Chicago Cubs fever has soared to unprecedented heights.
One week after the Cubs snapped their 108-year title drought, "Go, Cubs, Go" - the team's theme song penned by the late singer-songwriter and lifelong fan Steve Goodman - earned a place on the Billboard charts for the first time. The song, written by Goodman in 1984, racked up 15,000 downloads during the week ending Nov. 3, according to Billboard.com, citing Nielsen Music. It now sits at No. 21 on the Pop Digital Song Sales chart and No. 49 on the Hot Digital Song Sales chart.
"Go, Cubs, Go" did even better on Spotify's Viral 50 chart, where it climbed from No. 22 to No. 3 after the Cubs defeated the Cleveland Indians in seven games.
In addition to an increase in popularity after the World Series, the song - which is played at Wrigley Field after each Cubs win - was sung by Brett Eldridge at the team's parade, and then by several players on "Saturday Night Live," helping to spur its rise.
It's only the third time that one of Goodman's songs has charted, and the first since "Words We Can Dance To" spent four weeks on the Billboard charts in June 1976.
Goodman, who died of leukemia in 1984, is probably best known outside of Chicago for writing the hit folk song, "City of New Orleans." His passionate Cubs fandom found its way into his work frequently, though, through numbers such as "Go, Cubs, Go," "When the Cubs Go Marching In," and the haunting, now out-of-date celebration of Cubs futility, "A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request."
