The audacity of the crowd anthem

There’s little doubt that We Are the Champions is one of the great crowd anthems of our time.

Just about any group can be stirred into a frenzy just by playing a few bars:

The same goes Rapper’s Delight.

And yet…

Can you imagine how frightening it must have been to play it live for the first time?

What if no one sang back?

What if you the singer was out there all alone, with nothing coming back?

This might be one reason why anthems are scarce.

In just about every sort of community.

If you’re not prepared to sing alone, it’s difficult to get to the point where people sing along with you.