Why is Rocky Top such a catchy tune?

#1
Arrested Devolopment

Arrested Devolopment

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#1
When a poster on the Kentucky message board stated Rocky Top was written by a man from Kentucky ("FACT"), I looked it up and it turns out that, like most KY fans, he was full of sh!t. The song was actually written in 1967 by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, a husband and wife team from Wisconsin and Georgia, respectively, who lived in Nashville and owned property in Gatlinburg. They wrote Rocky Top while staying at the Gatlinburg Inn.

The reason this song is so catchy is because these two were very, very talented and wrote songs for many successful artists. What blows my mind is they also wrote this song:





and these:








Check out their Wiki: Felice and Boudleaux Bryant - Wikipedia
 
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#2
#2
Arrested Devolopment said:
When a poster on the Kentucky message board stated Rocky Top was written by a man from Kentucky ("FACT"), I looked it up and it turns out that, like most KY fans, he was full of sh!t. The song was actually written in 1967 by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, a husband and wife team from Wisconsin and Georgia, respectively, who lived in Nashville and owned property in Gatlinburg. They wrote Rocky Top while staying at the Gatlinburg Inn.

The reason this song is so catchy is because these two were very, very talented and wrote songs for many successful artists. What blows my mind is they also wrote this song:





and these:








Check out their Wiki: Felice and Boudleaux Bryant - Wikipedia
Click to expand...

Thanks for the history lesson on who wrote the song. Not sure who recorded it first. I know Nitty Gritty Dirt Band have a recording of it as I have a copy of that recording.
 
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#3
#3
Baby Shark is also a "catchy tune", but for some it's amplified nails on a chalkboard. I'm just glad Rocky Top is such a thing for our opponents again. Been a while since we've mattered and been hated. Feels kinda good.
 
#6
#6
The thing that helped "Rocky Top" catch on at Tennessee was that when it was first performed in 1972, the Vols hadn't broken out a new fight song since the Hoover administration.

Indeed, "Down the Field" was lifted from Yale. Yale Lyrics - Yale Fight Song Lyrics

Tennessee penned new lyrics and off we went: Tennessee Lyrics - Tennessee Fight Song Lyrics

The Pride's version of Rocky Top was catchy, uptempo and had lots of brass. Even then it took several years to catch on. I don't recall it being played much during my sojourn on The Hill. But, then, it tended to be a little drunk out during games then. What say you @Tin Man?

Other schools (WV? or VA Tech maybe?) have also tried to use it but through sheer repetition, RT is now the anthem of the Tennessee Vols.
 
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#7
#7
I am not a musicologist so I don’t know the exact harmonic terminology; but there is a tonal tension created by the first half of the chorus that gets beautifully resolved when the second half of the chorus arrives, arriving “home” at Rocky Top, completing the journey in a very satisfying way. The longing for home is reached harmonically at the same time as in the lyrics. Nostalgia turns to reality
 
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#8
#8
OneManGang said:
The thing that helped "Rocky Top" catch on at Tennessee was that when it was first performed in 1972, the Vols hadn't broken out a new fight song since the Hoover administration.

Indeed, "Down the Field" was lifted from Yale. Yale Lyrics - Yale Fight Song Lyrics

Tennessee penned new lyrics and off we went: Tennessee Lyrics - Tennessee Fight Song Lyrics

The Pride's version of Rocky Top was catchy, uptempo and had lots of brass. Even then it took several years to catch on. I don't recall it being played much during my sojourn on The Hill. But, then, it tended to be a little drunk out during games then. What say you @Tin Man?

Other schools (WV? or VA Tech maybe?) have also tried to use it but through sheer repetition, RT is now the anthem of the Tennessee Vols.
Click to expand...

TPOTS did play Rocky Top during our matriculation, however, it did not punctuate the Volunteers success on the field as it does now. Fewer sang along. As with you, bourbon and beer bleared my recollection.

In the late 70s, POTS took to playing a snippet from Gustav Holst’s Mars for the Vols defense. I’d like it if they’d do it again.
 
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#9
#9
It isn't. But your band has been ordered to play it 9,000 times a game and so your fanbase is brainwashed into thinking its "catchy."
 
#10
#10
Tin Man said:
TPOTS did play Rocky Top during our matriculation, however, it did not punctuate the Volunteers success on the field as it does now. Fewer sang along. As with you, bourbon and beer bleared my recollection.

In the late 70s, POTS took to playing a snippet from Gustav Holst’s Mars for the Vols defense. I’d like it if they’d do it again.
Click to expand...
Mars is WICKED. Broodi no g, snarling, crushing. John Williams so ok are to Bhagwan used it as a basis for the flavour if a lit if the Star Wars nnmusuc
 
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#11
#11
OrangeTsar said:
I am not a musicologist so I don’t know the exact harmonic terminology; but there is a tonal tension created by the first half of the chorus that gets beautifully resolved when the second half of the chorus arrives, arriving “home” at Rocky Top, completing the journey in a very satisfying way. The longing for home is reached harmonically at the same time as in the lyrics. Nostalgia turns to reality
Click to expand...

That is a very understandable description of tension and release. I still can't believe they wrote Love Hurts, which was popular in the 70s. Still a great song.
 
#12
#12
lawgator1 said:
It isn't. But your band has been ordered to play it 9,000 times a game and so your fanbase is brainwashed into thinking its "catchy."
Click to expand...
It is a well crafted song beloved of bluegrass fans. You’d like it if you weren’t a fan of a SEC school other than Tennessee. However, being a Gayduh, you deny the bias of your perspective and attempt to flip it back on POTS. I’d chide you like a puppy, but you’d suspect me of a play upon that school in Georgia. Here’s a rendition by a comely lass which all should appreciate.
[VIDEO=][/VIDEO]
 
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#13
#13
Tin Man said:
It is a well crafted song beloved of bluegrass fans. You’d like it if you weren’t a fan of a SEC school other than Tennessee. However, being a Gayduh, you deny the bias of your perspective and attempt to flip it back on POTS. I’d chide you like a puppy, but you’d suspect me of a play upon that school in Georgia. Here’s a rendition by a comely lass which all should appreciate.
[VIDEO=][/VIDEO]
Click to expand...

Made me smile.
 
#14
#14
Arrested Devolopment said:
When a poster on the Kentucky message board stated Rocky Top was written by a man from Kentucky ("FACT"), I looked it up and it turns out that, like most KY fans, he was full of sh!t. The song was actually written in 1967 by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, a husband and wife team from Wisconsin and Georgia, respectively, who lived in Nashville and owned property in Gatlinburg. They wrote Rocky Top while staying at the Gatlinburg Inn.

The reason this song is so catchy is because these two were very, very talented and wrote songs for many successful artists. What blows my mind is they also wrote this song:





and these:








Check out their Wiki: Felice and Boudleaux Bryant - Wikipedia
Click to expand...



Love hurts. wow. would have never expected that.
 
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#20
#20
I don't care if Col Freaking Sanders wrote it and I don't care if anyone else likes it. It's our song and we sing it very well. Other than FSU's politically incorrect (blue font) chant, no school has anything they do collectively that sounds anything close to Neyland Stadium rocking to Rocky Top.
 
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