The walk up or walk out song is a sacred tradition in sports. It is a way to identify an athlete. It can also be one of the chances for athletes to really express individual personality or characteristics in a unique way. Over the course of history, there have been some truly iconic pairings of athlete and song. One of the most recent examples has been the phenomenon of Mets’ closer Edwin Diaz walking up to “Narco” by Timmy Trumpet.
Unfortunately, walk out songs don’t always go to plan. UFC fighter Rory MacDonald suffered from a case of mistaken identity where someone posing as the Canadian brawler was choosing his walk out for him. After returning from a groin injury in 2009, Adrian Beltre strolled up to the plate to the tune of Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” thanks to his teammate Ken Griffey Jr.
Perhaps one of the funnies examples was “Platinum” Mike Perry walking out to Beyonce’s “Halo” after supposedly requesting the theme song from the video game Halo.
In honor of these walk up gaffes, we decided to give a ranking of the most embarrassing and funny choices possible. Check out our list below.
#5 “Loser” – Beck
It’s all in the title with this one isn’t it? If you’re looking for a walk up song to strike fear into the heart of an opponent, perhaps a song entitled loser isn’t the way to go. There is no denying the song is a hit but it may not necessarily lead to hits at the plate or in combat sports.
#4 “Take A Walk” – Passion Pit
“Take A Walk” is an absolutely fantastic song about struggling to make it in America. “Take A Walk” is not what you want to be blaring through the speakers of a baseball stadium as a pitcher making your way to the mound. It would be pretty embarassing to have this be your walk up song and probably not a great indicator for your ERA.
#3 “Why Can’t We Be Friends” – Smash Mouth
Personally, I think “Why Can’t We Be Friends” would be an absolutely hilarious choice for the walkout of a UFC fighter but I guess I can see how the humor would be lost on some and it could end up as an embarassing song choice. I can’t defend the Smash Mouth choice unless it’s Shrek, however.
#2 “Ain’t That A Kick In The Head” – Dean Martin
Again, I personally find this song to be an absolutely hilarious song choice for someone to walk out to for a fight. I guess I can see how it might be taken the wrong way though. Generally speaking – taking a kick to the head is not the best way to come out victorious. With that in mind, walking out to this song only to lose by headkick would be embarassing indeed.
#1 Anything by Limp Bizkit
It was terrible when people walked out to Limp Bizkit back in the early 2000s. It was embarassing then. For someone in any sport to walk out to Limp Bizkit in 2023? Well, that would be the most embarassing walk up song of all time.
Want to suggest a better embarrassing or funny song or tell Jay he’s wrong? Carry on the conversation on Twitter.