Playlist: NFL
- jamesgeraghty
- Nov 9
- 6 min read
It's mid autumn, getting chillier and damper, and that can only mean that over the pond, the NFL is getting towards the business end of its season. So, I wondered if we could make a playlist out of it?
The two teams I mostly follow (49ers and Chiefs) are both having something of an up and down season, but our official family team - the Denver Broncos - are having a stormer so far and are well on track for the play-offs. So, just in case it all goes wrong, we are running with our NFL themed playlist now....
We have managed to find eleven (yes, there's a bonus) tracks that can be tenuously associated with one of the 32 NFL teams - and yet, neither of my favourite teams made the cut - hopefully your team features among this interesting selection of songs.
1. Waylon Jennings: Gone To Denver (Denver Broncos)
I thought we'd start with a song for that family team....
Gone To Denver was written by Johnny Cash and Red Lane, appearing on Waylon Jennings 1973 record, Lonesome, On'ry and Mean. The record was the first of a new period for him; on a new label and having gotten through a period of illness (hepatitis) and depression. While most of the tracks were new, Jennings did choose to include three older tunes, including this one. In this plaintive song Jennings is off to Denver to mend his broken heart ("it's quite a city") - it would become the B-Side of his hit You Can Have Her.
Waylon Jennings: Gone To Denver (audio only)
2. Kacey Musgraves: Cardinal (Arizona Cardinals)
While the Arizona Cardinal's haven't done a huge amount in recent years, the same can't be said for Musgraves.
Cardinal is a laid back, if slightly melancholic tune, and was the third song released from Texan Kacey Musgraves' most recent album, 2024's Deeper Well, which earned her three Grammy nominations. The song features bass playing by Viktor Krauss, brother of bluegrass legend, Alison Krauss.
Kacey Musgraves: Cardinal (official music video)
3. Psychedelic Furs: Here Come Cowboys (Dallas Cowboys)
Now, the Dallas Cowboys are sometimes referred to as 'America's Team' - but I ain't buying that, as I've never met anyone from outside Texas who likes them!
Anyway, any excuse to squeeze in something from one of my 80s favourites... With original drummer Vince Ely having left after third album, Forever Now, the remaining trio utilised producer Keith Forsey to do most of the drumming on the next record, Mirror Moves. Here Come Cowboys is perhaps a more spritely, straightforward pop-rock song than they had done before, and it would be the third single off of the record, getting decent amounts of play on MTV, yet strangely it failed to chart in the UK or US.
Psychedelic Furs: Here Come Cowboys (official music video)
4. They Might Be Giants: Birdhouse In Your Soul (NY Giants)
Okay, so I had to lean on the band name rather than the song for this one, but always glad to give an airing for this iconic late 80s tune.
This was They Might Be Giants first single to come out on a major label (Elektra), coming from 1989s third album, Flood. The lyrics, a set of associative, disconnected themes, were shoehorned into a melody that had been written several years earlier. When the band's John Flansburgh and John Linnell played it on the Tonight Show, Johnny Carson's house band counted it in with a much quicker tempo - something they would adopt for subsequent live performances.
They Might Be Giants: Birdhouse In Your Soul (live on the Tonight Show, 1990 - apparently Jay Leno was in the chair by then)
5. Radiohead: Hunting Bears (Chicago Bears)
Radiohead have always been known for keeping things interesting, something Chicago Bears fans probably have been wishing for since their last Superbowl appearance almost 20 years ago (sorry, Steve).
This is a simple, short instrumental using guitar and synth, from the fifth Radiohead album, Amnesiac. Apparently the band had been using cartoons relating to genetically modified bears going back to previous album, Kid A. Thom Yorke said, "If I remember rightly, it stemmed initially from a deep paranoia of genetic engineering. And then from a children's book [Michael Rosen's We're Going On A Bear Hunt]. You know, creating monsters, only to awaken one morning to the terrible truth that there is nothing at all you can do to stop them. We're over it now."
