When the visitor lights the lamp, the sound crew must lighten the mood.
Celebratory hockey goal songs can and will become synonymous with a given home team’s identity. The best DJs in the game will establish that uniformity by cueing up the same tune for every favorable goal. No exceptions.
But a scoreboard setback is a situation in a class of its own. Apart from a home penalty, it is generally the only time the sound system is called for, but not for the usual fist-pumping, pump-up electricity. Some songs that would otherwise never fit into a hockey atmosphere have their exception here.
Moreover, just like an arena’s docket of visitors, the playlist for visiting goals should exceed one item. And depending on the context, an opposing goal tends to generate more variable moods than a home tally.
A home crowd can be dismissive if the invaders turn a would-be 6-0 blanking into a 6-1 route late in the third period. But an aura of determination is more appropriate if the favorite team falls behind any time in a tight contest.
Fortunately, there is a copious array of options for this situation. Most of them have come into existence witthin the past quarter-century where canned music has become commonplace in high-profile venues.
From those that reflect the old it’s-early shrug to those that put the “rally” in rally cry, here are your 10 best choices for visiting hockey goal songs.
10. “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”
If you want something low-tempo with fitting lyrics, this is generally a safe bet.
The matching title and hook are self-explanatory enough. And unless a comeback is as good as out of the question, the message fits.
9. “Are You Happy Now”
This is best for sheer tongue-in-cheek purposes, and for when the guests get on the board.
Michelle Branch’s frustrated chorus would not sound out of place when the hosts face an early 1-0 deficit. But it works even better when the hometown heroes are on their way to a convincing victory, then brook one bump that spoils their goaltender’s shutout bid.
In either event, the song might as well translate to “That’s all you’re getting tonight.”
8. “Roxanne”
The opening line single-handedly cements this song’s qualification.
“Roxanne, you don’t have to put on the red light.”
Much like “Are You Happy Now,” this oldie from The Police is a snug fit for the first visiting goal. But it also comes across as a timely appeal to the goal judge any time the foes open any one-goal lead. Ditto when they draw a knot of any tally in a tight, back-and-forth contest.
7. “What’s Up”
The hook to DJ Miko’s cover of the 4 Blondes suits that occasion when unfavorable momentum manifests itself.
Let us say the hosts squander a lead, fall behind, let a deficit swell or a combination of all three in a matter of minutes. Maybe even a matter of seconds.
Odds are the home faithful, too, will be tempted to “scream at the top” of their collective lungs. “What going on?!”
6. “We’re Not Gonna Take It”
Here is one other old-school selection for when the score gets troublingly out of hand. Twisted Sister produced a can’t-miss candidate for when the opposition piles on and threatens to run away with the lead.
5. “Move Along”
Once in a while, a less-than-gracious guest runs the score out of hand. Realistically, in that event, the home team’s “hope is gone” for at least this game.
When that happens, the second iteration of the chorus to this All-American Rejects hit nails the top shelf.
Hey, the least the home team can do is complete the 60 minutes their ticketholders paid to see. It may be yield the outcome everyone bearing their crest and bleeding their colors desired. But “when everything is wrong, we move along…”
4. “Float On”
Only a sudden-death setback dooms a team’s hopes for victory beyond recovery. And even then, if it’s a non-elimination playoff game, Modest Mouse’s message fits the mood moving forward.
It works just as well when the game is too young to take convincing shape. One can easily liken the laundry list of redeemable blunders and setbacks in the song to costly gaffes and penalties. More often than not, they do not go on to define the saga.
3. “I Won’t Back Down”
Assuming the game is still within reach, the first stanza of the late Tom Petty’s perserverance anthem suits the situation. It is all the more appropriate when you remember that the song’s use in a hockey context is almost as old as its full timeline.
When Bruce Firestone spearheaded the bid for an NHL expansion team in Ottawa, he and his allies were met with mass skepticism. As part of his push to sustain morale, he adopted “I Won’t Back Down” as the mission’s rally tune.
Sure enough, in December 1990, the Ottawa group made a successful pitch to the NHL’s board of governors. The modern-day Senators took the ice two years later, three-and-a-half years after Petty released the single.
2. “Tubthumping”
The self-explanatory hook by the one-hit wonder Chumbawamba succinctly conveys elasticity and defiance. After two decades, it holds up for any time the home team falls behind but is still in the game.
1. “It’s Not Over”
This Daughtry ballad is a chameleon for any time the bad guys break a tie.
If the visitors draw first blood in the tone-setting stages, the chorus has a lighthearted vibe. There is no need for the home crowd to break a sweat yet. That play is already over, and they can trust their beloved team will “try to do it right this time around.”
If, however, it’s late in the third period, this tune can take on a more motivational context if need be. As long as the hosts are within one bounce of pulling back even, then it’s simply not over.
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