John Martin is the writer and singer for OSU's new introduction song, "Cowboys Forever." Preston Bezant/For the Tulsa World
By BILL HAISTEN World Sports Writer
Published: 8/23/2009 3:26 AM
Last Modified: 8/23/2009 3:44 AM
Listen to John Martin’s “Cowboys Forever.”STILLWATER — A former Baylor Bear has composed and recorded an Oklahoma State anthem to be featured during the Cowboys' pregame video for home football games.
John Martin, son of OSU associate athletic director Dave Martin and a Baylor wide receiver in 2000-04, is a 27-year-old singer-songwriter. When he was approached by OSU athletic director Mike Holder about the possibility of producing the 2009 Cowboy pregame video, he and a friend, Taylor Bolding, accepted the assignment.
Martin decided also to write a song that would accompany the video. He attended Bruce Springsteen's April 7 show at Tulsa's BOK Center. About a week later, influenced by the sing-along quality of Springsteen's anthems, Martin began to write "Cowboys Forever."
The three-minute, 20-second song would best be described as a pop-rock hybrid. A sample of the lyrics: "In bedlam we will rise and stand ... with strength and honor to defend our land."
"A couple of people have told me that it reminds them a little of Springsteen," Martin said. "It's a big-sounding song. That's what I wanted. When coach Holder heard it, he was singing along with it by the second listen. That's powerful. That's the effect you want the song to have on the fans."
Said Holder: "I look forward to seeing the reaction of the fans out here in our stadium. I think we can do some chants off of it. You can use it at various times during the game. You can listen to it when you're driving to the game."
When Nike's promotional specialists learned of Martin's song and video (which features Zac Robinson, Dez Bryant and Kendall Hunter), the Nike machine got involved.
Nike personnel did the editing on the video, and Nike is about to launch a line of "Cowboys 4Ever" apparel. During the recent Fan Appreciation Day autograph event, OSU players were clad in black "Cowboys 4Ever" T-shirts.
"Cowboys 4Ever" gear soon will be available at the Boone Pickens Stadium merchandise store, Dave Martin said, and also in various Stillwater, Tulsa and Oklahoma City shops.
Within a few days, the "Cowboys Forever" song will be available for purchase attulsaworld.com/osusports.
"If you listen to that song more than once or twice, you'll be humming the song," Dave Martin said. "It gets into your head. That was John's intent. He wanted a catchy song, and I think he wrote one.
"When John sings about Bullet (OSU's mascot horse) riding across the plains, that might mean nothing to some people, but it certainly means something for Oklahoma State people."
Nike's production team put the finishing touches on the video last week.
"All I can say is that it's really cool," John Martin said.
OSU officials are being extremely guarded, not wanting copies of the video to be leaked before the Sept. 5 opener against Georgia.
Martin's three-day song-writing process was completed on April 17. Five days later, he was in the Tulsa-area home of country-music superstar Garth Brooks, a former OSU track athlete. The first time that Martin performed the song for anyone, he performed it on an acoustic guitar for Brooks.
"It was a huge deal for me to take the song to Garth, to get his opinion and see what he thought about it," Martin said. "I gave him the lyrics first. He loved the title 'Cowboys Forever.' He kneels down on one knee, up against the coffee table, and says, 'Let's hear it.' He was tapping along with the song, and when I finished, he sang the chorus melody back to me. It was a chance of a lifetime to go to his house and play it for him. I'll never forget it."
A self-taught guitarist and vocalist who fronts a band known as August Rose, Martin resides in Stillwater, only a couple of blocks from the OSU campus.
His songs can be sampled at tulsaworld.com/cowboysforever and iTunes.
Last year, the Big 12 Conference hired Martin to write a theme for the league. Martin wrote and recorded "Live Your Dreams," a song that was featured prominently during the bowl season and during Fox's BCS championship telecast.
In December, Martin sang the national anthem before the Oklahoma-Missouri Big 12 championship game at Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium.
"That was a great experience. Awesome," said Martin, a 1999 All-State football player at Stillwater High School. His Baylor career was tarnished by injuries (a broken collarbone and concussions).
Backed by an A-list collection of studio musicians (including Alanis Morissette's drummer, Sheryl Crow's bass player and Shakira's guitarist), Martin recorded "Cowboys Forever" in May.
The recording took place in Hollywood, Calif., in the same Sunset Sound studio where the Rolling Stones recorded "Exile On Main Street," and in which such artists as Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, The Doors and Tom Petty recorded classic albums.
"It was a mind-blowing thing," Martin says.
Cowboys Forever lyrics
The prairie wind touches our skin Another maverick morning begins Wild west eyes rise before the sun We are young guns on the run Hang ‘em high, pistols to the sky We ride, we ride, ‘cross the lineIt’s in our veins
The feel of the reins
.45’s, chaps, bandannas and spurs
We are cowboys forever
Stay here today, gone tomorrow
The open range is our home
All that we own lives inside our soul
We are cowboy to the bone
Hang ‘em high, pistols to the sky
We ride, we ride, ‘cross the line
It is in our veins
The feel of the reins
.45’s, chaps, bandannas and spurs
We are cowboys forever
Riding Bullet across the plains
To avenge our kin’s blood and name
In bedlam we will rise and stand
With strength and honor to defend our land
Hang ‘em high, pistols to the sky
We ride, we ride, ‘cross the line
It’s in our veins
The feel of the reins
.45’s, chaps, bandannas and spurs
We are cowboys forever
We are, we are
Cowboys forever
Bill Haisten 581-8397
bill.haisten@tulsaworld.com
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