Saturday's game against Ohio State was nothing short of
spectacular. From David Gilreath's 97-yard return to the near
demise of goal posts, the game had a palpable energy everyone was
high on. It's hard to go back to normalcy after an event like that,
so Daily Cardinal arts contributors present several songs that
embody the spirit of Saturday's game that will help to keep the
momentum going until this Saturday when we take down Iowa.
""Everest"" by Ratatat
Granted, some may interpret ""Everest"" as a cocky and premature
move, and even a foreboding one, as it places the Ohio State game
as the high point in the Badgers' season, with everything downhill
from here. But as most climbers say, the most difficult and
challenging part of scaling a mountain can often be the climb back
down. ""Everest"" is a way of saying UW football has accomplished
something great, but it is also a reminder that it doesn't get any
easier from here on out.
—Todd Stevens
""Monster"" by Kanye West, featuring Bon Iver, Rick Ross,
Jay Z and Nicki Minaj
The production is also acute—samples of lion roars, wonky horns and
old-timey beat-boxing layer the track with a nerdy self-awareness
that rescues Kanye from the edge of pomp. Jay-Z is rawer then ever
in his verse, husky and spewing hate against the leeches he's had
to deal with throughout his career.
But even with superb verses from Yeezy and Jay, this track is
mostly a showcase for the versatile flow of Ms. Nicki Minaj. At
almost one and a half minutes, her verse is the longest on the
track, and simply put, she kills it, especially with lines like,
""And if I'm fake, I ain't notice cuz my money ain't.""
Although the track clocks in at over six minutes, it is an amalgam
of some of the most viscerally pleasing voices in pop today, which
all adds up to one heck of a pump-up jam. Besides, you'd be
hard-pressed to find another song that so eloquently features the
line, ""Have you ever had sex with a pharaoh? / I put the pussy in
a sarcophagus.""
—Emma Roller
""The World's Greatest"" by R. Kelly
When he's not too busy filming (alleged) underage pornography or 22
chapter music videos, R. Kelly is pretty damn good at concocting
top-of-the-world celebratory songs, as was the case with ""The
World's Greatest."" This track, which originally appeared in the
2001 film ""Ali,"" encapsulates all the emotions and excitement of
an all-night celebration in a mere four minutes.
In the track's music video, R. Kelly is surrounded by a sea of
gospel singers, falling confetti and flag-waiving fans in a
spectacle that evokes images of Saturday night's storming of the
field. And as R. Kelly sings, ""I'm that star up in the sky / I'm
that mountain peak up high / Hey, I made it / I'm the world's
greatest,"" he seems to match our emotions.
We might not all reach the metaphorical heights R. Kelly claims to
have accomplished, but after Saturday night's victory, we know how
he feels.
—Jon Mitchell
""Love Shack"" by the B-52s
Let's face it: the student section isn't the most loving place in
Madison. Between ""Fuck you! Eat shit!,"" ""asshole-ing"" of rival
schools' fans and a shared disrespect of Section O, we're not
exactly there to share the love.
Not on Saturday. When it came to the game against formerly No. 1
Ohio State, things were different. Attention traditionally focused
on cussing out fellow students was directed towards cheering on the
players. ""Fuck you! Eat shit!"" was traded in for a surplus of
""Let's go red!"" chants, and beer that had yet to be drank was
ditched for the opportunity to pack the student section for
kickoff. We were there for each other and for our team. For the
night, Camp Randall was a love shack.
The stadium isn't a ""little known place,"" but it is ""where we
can get together,"" and on Saturday that happened in a big way.
When we all risked our lives rushing onto the field, we were
celebrating not only our win, but how much we all love being
Badgers.
—Jacqueline O'Reilly
