So apparently wrestler John Cena is on his farewell tour. He’s scheduled to wrestle one more match – against a top WWE star named Gunther – and then Cena will hang up his wrestling sneakers and put away his jorts.
And we won’t hear that classic John Cena intro song ever again.
Yeah, that one. The one with the horns that perfectly match up to the lyrics, “John Cena sucks … John Cena sucks …” And don’t tell me I’m wrong. This is now officially head canon, and I’m glad for that.
But what if I told you that the John Cena intro can trace its existence – in one way or another – back to a 1970’s Top 40 ballad about a murder in the south?
Yeah, really.
So take a listen to this track from 1973. You know it, you’ll recall it, it’s the classic Vicki Lawrence story-song about a guy who gets framed for someone else’s murder.
This one.
But you’re reading this blog and thinking, “Chuck, there’s no connection here. Vicki Lawrence sang a classic 1970’s story-song, and the John Cena song is all horns and bombast.”
Right. See, there’s a song that exists between the Vicki Lawrence Top 40 hit and the John Cena intro.
Specifically … this.
In 1974, musician Pete Schofield recorded an instrumental version of “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia,” and added a Latin flavor to it … with some very recognizable horns. And once you hear the intro … you can’t un-hear it.
Somewhere in the early 2000’s, that opening stinger from 1974 – which was a remake of a song from 1973 – became the bombast horn section for this guy.
So … what do you do in a situation like this?
Well, at the moment, the executrix of Pete Schofield’s estate is in the middle of a lawsuit against the WWE, while the estate of Bobby Russell (the original writer of “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia”) is claiming that Schofield’s estate has no recourse against the WWE, since the horn section was part of a remake of his song, so Russell would be the copyright holder of the horn section … or something …
Man, oh man.
Maybe next time, the WWE should just have their wrestlers come up with their own musical intros. I mean, it’s not like anyone hasn’t done that before …
Like, oh, I don’t know … the Fabulous Freebirds, for one.
But, see … John Cena’s song doesn’t just crib one track. That vocal intro in the John Cena song? That’s from rapper M.O.P.
And Cena’s rhythm track – that got cribbed from the drum track from this 1970 jazz album.
So in essence, John Cena is truly the sum of all his parts.
And I bet if you blend all those stems and snippets together …
They’d still go great with the lyrics “John Cena Sucks.” 😀
Chuck The Writer 