Posts tagged music

three50eight:

Mason Jennings - Pittsburgh

Not my favorite song on the new CD but I’m sure you know why I picked this track ;-)

grab this pittsburgh native’s new cd here and then make arrangements to be here on October 13th to see him in concert with me (that means you Alex)

I saw the title of this track two days ago and I was wondering what it was like.

While I was traveling the past few weeks, my friends and I were listening to his self titled album a lot.  All that time I had no idea he grew up in Pittsburgh.  How unbelievably appropriate.

If you’ve watched the Steelers at any point in the last 15 years or so, you’ve probably heard the Steelers cheer song, “Here We Go (Pittsburgh’s goin’ to the Super Bowl).”  But this lesser known “Steelers Polka” was a staple during the glory years in the 70s.  If I remember correctly this version was updated for the ‘95 Super Bowl, but to my knowledge it hasn’t been updated with new names since then.  I remember reading an article either in Sports Illustrated or ESPN magazine in which the author said something like, “Pittsburgh is one of the only cities you can still hear polka music on the radio.”  This is true, but I’m fairly positive he was referring to this song in particular.  It seems that when Pittsburghers - and especially non-Pittsburghers - image the city, they understand it as a place that preserves those things that have otherwise been lost — a “smash mouth” brand of football and defense, good ol’ fashioned blue collar work, hairdos of decades past (the mullet), and polka music.