No More: New York, New York

By Ethan Semendinger

July 26, 2024

***

Please, Yankees. Please, STOP Spreading the News after the Yankees lose. It's long been time for a change.

Ethan, Why Bring This Up Now?

Funny you should ask. I was in the car last night and was listening to my favorite radio station: WFAN 101.9 FM. Unfortunately for me, I missed out on Evan & Tiki (I usually listen to them on my drive home from work), but I did get to experience the Tommy Lugauer Hour.

Now, just imagine how I felt when I heard how much he was enjoying himself at the end of the Yankees-Mets game on Wednesday night. He said he was jumping, and singing, and dancing, and partying it up in Yankee Stadium, as his favorite team (the Mets) not only beat, but destroyed, my favorite team (the Yankees) by a score of 12-3.

And then he said he was going to speak for Yankees fans.

He said it was wrong.

Not the singing and dancing, but he said it was the song that was playing: Frank Sinatra's "Theme from New York, New York".

And, I totally agree.

It's not an original idea, and I've seen many other people talk about this online over the years, but it's beyond time for a change to happen.

The Yankees need to stop playing "Theme from New York, New York" after losses immediately. That song should be reserved strictly for wins.

Today, I'll highlight a few options for a "losing" song:

Option 1: Something Classic

Some Song Ideas:

Don't Stop Believin' (Journey)
Don't Stop (Fleetwood Mac)
Don't Stop Me Now (Queen)

Arguably, the easiest option is just to find a song that fits the theme of "we'll come back better tomorrow" and is already extremely popular. So, I scoured the internet looking at the set-lists of some of the most famous classic rock bands and made my list.

Now, this would ruin any of these songs for Yankees fans forever. And, I don't want to have to take the blame for turning a great song from a great band into the "Yankees Lost" song. So, from my list I'd immediately get rid of "Don't Stop" and "Don't Stop Me Now". I have too much respect for Queen and Fleetwood Mac.

However- and be completely honest with yourself- do you really want to listen to "Don't Stop Believin'" at another social event right now? My brother has a wedding coming up, and I'm sure it will be on the set-list. When I have to chaperone middle and high school dances for my school, and it's always on the set-list (and I know that because it's one of the few songs I've heard before). Heck, it was on those same set-lists when I was in middle and high school too! (And my Dad!)

But, let's be honest, not even Journey would sell out to the Yankees if it meant their most famous song was going to be an anthem of losers.

Option 2: Make the Players Feel Bad (Brought to You by The Beatles)

Some Song Ideas:

Carry That Weight
I'm a Loser
Help!

Maybe the best course of action is to make the players feel bad for losing! They could turn the "Yankees Lost" song into some motivation for the team to not want to hear about how bad they played. And, there are more than enough songs for this category.

Just looking through The Beatles catalogue alone gave me three great examples for songs to play to the ire of the players.

"I'm a Loser" and "Help!" are both pretty straight-forward in the messages each song is trying to convey.

Meanwhile, I'm partial to "Carry That Weight". It is all about how they're not going to forget how it felt to lose. And even better, there's also an allusion to the song "You Never Give Me Your Money". This would be a nice bonus punch of the gut towards the fans as they empty the stadium (who, mind you, spent all their extra money to go to the game).

Option 3: An Annoying Modern Song

Some Song Ideas:

Stronger (Kelly Clarkson)
The Climb (Miley Cyrus)
Roar (Katy Perry)

I can't imagine anything worse than trying to walk out of Yankee Stadium, crammed in between people all over the place, barely able to breath, while Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger" plays in the background.

What doesn't kill me may make me stronger, but sometimes I just don't need to hear about it.

If the idea is to pick a song that is very different from the current song, this would be the obvious way to go. Modern pop music is drastically different from what Frank Sinatra was doing in his time.

Only problem here is that little kids, and girlfriends, may be secretly wishing for the Yankees to lose so they could hear a song they like. We can't have that at all. Tradition is too important.

So...

Option 4: A Different Frank Sinatra Song

Some Song Ideas:

That's Life
All or Nothing At All
The Best Is Yet To Come

At this point, it's pretty clear that the obvious answer is right in front of us. Why haven't the Yankees just decided to use a different Frank Sinatra song?

I am not the first to suggest "That's Life", and every time I see it get suggested on the internet it gets a lot of support from fans. It's such a perfect song to capture the mood of a loss.

However, I also wanted to throw two other great Sinatra songs into the ring: "The Best Is Yet To Come" and "All or Nothing At All". Both are quintessential Sinatra, though I think the mood and lyrics for "All or Nothing At All" make it a clear number 2 choice to me.