Take Me Out to the Ball Game: The Original Lyrics and Story Behind Baseball's Anthem
Take Me Out to the Ball Game: The Original Lyrics and Story Behind Baseball's Anthem
By Oliver Wiener August 27, 2024 06:29
Few songs in American culture are more instantly recognizable or beloved, especially as it relates to baseball, than "Take Me Out to the Ball Game". Its story dates back over 100 years, and the iconic tune has long since become a part of what defines baseball's experience. So, let's look at the lyrics from the source material, find what originality is there, and detail how this became America's unofficial baseball song.
The Original Lyrics
Jack Norworth wrote the original version of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" in 1908, set to music by Albert Von Tilzer. Intriguingly, what we now hear as a sporting tune at baseball games is just the chorus of that original composition.
Such a narrative invokes the expanding popularity of baseball in early 20th century America while emphasizing that no group, not even women, depicted as feverish fans behind every pitch and from each tiny corner of the stadium mushed between gents observers, isn't welcomed by those cheap seats.
The Story Behind the Song
The story behind "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" has existed for ages. Oddly enough, Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer had never even been to a ball game when they wrote it. Vaudeville performer and songwriter Norworth was inspired to pen the lyrics after glimpsing a sign on a subway advertising that day's game: "Baseball Today Polo Grounds."
Norworth scribbled the verse on a scrap of paper, then asked his songwriter buddy Albert Von Tilzer to write music. The two men rose from the Tin Pan Alley music community in South West Manhattan, releasing popular songs in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Published in 1908, the song was an instant hit. Edward Meeker subsequently recorded it for Edison Phonograph Company, and the song spent nine consecutive weeks at number one in 1910. Fascinatingly, Jack Norworth didn't see his first baseball game until 1940, more than 30 years after penning the song that would soon become synonymous with America's pastime.
Adoption as a Baseball Anthem
For all its immediate success in vaudeville and on record, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" surprisingly was not heard regularly at baseball stadiums right away. It was not played at a baseball game until 1934, and that only happened because the man responsible for The Star Spangled Banner heard it performed there.
Broadcaster Harry Caray is often credited with making the singing of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" a seventh-inning stretch tradition. In the 1970s, Caray was the voice of the Chicago White Sox, and he sang it to himself during an inning break. When Caray began singing it, White Sox team owner Bill Veeck encouraged him to join the PA system and had fans join.
This tradition stuck with Caray as he moved to the Chicago Cubs, playing games from Wrigley Field. The tradition eventually spread to other ballparks around the nation, and an institution was born.
Cultural Impact and Legacy
While "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" has its roots, it transcends them by now serving as a cultural touchstone. Instead, it was more than a song about baseball; "Centerfield" is an American classic that summons feelings of yesteryear sandwiches by the community and the everyday joys of a ball game.
In 2001, it was called the eighth most important song of all time on the "Songs of the Century" list. It's also one of the first songs sung by the American public, only "Happy Birthday" and "The Star-Spangled Banner".
Over the past 50 years, it has endured in popularity due to its simple and inclusive lyrics. From its gender-neutral chorus to the absence of specific team references, fans from any background can relate. Between the lines, it unifies baseball clubs all around this great nation.
"Take Me Out to the Ball Game" proves that a memorable tune will always endure. The song, from improbable beginnings - penned by two men who had never been to a baseball game - quickly became intertwined with the sport for many and is firmly established as an unofficial anthem of the American pastime.
The story of its circuitous conveyance from vaudeville to baseball highlights popular entertainment in the 20th century. Every time we sing this festive song during the seventh-inning stretch at ballparks across America, our participation is about more than a baseball tradition. We were paying tribute to more than 100 years of American history and culture, and the most basic form of collective celebration was tied together by one common thing: our love for baseball. More than just a song, 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game' is about baseball but so much more; it's insights and memories stitched into the fabric of America.
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