Same Song

General Information about Item:

Informant Data:

MS is a ‘22 from Florida on the Track & Field team. He has been on the team all 4 years and participates in the hammer and weight throw events.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context: Music has been used throughout the ages to prepare people for all sorts of events. Whether it is used before a calm event or an intense event, there is a song for the occasion. Athletes constantly use music to get read for the game/event they are about to participate in.
Social Context: Before a meet/event, there are people who like to listen to music with the team and others who like to listen to their own music. Listening to music as a team can start to get people in the right mindset and act as bonding time. However, some people prefer to be with their own thoughts and listen to their own music before an event.

Item:

MS always listens to the same two songs immediately before his competition. These two songs are “Pretender” by the Foo Fighters and “Do I Wanna Know” by the Arctic Monkeys.

Associated Audio Recording:

Informant’s Comments:

MS has continued to listen to these same two songs throughout the years because they were his favorite songs around the time his track career started to take off. While he still enjoys these songs, he will avoid/skip them if they come up at any other time besides right before he competes. He also added that, if one were to check his top 100 songs every year, these two would definitely be there solely because of this pre-meet ritual.

Collector’s Comments:

While I don’t have specific songs, I do have a fairly similar ritual with big events such as tests, interviews, etc. While getting ready or walking over to the event I always listen to the punk rock genre. For some reason, I always feel like I do better on whatever it is if I listen to this kind of music.

Collector’s Name:

Dartmouth Folklore Archive