This is the famous song that Ted wrote the night of the Chicago Cubs winning the 2016 World Series. Days later, the lyrics would go into the Baseball Hall of Fame and it was a 2017 Record Store Day Official Exclusive 7″ Vinyl single. It is also the ONLY factually correct song about the Chicago Cubs winning a World Series and….it’s is the ONLY vinyl recording about that feat since vinyl had not been invented yet the last time the Cubs won a World Series in 1908.
The Vinyl also went into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Side A.
1. The Cubs Won It All In 2016
2. Vendors (Cubs Mix)
Side B.
1. Dreams Come True
Words & Music by Ted Wulfers
©2016
Produced by Ted Wulfers
Recorded and Mixed by Ted Wulfers
“Dreams Come True” mixed by Davey Rieley
Mastered by Ron McMaster at Capitol Mastering
Cover Photography by John Wulfers
*That is 3 year old Ted in the right field bull pen of Wrigley Field!!!
Ted Wulfers: Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitars, Bass, Electric Guitars, Backing Vocals, Harmonica, Pedal Steel, Mandolin, Organ, Piano
Olivia Brownlee: Backing Vocals on “Vendors”
Zak St. John: Drums on “Vendors”
Kenny Aronoff: Drums on “Dreams Come True”
Aaron Weistrop: Guitars on “Dreams Come True”
Phil Hurley: Backing Vocals on “Dreams Come True”
Nick Randolph: Backing Vocals on “Dreams Come True”
Mark Cantwil: Backing Vocals on “Dreams Come True”
Mark Lonsway: Backing Vocals on “Dreams Come True”
Dave Phenicie: Backing Vocals on “Dreams Come True”
I wrote this song around 3am on Nov 3, 2016 after watching the Chicago Cubs win the 2016 World Series. Holy Cow! I hope this song brings a smile, a tear and warms the heart as much as it was writing it about this epic and historic event.
The lyrics of this song have been printed out by the Baseball Hall of Fame. Quite an honor!
This song is ALSO available on iTunes !
lyrics
THE CUBS WON IT ALL IN 2016
Written Nov 3, 2016 By Ted Wulfers
This is a song for my Dad
And all the other Moms and Dads who never got to see it
I wish I could tell them, they finally won
You should have seen Game 7, man it was fun
Tied in the 9th, the rain comin’ down
Extra innings in Cleveland town
Well I’ve got a story that you might not believe
But the Cubs won it all in 2016
Yeah the Cubs won it all in 2016
Well they had the pitching and they had the bats
They ditched the goats, Bartmans and cats
Joe Maddon got’em going, they worked as a team
And the Cubs won it all in 2016
Yeah the Cubs won it all in 2016
Holy cow, they’re world champions now
Wrigleyville’s wrapped in a dance
Harry and Jack and Ernie and Ron
Tinkers, Evers and Chance
I wish there were a way to have another catch
And to thank our folks for teaching us that
And to share with them just one more dog and a beer
And explain to them, we have no more use for the expression:
“Maybe Next Year”
‘Cause although it’s true, it still feels like a dream
That the Cubs won it all in 2016
Yeah, the Cubs won it all in 2016
And I know there’s a cubs fan with a dying request….
Well, Steve, this year, they’re finally the best!!
No more doormats, if you know what I mean
‘Cause the Cubs won it all in 2016
Yeah the Cubs won it all in 2016
So fly the “W” as high as it goes
And those numbers next to “Eamus Catuli” are now zeros
And that night in Cleveland, wow what a scene
When Bryant fielded the ball….
Threw to Rizzo…Holy Cow
And the Cubs won it all in 2016,
Yeah the Cubs won it all in 2016
Yeah the Cubs won it all in 2016
Hey Chicago, whaddya say?
…..
Words and Music by Ted Wulfers
©2016 Ted Wulfers
663TUNES (BMI)
Produced, Engineered and Mixed by Ted Wulfers
Lead Vocal, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitars, Bass,
Pedal Steel, Tambourine, Harmonica by Ted Wulfers
Recorded at 663 Sound – Los Angeles, CA
Assistant Engineer – Jagger Wulfers
credits
released November 3, 2016
Words and Music By Ted Wulfers
Written Nov 3, 2016
Ted Wulfers: Vocals and All Instruments
Produced, Engineered, Recorded and Mixed by Ted Wulfers
It’s not very often that a song is written and recorded in a couple of hours and then hours later is featured on one of the biggest radio stations in the United States! It’s even more unique that within hours of the radio play, people are buying the song and taking it to the cemeteries where their loved ones are buried and playing the song for the headstones. But then again, it’s not very often that the Chicago Cubs win the World Series.
