At the beginning of his 50th season, Mike Leckrone announced this year would be his last as the head of the Badger Band. During his tenure, Leckrone established the Fifth Quarter, a time-honored tradition wherein the same respected tunes arise from the horns and winds throughout Camp Randall. These include such esteemed masterpieces as “Tequila,” “Hey Baby” and “The Chicken Dance.”
With the changing times comes new speculation from the corps of what the core of the post-game celebratory setlist will be. While unconfirmed by any reputable source, these hits are my guesses as to what we make hear during the “Fifth Quarter” soon.
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“In My Feelings” By Drake
I just heard this song for the first time yesterday and I thought it was a quality bop. This song will help assure the student section “the new me is the real me,” eschewing years of tradition for the number one song on the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks straight! Just imagine the strains of clarinets bleating out for KeKe while the crowd engages in interpretive dance to beg KeKe to love them. While slightly more specific than “Hey Hey Baby,” I feel as though the pointed tone of the piece better suits the collective consciousness of University of Wisconsin students.
“It’s A Small World” By The Sherman Brothers
Speaking of collective consciousness, “It’s a Small World” will bring fans together into a “world of laughter, a world of tears.” As students live their own unique version of the “Wisconsin Idea,” the tune is important to connect all Badger fans together into one mindset. I, for one, believe that a piccolo playing the familiar refrain will boost school spirit to the point where each student believes in every other student’s #strugglez and will cause all students to dance together like robots that badly need a refurbishment.
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“Va Pensiero” from Nabucco by Giuseppe Verdi
Who needs a standard refrain of “Varsity” when you could have a full-on opera chorus in the stands of Camp Randall. You guessed right, no one! “Varsity” is too simple of a song for such a grand institution, being sung in English, the most boring language of all time, and only containing a mere 15 words. “Va Pensiero” solves those problems with ease, using 89 words and teaching students a valuable lesson in Italian along the way. The operatic chorus is already valued as a unifying crowd piece, so it is only fitting it should be bleated by the line of Wisconsin tubas while fifteen freshmen who just tried Soju for the first time try really hard to figure out how to say “olezzano.”
“Friday” by Rebecca Black
Two years ago, the Big Ten decided they needed more money and started to schedule football games on Friday nights. Because of this, the Badgers have played their last two home openers on Friday nights without the strains of Rebecca Black’s immortal classic. This is borderline blasphemy. The people of Madison deserve to hear the sweet melody streaming forth from the ranks of the band while miming pouring cereal and kicking in the front seat.
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“Johny, Johny, Yes Papa” by LooLoo Kids
Bucky is Papa and we are merely Johny’s, waiting to be told if we are doing the right thing. While Bucky can tell us not to lie on his own, it is far more powerful when accompanied by trumpets. This song would be the highlight of the new and improved fifth quarter, eventually morphing into a sort of Simon Says game. Disobedient Badgers be warned: Papa Bucky will catch sugar (or potentially Fireball) in one’s mouth if you don’t obey his commands. By listening to the words of the (silent) Papa Bucky, students will learn what they really have to do if they want to be a Badger.
Speculation or not, I am ready to hear these tunes coming from the 50-yard line next year. Although tradition may be lost to the sands of time, these modern classics will quickly earn regard in all students’ eyes.