A pep rally is the squad's job to run the room. The bleachers are full, the team being honored is down on the floor, and it falls to the cheerleaders to get a few hundred students clapping, stomping, and yelling on cue. The music has to do the heavy lifting because most of the crowd has never practiced a thing.
So the picks here are the ones everybody already knows: a stomp-clap anybody can follow, a chant that fills the gym, a chorus the whole student section shouts back without being told. Simple beats the squad can lead from the floor, and the rest of the building falls right in.
The list
#10
Medium Energy
Jump Around
House of Pain (clean)
Best Moment
the "jump jump" squeal hook
Makes the gym bounce.
#09
High Energy
Sweet Caroline
Neil Diamond
Best Moment
the "bah bah bah" horns
'Bum bum bum' singalong.
#08
High Energy
Don't Stop Believin'
Journey
Best Moment
the "don't stop believin" line
Belief singalong.
#07
High Energy
Shout
The Isley Brothers
Best Moment
the "a little bit softer now"
'A little bit louder now' builder.
#06
High Energy
Cotton Eye Joe
Rednex
Best Moment
that fiddle hoedown loop
Clap-along cue.
#05
High Energy
Y.M.C.A.
Village People
Best Moment
the "young man" horn intro
Arms-up crowd dance.
#04
High Energy
Thunderstruck
AC/DC
Best Moment
the "thunder" guitar tapping
Crowd 'Thunder!' chant.
#03
High Energy
Crazy Train
Ozzy Osbourne
Best Moment
the "all aboard" laugh
Riff that rocks the gym.
#02
Low Energy
We Will Rock You
Queen
Best Moment
the stomp-stomp-clap
Stomp-stomp-clap unifier.
#01
High Energy
Our #1 pick
Seven Nation Army
The White Stripes
Best Moment
the seven-note bass riff
Gym-wide stomp chant.
Make it theirs
The one rally chant that's truly yours is the one written around your school and your squad, with the team name right in the hook. That is the one we make.
