The recent fight to become Boston’s next notable anthem is a tough one.
For a song to make the masses sing along like “Sweet Caroline,” the process has to happen organically, according to Fenway Park Music Director T.J. Connelly.
“People mostly want to hear things that are familiar to them,” he said. “I think you know it when you hear it. Certain songs work and certain songs don’t.”
Sox fan and singer Brian Evans has tried to make it happen for his latest ballad “At Fenway.”
Evans’ Frank Sinatra-like tune has thousands of hits on YouTube using a guest appearance by lip-synching phenom Keenan Cahill.
“It would be great to have it be the new theme song,” he said. “I feel like it could be that.”
But Evans said his goal wasn’t to take the throne of the Dropkick Murphys, Neil Diamond or the Standells.
He just loves Boston.
“I don’t think any one song has to be ‘the’ song,” he said.
Other new anthems like “The Boston Song” have also gained notoriety.
Composed by Berklee students Eytan Nicholson and Vince Sneed, in its first two weeks it got 50,000 views online.
Nicholson said they didn’t make it to become a known name in the city’s history, but he wouldn’t be opposed to seeing the song on Wikipedia next to “the other greats.”
“I guess for us the best case scenario is that the people of Boston choose the song as their song,” said Nicholson.
Connelly said the best way to do that is to offer something that hypes up the crowd.
Follow Steve Annear on Twitter @steveannear.
Check out what Metro Music Editor Pat Healy has to say about these two tunes.