Radiohead: Hunting Bears (audio only)
6. The Who: Jaguar (Jacksonville Jaguars)
Jacksonville generally disappear without trace every season, as this song almost did.
Jaguar was actually recorded as part of the sessions for what would become The Who's third record, The Who Sell Out, but it was ultimately decided to leave it off the album. With a driving, chugging riff, propelled by a rocket fuelled Keith Moon, it features bassist John Entwistle and guitarist Pete Townsend on vocals, and ended up reappearing as a bonus track on the 1995 album reissue. Surely this deserved a bit more airtime the first time around?
The Who: Jaguar (audio only)
7. Shed Seven: Dolphin (Miami Dolphins)
The 1990s (this record is from 1994) is probably the last time the Miami Dolphins were actually any good.
As Britpop was dawning, York's Shed Seven were fast gaining a reputation as an exciting live band, gaining support from British journalists like Steve Lamacq. Getting a deal with Polydor, the band went into London's Greenhouse Studio with producer Jessica Corcoran, to work on debut LP, Change Giver. Dolphin was the earliest song they had written that appears on the record, and was the only one featured that didn't have guitarist Paul Banks credited as a writer (he joined the band after this one was written). This song shows they were pretty good at transferring that live energy onto record.
Shed Seven: Dolphin (official music video)
8. Destiny's Child: Bills Bills Bills (Buffalo Bills)
Destiny's Child had Beyonce, while the Buffalo Bills have Josh Allen, so it's about a tie on the talent front (not being sarcastic for a change).
This was the lead single from the band's second album, The Writing's On The Wall (1999). It became their first US number one and was a big hit around the world. The video was filmed in a beauty salon, as a tribute to Beyonce's mum, Tina Knowles (who was the group's stylist at the time), and sees the Child's showing off their own hairstyling skills (with perfect choreography, of course)!
Destiny's Child: Bills Bills Bills (official music video)
9. Gorillaz: Charger (San Diego Chargers)
The Chargers have been known over the years for being a good solid side, with a sprinkling of flair (think Justin Herbert now, or LaDainian Tomlinson or Junior Seau in the past) - whereas with Gorillaz the flair comes from Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett.
This little tune from Gorillaz sees Damon Albarn joined on vocals by the iconic Grace Jones. Albarn's task for this, their fifth album (Humanz), was to represent female artists better - the record also includes Jehnny Beth, Kelela and Mavis Staples. Scheduling was difficult, but once Jones was in the studio, it was four frenetic hours with Jones mostly ad-libbing her bits. Albarn was astounded by her presence and performance - "It's slightly supernatural, her energy. Not entirely of this world."
Gorillaz: Charger (audio only)
10. Skids: The Saints Are Coming (New Orleans Saints)
The Saints best days were over once Drew Brees retired, and it could be said that it was the same with the Skids, once Stuart Adamson left to form Big Country (although I hear the current touring band is going down a storm).
This was the third single by Dunfermline's Skids, released on the 1978 4-track Wide Open EP, and then appearing on their debut album Scared To Dance the following year. In it, Richard Jobson sings about a man facing his fears, and the weather. Along with later single Into The Valley, it is sung regularly by fans of Adamson's beloved Dunfermline Athletic - but also gets an airing as the walk-on music for Northampton RFC and St Helens RFC (both nicknamed The Saints).
Skids: The Saints Are Coming (audio only)
11. Elton John: Benny & The Jets (NY Jets)
It is fitting that we come to this one last, as that is generally where the Jets find themselves each season.
In most places this one was called Benny & The Jets but for some reason, in the US and Canada, it was Bennie & The Jets. The song is about a fictional band, one that songwriter Bernie Taupin called a "proto-sci-fi punk band", of whom the narrator is a fan. When playing it live, John rarely played it like the studio version, often dropping in elements of Glenn Miller's In The Mood, and notes from the John Williams' score for Close Encounters.
Elton John: Benny & The Jets (live in Central Park, 1980 - not sure I hear any Miller or Williams in this version, but there is plenty of virtuoso tinkling of the ivories)
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