Dave Feit’s Top 10 Nebraska Fan Songs of All Time

Release of rapper Tech N9ne’s ‘R.K. Huskers’ inspires a Casey Kasem-style countdown

There’s a new Husker song.

Kansas City rapper Tech N9ne released “” today, via the official Huskers Twitter account. “R.K. Huskers” is a spin-off of his “Red Kingdom” song, (an ode to the Kansas City Chiefs) with Husker-specific lyrics.

No word was given about how – or when – this song might be used as part of the Nebraska game day experience. I’m guessing fans attending the spring game will hear it, and it could likely replace AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” as the music for the fire and light spectacular between the third and fourth quarters this fall.

As for the song itself? It’s okay*. I’m not going to rush out and buy/download/whatever we do with new music nowadays, but I don’t hate it. It is what it is.

Quick aside to acknowledge that I – a white guy in my mid 40s – am obviously not the target audience for this song, or pretty much anything other piece of music that gets played in Memorial Stadium. Feel free to take my musical tastes with a gigantic grain of salt.*

Instead, the release of this new piece of Husker-centric music has me nostalgic for some of the other Big Red-inspired tracks to come out over the years. Let’s do a Casey Kasem countdown of the Top 10* Husker Fan Songs of all time.

I’m sure there are more than 10 out there. Heck, I found SEVENTEEN Nebraska-related tracks on Spotify from one guy. But, they’re so painfully bad, I can’t in good conscious include them …yet. We’ll discuss the musical genius of George Dare at the end.*

I’m not talking about “Hail Varsity”, “There is No Place Like Nebraska”, or songs the Cornhusker Marching Band plays. I’m talking about songs written (or covered) by fans of the program.

Let’s start the countdown at #10:

10) “" - Franklin Thompson

Basically, this is a guy reciting the names of 70’s and 80’s Huskers via Auto-Tune over a generic R&B groove.

Sample lyrics:

9) “” – Lions Order

The backing track is pretty good. The vocals – especially the awkward “Husker Power” chant – are not.

Sample lyrics:

8) “” – Chiffy

No disrespect to Chiffy (or Vino), but is essentially the same as every other Husker-inspired rap song I found. Referencing random players who had unremarkable careers doesn’t help.

Sample lyrics:

7) “” – Heidi Merrill

If you thought this countdown was just going to be bad rap songs, Aunt Heidi has you covered. She’s sassy, independent, and (according to her video) having a good time in the Railyard.

Sample lyrics:

6) “” – Mikey Bo

Remember Mikey Bo? Remember the when this was released back in 2007?

Here’s the thing: This version has aged surprisingly well. As a traditionalist, I still prefer the original Alan Parsons Project version of “Sirius”, but this is a lot better than I remember it being.

***

Before we get into the top half of the countdown, let’s pause to recognize a few tracks that didn’t make the countdown. I’ve grouped them in into three categories:

BEST “IN MEMORIUM” TRIBUTE SONG:

Sawyer Brown’s “Nebraska Song” was released following the tragic death of Brook Berringer, over 25 years ago. Yeah, it’s sappy and heavily influenced by Bob Dylan’s “”, but it is still a beloved song about a beloved player.

Whiskey Bent’s tribute to Sam Foltz – named after a famous Foltz saying – follows the same model.

Here’s hoping we do not have a reason for another one of these songs.

BEST “WEIRD AL” STYLE HUSKERS PARODY SONG:

The first 45 seconds of “A Man Named Suh” (a parody of Johnny Cash’s “”) is pretty great summary of NU football from 2004 – 2009. The entire song is really well done, a time capsule of an amazing career.

“Scott Frost is the New Coach” (sung to the tune of “Frosty the Snowman”) is a cute little parody song, even if the lyrics have not yet come to fruition:

BEST HUSKER PLAYER RAP SONG:

Tommie Frazier rapping into a bottle of hot sauce is an all-time classic video. I love everything about it.

Now, back to the countdown!

5) “” – Tech N9ne

Is it better than the other rap songs we’ve heard so far? Yep. Is it the greatest Husker song ever? Nope.

4) “” – Paul Phillips

In my early 20s, we would go to P.O. Pears (RIP) after games to drink beer and listen to Paul Phillips play cover songs. “Husker Reggae” was his lone original song: an ever-changing ode to Nebraska with puns and rhymes about Husker players and games.

Two things about this ranking: a) this video does not do the song justice, b) it’s my list so I’m going to put a sentimental favorite in the top 5.

Sample lyric:

3) “” – Brown

This is the best of the Husker-centric rap songs. I think the usage of the Cornhusker Marching Band’s drumline, is what puts it over the top.

Sample lyric:

2) “” – Buffington (feat. Cornhusker Marching Band)

The basic premise (“What if we combined “Hail Varsity” and “There is No Place Like Nebraska” into a new song with its own lyrics?”) is one of those things that shouldn’t work…but it totally does.

This is one of the few songs on the countdown that has been played in Memorial Stadium. I really liked this song when it came out, and I still like it today. Bonus points for the video, and using the actual lyrics of “Hail Varsity” (and not the “we don’t know the words” version).

Sample lyric:

***

Okay…before we get to the #1 song, let’s circle back to somebody I mentioned at the top: George Dare.

Before I started putting this list together, I had never heard of George Dare, but he deserves special mention in this listing.

This has 17 different Nebraska inspired songs – across a wide, wide range of genres.

I’ll be brutally honest: They’re not good.

Some are okay, but most are painfully, almost comically bad.

For example: Here are some lyrics to “”

Or “” (like “Sea of Red”, get it?!) a song that is heavily influenced by The Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues”.

Or the reggae classic, “”

Bless his soul, George (born in Omaha, before his family moved to Vegas) loved him some Husker football. I appreciate and admire his desire to share his gifts.

***

And now, the number one song in Husker Nation:

1) “” – The Killigans

Yes, I know that you don’t like this song. I know that in the NU fan survey, it tied for last in “Gameday Satisfaction” with the much-maligned balloon release.

I don’t care. I like it.

I like the song, the history, and that it is unique to Nebraska.

You should like it too. Here’s why:

The two most common complaints about the song are actually reasons to keep doing it.

Does “The Cornhusker” belong in the third-quarter gap? Probably not, especially for night games.

But is there a spot for it on game day? Yes, there should be.

Or maybe we could play George Dare’s Irish drinking song “” instead.

View the original article to see embedded media.