Theme Music

Off the top of my head, I can only think of two types of athletes who are recognized immediately by the music associated with their entrance.  Since the moment Ricky Vaughn came out of the dugout to Wild Thing, the bar was set for all closing pitchers to be identified by just a few notes of a song.  When opposing teams heard the start to Metallica’s Enter Sandman, they knew it was lights out.  Mariano Rivera was about to hit the mound and rack up another save to end the game.  Some songs fit a pitcher’s personality, some fit the team’s city, and some are just fan service. But no matter the song, when the Intro hits, the fans react!

Professional wrestlers also capitalize on the affect a few notes can have on fan base.  New Titration would have John Cena fans going berserk, Hulkamania still runs wild when Rick Derringer’s Real American hits airwaves, and not surprisingly, The Sandman drove his fanbase bananas when they heard Metallica’s Enter Sandman! 

Climbing being an individualistic sport, kind of solicits its participants to have an intro song.  Imagine working a project at the local crag, and all of the sudden you hear the recognizable beat of Chumbawamba’s Tubthumping.  The local climbers just freeze and gaze towards the end of the wall because they know that Tubthumping can only mean one thing.  Jakob Schubert has arrived, and he may get knocked down, but he’ll get up again, because you’re never going to keep him down!

Climbing has given so much to me, and so I thought I could repay my debt to the climbing world by offering 12 climbers their own personalized theme song to let the crag, the competition, and the whole world know they have arrived! *

Stefano Ghisolfi: Ke$ha – Die Young	Shauna Coxsey: Ellie Goulding – Lights
Alex Megos: Cardi B – WAP	Janja Garnbredt: The Ramones – Rock N’ Roll High School
Adam Ondra: Metallica – Enter Sandman	Ashima Shiraishi: Stevie Wonder – Happy Birthday to You
Seb Bouin: Violent Femmes – Blister in the Sun	Margo Hayes: BTS – Dynamite
Tomoa Narasaki: The Jackson 5 – I want You Back	Akiyo Noguchi: Nas – The Don
Drew Ruana: Mike Green – Bill Nye the Science Guy Theme	Brooke Raboutou: Eurovison – Song Along

Could you envision climbing and all the sudden you hear “Bill Bill Bill Bill Bill Bill Nye the Science Guy” blasting on a wireless speaker, you would just know Drew Ruana is there stretching getting ready to crush?  Science Rules! 

Imagine this: You are about to tie in for your 5.10 proj when you hear “There’s some hoes in this house, there’s some hoes in this house”.  You drop the rope, climbers from all around start running toward the music. “Certified freak, seven days a week”, the king of carrots is about to send a 5.15.  Get a bucket and a mop, because Megos and Cardi B are about to make it rain!

Let’s say you’re climbing in SoCal, and all the sudden you hear the first few notes to Happy Birthday to You.  You know it’s not your birthday, and so it can only mean one thing, Ashima is about to breakout her patented moves.  I vote that after any send the whole crag celebrates with cake!  Happy birthday mother f’ers!

It’s the Olympics and just before we hear Brooke Raboutou’s name called to the first boulder problem, the entire audience is clapping in unison, then an acapella voice comes on “No matter how hard I try” claps continue…the music kicks on “Do you believe in life after love”.  Brooke pops out from behind the curtain with a mic singing “Waterloo, I was defeated, then you won the war” Bass BLASTS, and the audience starts singing and dancing in unison.  Brooke flashes all four problems, the strobe lights and lasers multiply the adrenaline, fireworks explode in the sky. And the audience completes the medley in perfect harmony… “tonight’s gonna be a good good night”

Could you even imagine these twelve climbers showing up somewhere together?  Yeah, the climbs would achieve immediate legendary status, but above the climbs that playlist would smack!!!

I’m doubtful that any of these songs will ever be associated with any of these climbers, but that doesn’t mean we can’t bob our heads to these bangers.  Here is a link to the playlist if you need some help moving your feet today.

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*If you are a professional climber, who needs my help selecting the perfect Intro Music, feel free to contact me anytime day or night.  I live to serve!

** theDIHEDRAL bonus theme music: Carrot (Obie Trice – Got Some Teeth), Isa (Bob Marley – Sun is Shining), Jen (Hamilton – My Shot), Gaia (Duki – Goteo), High-Clip (The Blaze – Territory)

***If you have a “theme song” let me know, and I’ll add it to the playlist!