a TikTok edit. Either way, this song is incredible.
The slow beat and the instrumental strings used in this song, along with the hype lyrics, really get me going as well and ready for the game.
Now, I don’t know about anyone else, but I am extremely excited for the Michael Jackson biopic that comes out later this month. This song here is one of the reasons I am excited for that movie. I don’t believe this song is in the movie, but it is one of my favorite Michael Jackson songs and gets me in that happy, uplifting mood.
This song holds quite a few memories for me from my Disney cast member era, if you’ll call it that. One of the things from that time is the little dance my friends and I came up with for this song. So while I’m bobbing my head to the lyrics and electric vibe, I’m doing that little dance.
Continuing with my Disney cast member era, this one is a strong one from that time. This song is a part of the EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) nighttime shows titled “Luminous: The Symphony of Us.” If you ever get the chance to go to EPCOT in the near future, I recommend watching this show; it is wonderful and brings me to tears almost every time I watch it — which is a lot.
I worked in EPCOT for one of my roles in my program, so on average, I would hear this song about four out of the seven days of the week. Now onto the actual song: It is a slower rhythm song, but it gives me chills. Its powerful vocals are incredible, and these vocals carry a story in the song. The orchestra behind this song, too, just gives me power and feeling to take on game day, but that may be a personal feeling with this song.
To follow up with the last song, this is from the same show over at EPCOT. This song is toward the end of the show. You may be questioning: If this song is in the same show, does that mean it has the same vibe? My answer to that is no, not entirely. This song is just as incredible as “Heartbeat Symphony” but includes another artist, which amplifies this song as a whole.
I think the instrumental background is very similar to “Heartbeat Symphony,” but the vocals are very different, especially toward the end of the song, which is electric and gives a church choir vibe. This song has me throwing my whole body into it, which I think says a lot.
Here at Buena Vista University, the softball team is really into its country music, and as a current member of the team, I was against this for a long time. Country music, in my opinion, is for camping on the Fourth of July weekend, not for softball. But this year, my view has changed on that. This song is one of them.
Originally, this song was not going to be on my list, but I was on the way to the field, and this song came on, and I started jamming to it like no tomorrow. The slower pace of this song and the lyrics really get me going, and I feel a deep emotion. Not only does it pump me up, but it slows down my heart rate, putting me exactly in that game-ready mindset.
To almost piggyback off the last song, this one gives a similar vibe. This song also reminds me of happy times and specific people, which gives the song personal meaning to me. In that game-day mindset, I like to take a period of my time before heading to the field to remind myself of the happy things in life. It gets me into a good mindset for the doubleheader I am about to play.
All the string instruments and the drums used in it really bring the song to life and make it one of a kind. Just the overall vibe of the song, too, and its pace, creates personal happiness for me.
This song, to the common person, may be interesting, but this song here is one of the biggest hype songs for the BVU softball team. One of the girls on the team, Avery France, has this as her walk-up song, and let’s just say the bench goes crazy when the song comes on. “Hot Wings” uses a vibrant set of percussion that keeps the song upbeat and makes you want to move your feet.
The song makes you nod your head and do a little dance as well. The rap part of the song also gets the whole team hype and moving.
The thumping of the drums, the rap from Macklemore, the catchy lyrics and the beautifully choreographed song by Skylar Grey make this song magical. Listening to this song, I am banging my hand on the table and screaming the lyrics at the top of my lungs. This song is what winning feels like, in my opinion, when it comes to the game of softball.
It can be a quick game but also a slow one to take a deep breath and take it all in. This song gets me ready for game day like any other, if not more than some of the other songs on this list.
Lastly, many will argue that the Chicks’ version of this song is better, but I like both songs for different reasons. On game day, however, this song is the one I go to every time. The vocals are stunning by him, along with the mix of music, which slows everything down and lets the body relax. The body needs to be relaxed for game day because if you are tense, then it will only make things harder for you when game day comes. This song is also a great song to calm your nerves and just enjoy.
