The Toronto Maple Leafs are having trouble finding a goal song for 2023-24
Rewind a few years. I’m the music director for the Toronto Maple Leafs, meaning that I was the person who chose, categorized, and organized all the music heard before, during, and after Leaf games at the Air Canada Centre. It was a two-season run that had me up in the gondola many nights, analyzing the crowd reaction to songs picked specifically for everything from penalty calls (good and band) to fights and shoot-outs.
One of the most important pieces of music was the goal song, the track played everything time the Leafs scored. After much consultation with the team and MLSE, we used this.
Since then (and since I left the position), the Leafs have tried out a number of goal songs, including “You Make My Dreams” from Hall and Oates, which was a staple for the last five years.
For 2023-24, the Game Operations people decided to change things up. The Steve Aoki remix of Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit of Happiness” was introduced during the Leafs home opener with the Habs last Wednesday.
Fans heard it six times. That was enough. If you go through the lyrics of the song, there are themes of drugs and drunk driving.
Don’t expect to hear “Pursuit of Happiness” as the goal song for #LeafsForever games anymore. Told they won’t be using it any longer this season.
— Nick Alberga (@thegoldenmuzzy) October 15, 2023
Heard the Leafs received some complaints about the song’s message and/or lyrics.
Based on tonight’s output, Pursuit of Happiness is likely done as the goal song. Dup, Dup is moving up as the club looks for the best options. And there were complaints, in this space and others, about Happiness the past few days.
— Lance Hornby 🇺🇦 (@sunhornby) October 15, 2023
When the Leafs played the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, an “alternative goal song” was used.
But that won’t be it, either.
Dup Dup by Mickie Krause is an alternate goal song #LeafsForever (not the Next Gen song)
— Kevin McGran (@kevin_mcgran) October 14, 2023
The next Leaf game is tonight when Chicago is in town and a new song will be tried out. Any guesses what it might be?
