When the Eagles beat the Commanders, Mr Pete wasn’t climbing poles on Broad Street. He had much better things to do with his time. Mix tape anyone? Mr Pete will “pump you up” with the selections in this Crate Diggin’ masterpiece. In this post, he provides “liner notes plus-plus” that provide context (why this song?). Enjoy! -editor
Feeling joyous with the Philadelphia Eagles win over the Washington Commanders last week, I felt the need to digitally express myself —waking my inner “Creative Warrior,” decided it was time return to my favorite hunting ground — the land of virtual crate diggin’.
[For those unfamiliar with the concept, click here]
From 2023: We Ready to 2025, We on the hunt…
In the land of YouTube, if you have the time and patience, you can explore the madness/glory of the Internet and make some amazing discoveries. There is SO much good stuff!
Souls (lost?) have upload their creations — sharing their collectibles and opening their windows to let the world take a peek. Lots of good stuff that deserves to be noticed and shared some more. I’m a mischievous kindred spirit… perhaps like the protagonist in the book/movie “High Fidelity.”
No worries if you don’t get that reference, the point being —I screen, review, add, delete and move up or down in running order to create the perfect Mixed Tape or in my case the perfect Mixed CD. As my sister can tell you, this process is a passion of mine. Once I get started it is hard to stop (very like my fractured writing creations). I admit it, I am always in need of a co-creator gently whispering “It’s time to put the pencil down.”
Ya think?
Yeah, of course. With the Philadelphia Eagles going to New Orleans for this year’s Super Bowl, I felt the need to make a unique creation:
One that is about a Time (NOW), and a place (PHILADELPHIA), its People (FANS) and their Warriors (PLAYERS).
Getting My Inner Rocky On…
In this case there is nothing more symbolically deep than the character of ROCKY BALBOA and the series of movies about him. Talk about a source of inspiration! We ALL have the same challenges, the same horrors… the same Dreams… the same Desires…
We root for Rocky because we recognize we suffer from the same demons and that we share the same need for faith. Furthermore, its that “underdog” thing we all identify with and that which we share with the Eagles. We are not born heroes, yet we burn with the haunting desire to survive.
There’s an inspirational speech that Rocky gave to his son which I love.
“It’s not about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward.”
-Rocky Balboa, Sylvester Stallone
The Joyful Sounds of Philly…
Philadelphia is vibrant —spiritually deep and emotionally soulful. And contrary to popular belief, it really IS a joyful city. The music that was born there is rich, fulfilling and eternal. In fact, people are still dancing to music that was created over 50 years ago!
Here are some sample of what I’m talking about:
The songwriting/production team of Kenneth Gamble and Leon A. Huff developed a distinctive and happy sound. You may know them as TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia) I’ve included on my CD an example of their early (1969) work: This B-side 45 was credited to THE CORNER BOYS and FRIENDS.
Track 2: The Corner Boys & Friends – Take It Easy Soul Brother [Neptune]
In my head I can imagine this instrumental would make perfect background music for a NFL FILMS clip show of Eagles best performances.
Another 70s Thing…
In the mid-70s, The Steve Miller Band gifted us with the Classic Rock song “Fly like An Eagle.” Its message was about a person’s desire to make the World a better place.
Feed the babies
Who don’t have enough to eat
Shoe the children
With no shoes on their feet
House to people
Livin’ in the street
Oh, oh, there’s a solution…
This was covered by The NEVILLE BROTHERS as well as by SEAL. Track 3, SEAL’s version was part of the Basketball film “SPACE JAM”.
I had augmented the titles of several of the songs I used to reflect how I visualized them becoming themes to certain events and people,
Track 5: One example is “Victory” by the Futures (4:17) as the Locker Room Chant/Dance after winning the NFC Championship this year.
Track 10: “Strategy” by Archie Bell & The Drells – I called it the “Nick Sirianni Theme” because I imagined this was Sirianni explaining what he had to do to “get” that Super Bowl Trophy.
…Said its up to me,
To come up with a strategy,
To make you mine,
To make you mine…
Philadelphia is known as the City of Brotherly Love.
[literally: The name William Penn gave his city combined the Greek words for love (phileo) and brother (adelphos), setting up the enduring civic nickname: the City of Brotherly Love.]
To me, it is an expression of Respect and Unity. As for “Brothers,” the word in this context applies to individuals gathered together —united to achieve a Common Goal.
Some examples? Here goes:
- Like an Sports Team (Philadelphia Eagles) seeking a Championship
- Like an Army seeking to win a Battle/War as demonstrated in the HBO miniseries BAND of BROTHERS about A WWII platoon
Here’s a piece of trivia: The phrase “Band of Brothers” may have been inspired by Saint Crispin’s speech in Shakespeare’s Henry VIII.
The full speech is 3+ minutes and quite good (Hey, it’s Shakespeare!).
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile…
Firing on All Brothers…
Needless to say, once I got onto the “Brother” theme, my imagination took off. My mix? Brotherly indeed. So I used the word “Brother(s) to unite a group of songs with a common theme :
Track 8: “BrotherMan (Jalen Hurts Theme)
Track 11: “Brothers Theme” – The Brothers
Track 13: “Were You Ready for That” – The Brothers
That’s a Wrap!
Okay, so my “mix-tape” has a total of 16 tracks which should amuse the gang here in South Jersey. For you readers, my editor suggested this song was a great closer and one we hope will ear-worm itself into all Eagles fans as they face the Chiefs.
A classic that has been rerecorded a few times, this particular version came out in 1979 and the lyrics were rewritten to reflect the winning Philadelphia Eagles Team at that time. The female voices on the chorus were the Liberty Belles, the Eagles Cheerleaders back then.
#FlyEaglesFly
Thanks for pondering with me (us!) — Mr Pete and Annie (AKA the editor)
Bonus Videos…
*E *A *G *L *E *S
About Mr Pete
A music aficionado, Mr. Pete’s mind and ears have no horizons. He has the uncanny ability to suss out the right song for the right time — a skill that is truly amazing. The Gang here at Jedemi enjoys his contributions.
—30—
Speak Your Mind