Baseball Related Songs: “Going Out With a Bang,” by Scorpions

In today’s episode of “Baseball Related Songs,” we pay attention to “Going Out With a Bang” performed by Scorpions from Germany.

Baseball fans of my age will know the Scorpions from hits like “Wind of Change” and “Still Loving You.” The band was erected in 1965 in Hannover, Germany. The band is labeled as hard rock band, although “hard” is questionable.

As written above, the band was formed in 1965 by guitarist Rudolf Schenker. The longest-running and most successful line-up of the band included Schenker, Klaus Meine (vocals), Matthias Jabs (lead guitar), Francis Buchholz (bass), and Herman Rarebell (drums), and lasted from 1978 to 1992, the period with their biggest hits. The band’s only continuous member has been Schenker, although Meine has been with the band continuously since 1969, while Jabs has been a consistent member since 1978 and bassist Paweł Mąciwoda and drummer Mikkey Dee have been in the band, since 2003 and 2016, respectively.

Even though the band was founded in 1965, it took them until 1972 before they released their debut album, Lonesome Crow.

On 24 January 2010, the band announced their initial intentions for Sting in the Tail to be their last album, and the tour supporting it their final tour, although the band later made the decision to continue recording past the end of the tour.
Their final studio album until now, Rock Believer, was released in 2021. Since then they have been asked several times when their 20th album will be released, but so far, the band is not making any plans to start recordings for a new album.

The highlighted song “Going Out With a Bang” is the opening song of what would be their eighteenth album Return to Forever. But what is the relationship with baseball?
Well, going out with a bang means to leave or finish something in a dramatic exciting, and memorable way. And that is exactly how some baseball games end. Take a game ending single that drives in the game-winning run or the game winning home run in the bottom of the ninth.

Here are the lyrics of “Going Out With a Bang”

[Verse 1]
f you say we’re falling
It’s gonna be on our feet
We’re gonna take it to town
We’ll ride the dark side of the street
If you think we’re not fighting
Like we used to do
So are you ready for this
You might learn a bit a trick or two

[Pre-Chorus]
‘Cause all those years of rocking hard
Have taught us how to rise and how to fall
And we’re still standing tall

[Chorus]
We’re going out with a bang
We’re going out with a bang
I said we gonna go out with a bang
Bang, bang, bang
Out with a bang

[Verse 2]
If you say we’re losing
Watch out, we’re taking the crown
Thumbs go up all the way
No sign of slowing down
If you think we’re excited
I cannot tell you how much
‘Cause life’s a heartbeat away
And we’re never losing touch

[Pre-Chorus]
‘Cause all those years of rocking hard
Have taught us how to rise and how to fall
And we’re still standing tall

[Chorus]
We’re going out with a bang
We’re going out with a bang
I said we gonna go out with a bang
Bang, bang, bang
Out with a bang
Bang, bang, bang
We’re going out with a gang
Bang, bang, bang
Out with a bang

[Guitar Solo]

[Pre-Chorus]
‘Cause all those years of rocking hard
Have taught us how to rise and how to fall
And we’re still standing tall

[Chorus]
I said we’re going going out with a bang
Bang bang bang
Out with a bang
Bang bang bang
We’re going out with a bang
Bang bang bang
Going out with a bang bang bang
Bang