Football season kicked off yesterday, and we all know what that means: the Saints are about to go marching in.
I’m referring to the New Orleans Saints, of course. The Who Dat Nation is gearing up for the team’s season opener against the Oakland Raiders, which is set to go down in the Dome at noon this Sunday.
In honor of the 2016 football season, we’re going to start a new weekly tradition. Every Friday from now until the end of the season–or lord willing, the post-season–I’ll be posting a song that invokes the spirit of the New Orleans Saints. These won’t necessarily be songs by New Orleans artists or songs about football. They could be that, but more than likely they’ll be tracks with tenuous-yet-genuine connections to the boys in black and gold.
Our first installment is “Revolution 9” from The Beatles’ 1968 self-titled album (though you probably know it as The White Album). There are two reasons why this is my pick for week 1.
First off, the Saints just re-signed longtime quarterback Drew Brees for an ungodly–or in football terms, relatively reasonable–amount of money. Most of the Who Dat Nation is very excited about this, and rightfully so. Brees led us to our only Super Bowl victory, sets records on a yearly basis and is unquestionably the greatest player in Saints history. His jersey is also blazoned with the number 9, and “number 9” is the maddening refrain that pops up throughout the Beatles’ eight-and-a-half minute experimental behemoth.
But there’s another reason entirely. You see, much like the Saints defense these past few years, “Revolution 9” is an incomprehensible mess that fills the soul with a variety of negative emotions. It’s a long, strange trip down the avant-garde rabbit hole; the kind of thing a person can only dream up while under the influence of LSD and/or Yoko Ono.
So here’s to a great season from the New Orleans Saints! If all goes well, Brees and co. will have us shouting “number 9! number 9! number 9!” all the way to the Super Bowl.