Browns miss golden opportunity with song change

The Cleveland Browns had a tradition of playing Hang on Sloopy, which is the offical song of the state of Ohio, between the third and fourth quarter. Fans have a voice in picking the next song. 

A long-standing Cleveland Browns tradition is coming to an end. No longer will the Browns play the official song of the State of Ohio, “Hang on Sloopy”, between the third and fourth quarter.

This upcoming week against the Jets, the game in which Myles Garrett may break the franchise sack record. The week the Browns need their quarterback to step up his game to win. This is the week the Browns change the tradition?

New songs pitched for Browns games

So what song are the Browns going to play? The goal is to encourage fan engagement. So, just like the recent choice to put the stiff arm Brownie the Elf logo at midfield, fans will be able to vote on four different songs for the quarter change.

The choice to move on from “Hang on Sloopy” is not world-ending. The song has become synonymous with the Ohio State Buckeyes athletic program. The change brings a facelift to a song that no longer seems to fit the Browns or the city of Cleveland.

The voting campaign is unique in that four songs are presented. The song getting the most votes will be played between the third and fourth quarters. Subsequently, it will be on a poll before the next home game against three different options.

Maybe the Browns are looking to build suspense through the year? Maybe they plan to drop Cleveland-themed songs along the way throughout the season?

Burn on Big River

But starting with four songs with no apparent connection to the city of Cleveland or the Browns makes little sense. “Uptown Girl” by Billy Joel is a song by a New Yorker about New Yorkers. “Wonderwall” was a word used by the British rock band Oasis simply because the word fits the rhythm of the song.

Tiny Dancer is about the women of Los Angeles. Finally, Chicken Fried makes possibly the least sense. If they want to use a song about fried chicken, maybe use Jake Paul’s Ohio Fried Chicken, at least it would be by a former Clevelander and about Ohio.

The Browns missed a great opportunity to start in Cleveland with some of the great sports traditions in other cities. The Boston Red Sox sing Sweet Caroline in the seventh inning stretch. The New York Yankees fans likewise sing “New York, New York”. The Carolina Panthers fans also sing Sweet Caroline, go figure.

Why not use a song about Cleveland as a way to unite the fanbase and celebrate pride in being a Clevelander? It could be worse. They could have gone with the old 1946 Cleveland Browns fight song. This is what the Cincinnati Bengals do, their own old-timey fight song, probably because there are no songs that celebrate the town.

There are plenty of songs that would work. “Cleveland Rocks” by Ian Hunter would be an obvious choice. But maybe it feels a little too connected to the Cleveland Guardians?

The best song for the Browns to use to unite the fanbase in Cleveland pride would be “Burn On” by Randy Newman. It’s a song about the Cuyahoga River catching on fire. But the fire imagery is used to portray a love for and desire to be in Cleveland. Newman sings of love and desire for Cleveland to “burn on” in his heart.

Just imagine all the fans at FirstEnergy Stadium singing “Burn On” in unison as a celebration of the city and the Browns! Make this happen Cleveland Browns for everyone’s sake.