After the Chicago Cubs won the 2016 World Series in Cleveland, OH in the early morning of Thursday, Nov 3, around 2:30am PST, singer/songwriter Ted Wulfers was driving on the famous Mulholland Drive on his way home from a celebratory Hollywood gathering of Chicago natives cheering, crying and hugging, still in disbelief that the Chicago Cubs had finally won the World Series. They had finally won it all in 2016.
While driving the twisting and turning roads, basking in the silence and the open window breeze, Wulfers recollected all of the people in his life who were no longer with him who he wished he could tell in person that the Cubs had gone all the way. And suddenly, this idea turned into a song.
Wulfers arrived at his San Fernando Valley recording studio around 3am with most of the song written in his head but he knew he had some work to do. By 4am, he had finished the lyrics and recorded the lead vocal and acoustic guitar track live in one take. He then overdubbed some electric guitars, an electric bass, a pedal steel track, a tambourine and some harmonica. By 6am, the song was mixed and ready for release. By 7am, it started to sell and be shared on social media and later in the day it was cued up for the radio and television airwaves.
The legendary Chicago radio DJ Lin Brehmer cued it up on Chicago’s 93.1 WXRT for airplay throughout the day on Friday, Nov 4 as 5,000,000 Cubs fans flocked to the streets of Chicago to celebrate at the Cubs rally parade and be a part of the largest gathering of humanity at one time in American history.
The reaction to the song was enormous and Ted’s new song provided the perfect soundtrack to these joyful Cubs fans and captured the emotions that so many of them were feeling as they were celebrating. Amidst the happiness, there were also tearful that so many of their ancestors and loved ones were never able to share in that joy while alive. People began buying the song and taking the recording to Wrigley Field and playing it for the names of the people they had written in chalk on the hallowed walls of the friendly confines. They took the recording to the cemeteries where their loved ones are buried and played the song for the headstones. The connection was real and the emotions at an all time high. Wulfers tapped into just what they were feeling and how they were reacting during this incredible moment in history.
Whereas other famous sports songs are hopeful, “The Cubs Won It All In 2016” is an historical account of the happenings of Game 7 of the 2016 World Series. Wulfers mentions in the lyrics how the game was tied in the 9th inning and the rain began to fall forcing a rain delay. He also describes the winning play where Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant fielded the ball and threw to first baseman Anthony Rizzo for the final out to win the World Series. Wulfers sounds like he’s crying into the microphone when he says “Holy Cow.” And who can blame him…emotions run high for sports fans, and this particular subject and game will go down as one of the all time greatest moments in sports and American history. Fans of the song have had special connections with some of the Cubs history that Wulfers talks about. He alludes to Harry Caray, Jack Brickhouse, Ernie Banks and Ron Santo and mentions members of the last Cubs team to win a World Series in 1908. The famous triple play combo of Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers and manager/first baseman Frank Chance made legend in the poem by Franklin Pierce Adams. He even makes a reference to the Lakeview Baseball Club Rooftop’s famous expression of “Eamus Catuli” which means “Go Cubs Go,” in latin and how the original rooftop kept a time and day reminder of how long it had been since the Cubs last won a World Series and how now the Racky family would finally have the honor of turning all the numbers back to “AC 00 00 00”
“The Cubs Won It All In 2016” is also a brand new song that is a continuation of the troubadour tradition of Chicago Cubs songs that Steve Goodman began, Eddie Vedder continued and now Ted Wulfers carries on as part of a younger generation summing up the feelings so many lifelong Cubs and sports fans are basking in. In one of the verses, Wulfers pays an homage to the story line of the Steve Goodman classic “A Dying Cubs Fan’s Last Request” where Ted proudly tells Steve somehow through the ether that the “Cubs are finally the best.”
Wulfers’ connection with Goodman is big since in 2008, Ted became the subject of international sports and world news as the singer who lost a gig because he played Steve Goodman’s classic “Go Cubs Go” at Miller Park in Milwaukee and landed Wulfers on the cover of many newspapers and magazines and as the subject of many TV and Radio talk shows during the 2008 Chicago Cubs playoffs run.
The Cubs winning the World Series is the joy and beauty that Cubs and sports fans are celebrating around the world. All of the failed seasons or blown plays are forgotten. The curses are over and the water is under the bridge. Humanity has been cleansed and slates wiped clean and human spirit is given a boost. It is a reminder of the power of faith, hope and persistence that remains eternal and every now and then shines a sunny light on the human existence. Those lights shined extra bright under the cloudy skies of Cleveland’s Progressive Field on November 2nd into the wee hours of November 3rd.
What Wulfers created in a matter of hours will supply Cubs and sports fans a lifetime of joy and happiness and although “having another catch” or telling them in person is no longer an option, Ted’s song will allow them to speak through music to those no longer with them, and celebrate the emotional and historic fact that there is no longer the need for the phrase “maybe next year” because……
“The Cubs Won It All in 2016….
Yeah The Cubs Won It All In 2016
Hey Chicago…whammy say?”