Top 10 Greatest Sports Songs of All Time

What defines a sports song? In arenas and stadiums across the globe, music from an endless variety of genres is played to incite and inspire both fans and athletes. But is that really "sports music?" Since when do we consider Michael Jackson, AC-DC, and Eminem in tune with the art of athletics? Anyone standing behind a music player can plug in a song that pumps them up, or that gets a crowd screaming - and the fact that the lyrics deal with guns and drugs or highways and railroad tracks doesn't really change the motivational factor. Between play-stoppages in a double overtime playoff hockey game, no one wants to sit down and appreciate anything - it's just not the mood.

But there's a difference between what's great when you are lost in the frenzy of competition and what's great when you are sitting, listening, remembering, far away from the roar of the crowd with the detached ear of a critic. The songs below do more than fire adrenaline through your veins. They put you out on the field, they bring you back to the third period, to the bottom of the tenth, to the bell lap; they capture in sound and in spirit the magic of things past, the intangible something that lies behind every great comeback ever made, every walk-off homer that was ever hit, every no-hitter that was ever thrown. And that's the difference between great pump up songs and great sports songs. Like Samuel Beckett said about James Joyce: "His work is not about the thing - it is the thing itself."

10. Take Me Out to the Ballgame - Various Artists

While it may not be a mind-blowing artistic achievement, there is perhaps no other more recognizable tune in our country aside from the national anthem itself. The tremendous staying power of "Take Me out to the Ballgame" - it was composed 101 years ago - indicates the staying power it has had with the passing generations. True fans of baseball don't just think of the ballpark or their favorite team when they hear this song, they think of the middle of the seventh, of the closing refreshment stands, of the long-reliever throwing in the bullpen, of the way the stadium lights shine against the darkened blue sky. What it may lack in length, this song makes up for in simplicity and nostalgia.

9. Hit Somebody - Warren Zevon

The only pure hockey song on the list, "Hit Somebody" is Warren Zevon's ode to a clumsy but large Canadian farmboy who dreams of being a great goal-scorer, but is used as nothing but a goon. He dislikes his job as enforcer, but reluctantly gives in because it fires up the crowd. The journey towards his first professional point is a hilarious but poignant story of regaining a lost dream.

8. Bugler's Dream - Leo Arnaud

Better known as the Olympic theme for the past several summer and winter games, "Bugler's Dream" made its debut at the 1984 Olympics when it was conducted by John Williams. Without a doubt, despite its lack of lyrics, it is the largest scale epic sports song ever composed. There is something universal about the Olympics that separates it from other sporting events - perhaps it is the history of the games that makes them seem so much bigger than life. But whatever that extra, international feeling is, this ballad captures it.

7. Talkin' Baseball - Terry Cashman

A catchy beat underscores this monument to America's pastime during the second half of the 20^th century. From the Phillies Whiz Kid pennant in 1950 and Bobby Thomson's shot heard around the world a year later, all the way to Pete Rose and Bobby Bonds in the 70's and 80's, "Talkin Baseball" is clearly the preeminent baseball folk song. And the chorus of "Willie, Mickey and the Duke," repeated throughout, has become a part of baseball jargon.

6. Glory Days - Bruce Springsteen

"Glory Days" is the ultimate dedication to the retired athlete. Like Brick says in "A Cat on A Hot Tin Roof," when explaining why he still jumped hurdles: "People like to do what they used to do, even after they've stopped being able to do it." The song is accompanied by a great music video which shows Bruce on a field, pitching alone, reminiscing about his baseball glory days. "Nettles got me in the ninth," he tells his son at the end, when his family comes back to pick him up.

5. Chariots of Fire - Vangelis

The classic soundtrack to the Oscar-winning film of the same name told the story of the British track and field Olympic team just after World War I, and their unlikely victories in various events. Easily the greatest running movie ever made, the main theme has come to represent beach running thanks to the infamous opening and closing credits. Less boisterous than something like "Bugler's Dream," it carries a gentler, subtler undertone that does more with less.

4. We are the Champions - Queen

Freddie Mercury's classic is probably the best known song on this list. Though simple and obnoxious if you listen to it too many times, few other songs so easily convey the thrill of winning as does this one.

3. Walk of Life - Dire Straits

A classic Dire Straits tune that is remembered fondly for its montage of absurd sports moments and bloopers. There is something in the playful tune that matches exactly the kind of silliness all great athletes need to have to be great. At the end of the day, their job is to play a game they love, and this lighthearted dedication reminds us of that.

2. Centerfield - John Fogerty

The ultimate ballad by the CCR frontman is headlined by the infamous "Put me in Coach," chorus line. "Centerfield" conveys all the nostalgia of something as timeless as "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" while at the same time expressing beautifully all the agony and joy of playing in the game itself. More than just a song for fans, it is a song for athletes not ready to be just fans yet.

1. A Dying Cub's Fan Last Request - Steve Goodman

In my book, this is by far the greatest sports song ever written. It effortlessly relates baseball with life, as told through the man on his deathbed, asking for just one last favor from the team that has "forsaken" him. But there is no hint of bitterness - the narrator, in his eminently folksy tone, asks for nothing but a double-header funeral at Wrigley with a bonfire of Louisville slugger bats and a ceremony as brief as an Umpire's call out. Though the song is distinctly melancholic, and even autobiographical, as Goodman died soon after from leukemia, its wit and humor ease the pain. "The last time the Cubs won the National League pennant, was the year we dropped the bomb on Japan." And at its conclusion, you are not left feeling empty. You know that deep inside, behind all the jabs he pokes at the Cubs, there is a deep love for his team that he never saw win, and a deep appreciation for the sport that helped define his life.