The Commanders debuted their new fight song during their preseason opener against the Panthers on Saturday and The Sports Junkies hate it.
Hours before kickoff, 106.7 The Fan learned that, of the two lyrical options the team had put to a vote with the fans, the Commanders had chosen the version that replaces "Braves on the Warpath!" with "Fight for our Commanders!"
Several renditions are circulating online that were recorded by fans in attendance at the preseason opener. One is merely the marching band playing the new fight song, while another is being sung. In the former, you can overhear a smattering of fans struggling to sing along due to the slowed tempo of the song.
Neither version sounds particularly good, according to The Sports Junkies, and that's putting their opinion mildly (27:30 in the player above).
"I've sort of maintained I don't care about the lyrics, whatever. Just keep the song the same," Eric Bickel said Monday morning. "And remember, when they put out the lyrics and we kind of sang 'em and we went through it or whatever, we were like, 'Why did they do this A cappella?' Well I think I know why they did it A cappella. Because they hadn't quite worked out the kinks yet. They actually changed the music!"
"They changed the beat!" Bickel shouted as they listened to the slowed down version of the song. "They said they were just gonna change the lyrics, they were gonna keep the song. They lied! They changed the song!"
"By the way," John Auville said, "the singer also said — and this tilts me — she said 'Washing-tin' instead of 'Washing-ton.' If you say Washing-tin, it's gonna make my brain explode."
"How come they don't have the drum beat bit at the beginning?" Bickel asked. "How come they changed..."
"That could be offensive," chimed Junkies producer Matt Valdez, "with Native American drumming, is offensive."
"Offensive?!" Bickel screamed. "What they came up with is offensive!"
"Actually, you know what, there is an element to that that they used to play," Bickel's brother chimed in on the phone. "That's correct. It probably would be considered offensive at this point. I wonder if that's why. That [drum beat]: dun-dun-dun-dun, dun-dun-dun-dun."
"THAT'S OFFENSIVE?!" Bickel erupted. "You've got to be kidding me! Don't you dare say that!"
"It was too slow," one fan who was at the game called in to say. "Like, we scored a touchdown and you wanted to do something and it was like, let's just kind of slow down and hold hands. It's not anything for excitement."
"It was a swing and a miss," the caller went on to say. "I think Jason Wright tried. It was a swing, but it's a miss."
Bickel was then informed of the following tweet from the Commanders.
"No, no, no. That's not a subtle remix," Bickel said. "They totally changed the song. I thought they were gonna keep the song. Did the team lie again? Is this lying?"
"In regards to the fight song, it just... it didn't go well. It doesn't sound good. The tempo is off," said fan captain Tailgate Ted, who was also at the game. "And at the end of it, there's a trumpet solo that makes you feel like you're at a..."
"Yes! It's making me crazy!" Bickel yelled. "They're doing a trumpet fanfare thing and it's making me crazy. And I want to hear the drums. Put the drums back in it."
The aforementioned trumpet solo is at the end of this clip.
"You know what? This song stinks on ice," Auville said.
Listen to their reaction starting at the 27:30 mark in the player above.
