Tired: the Eagles fight song.
Wired: country love songs about the Eagles.
Two budding country folk artists from the Philadelphia area are going viral on TikTok and Instagram for teasing their latest singles, which name-drop the Philadelphia Eagles amid stories of falling in love, and — in one case — getting dumped at what was once called the BB&T Pavilion. Both songs, of course, are titled “Go Birds.”
Folk artist Henrik Hoeldtke, who grew up 45 minutes outside Philly in Woodstown, N.J., released “GO BIRDS” on Nov. 24, a Noah Kahan-sounding ditty about a relationship with a South Jersey girl that goes south at the start of football season. A clip of Hoeldtke’s song on TikTok earned over 181,000 views and three fire emojis from the official Philadelphia Eagles account.
“At the BB&T you said you’d be therе for me, but now when I see kelly green I think of hеr. And oh, by the way, I hate that everything I say you seem to hear, but you don’t understand a word,” Hoeldtke sings in the chorus. “But hey, ‘Go Birds.’ ”
Hoeldtke, who originally started posting hip-hop tracks to TikTok under the moniker Redhead Rap, grew up watching Eagles games with his family and idolizing former Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz. The switch to folk music, Hoeldkte said, stemmed from a desire to “start writing more about where I’m from.”
“The Eagles were the first thing that came to mind. Everyone here is an Eagles fan, even if they don’t care about football that much. They’ll still own a jersey or go to a watch party,” Hoeldkte, 21, said. “I wanted to give people a sense of, ‘Oh, this guy is really from here.’ ”
“GO BIRDS” has garnered 200,000 listens across Spotify and Apple Music since its release, Hoeldtke said, and the reception is about what he anticipated.
“The girlfriends of die-hard Eagles fans love it. That’s my main audience. Their boyfriends — the hard-core Philly guys — think it’s the worst song to ever exist,” Hoeldtke said.
Bucks County country singer Holdyn Barder, meanwhile, said he hopes to create a tailgate anthem with his song “Go Birds (Acoustic),” which dropped on all music streaming platforms Friday.
This one is a trash-talking love song about an Eagles fan who steals a girl out from under a Dallas Cowboys loyalist, drawing on a decades-long rivalry between the National Football Conference teams.
“E-A-G-L-E. Add an ‘S’ for bein’ so sorry,” Barder croons in the bridge. “Wait, I ain’t sorry ‘bout stealin’ your girl. Another underdog winning, takin’ over the world.”
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A video teasing the song’s chorus has received more than 705,000 views on Instagram and the attention of the Eagles’ official Instagram account, which commented that it was “playing this on repeat.”
Barder, 25, of Newtown, grew up using a family friend’s season tickets to see Birds games with his dad. He said he wouldn’t dare date a Cowboys fan.
“I wanted to make sure [the song] perfectly captured the magic of Philly and our fans, but also being an underdog,” said Barder, who wrote the song piecemeal over a three-month stretch. “And, obviously, I had to throw a little shade to Dallas in there.”
Why the Eagles? And why now?
Hoeldtke and Barder’s songs come at a time when the Eagles are more of a cultural force than they are a Super Bowl LVIII lock.
Captain and All-Pro center Jason Kelce is one degree separated from Taylor Swift, and the team’s second charity Christmas album just finished a stint on top of several Billboard charts. One of country music’s biggest stars is also an Eagles diehard.
Country crooner Zach Bryan hard-launched his now-ex-girlfriend Debra Peifer at an Eagles game, and lived in Philly with her until their split over the summer. Bryan has repeatedly repped the team, going as far as shouting “Go Birds” in the face of New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones after inviting him onstage.
Nicole Michalik, a host on Philly’s sole country music station, WTXU, said Hoeldtke and Barder’s singles are part of “the Zach Bryan effect” that’s inspiring newer country artists to “sing about their feelings” instead of “drinking [out] of a red Solo cup in the back of a pickup truck.”
Still, a couple of Eagles references aren’t going to be enough for a mainstream country hit, especially since country music has stronger ties to college football than the NFL, industry experts have said.
“I don’t think one song about the Philadelphia Eagles is going to make or break someone,” said Michalik, who also pointed out that the songs might be bigger social media hits if the Eagles weren’t heading into the playoffs on a two-game losing streak.
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Barder said he hopes his song “reminds the team that Philly has their back regardless.” He still has hope that the Eagles can clinch a Super Bowl bid.
Hoeldtke? Not so much.
“I don’t know why anyone would want to write a song about the Eagles this year. I wish I didn’t,” Hoeldtke said. “There is nothing inspirational about this year’s team.”
