We’re back! Look, we know we crashed out early with our weekly updates last season, but let’s be honest — enthusiasm in the greater Austin FC fan community felt like it reached its nadir in 2024, and we here at the Murga Report were not immune to it either. It’s not that we didn’t care about the team or its prospects on the field (and their relationship to the goings-on in the stands) but it was hard to muster up the energy to spend more time thinking about it than was absolutely necessary, y’know? That’s no excuse, but it’s at least a reason for our abrupt lack of output.
But those days are over! A new season has brought renewed optimism, and with it a desire to redouble our efforts to provide the absolute best in nonsense data journalism to our dozens of readers. And if you’re new here, here’s how this 100% reliable recurring feature works: throughout the season, we keep track of each song that La Murga plays during home matches, and charts the correlation between songs and events on the field (such as goals scored or conceded). Got it? Great. Now let’s get to the numbers!
What Songs Were Played, and How Many Times?
Random Observations: No new songs were introduced since the end of last season, which feels de rigueur for La Murga at this point in its history. Of the ones that were new last season, we are especially fond of “La Vida Verde Es Un Carnaval.” While the lyrics may seem like a mouthful for non-Spanish speakers, the song absolutely slaps. Our advice for the mumblers is to take a few Duolingo lessons and suck it up, entiende?
In other news, the match didn’t open with “The Wolff of Sixth Street” which had usually been in the first slot for the first four seasons. It will be curious to see if the song has been phased out with the firing of the last coach or if it was more a one-time decision to play “Matador” as the tifo was being raised. We’ll monitor the situation and update you after the next home game.
What Songs Were Playing When Austin Scored
Random Observations: Well well well, if it isn’t the song that makes hundreds of aging knees cry out from the South End in agony. Introduced in the 2023 season, “Feliz Feliz” has never existed at a time when the fanbase has been particularly feliz, so it would be wonderful if its fortunes could change in 2025.
What Songs Were Playing When Kansas City Scored
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Random Observations: We took the under in Moontower Soccer’s “number of Stuver clean sheets on the season” prop bet a couple of weeks ago, and we’re already regretting it.
Season Totals
Final Thoughts
In last year’s season opener (a 2-1 loss to Minnesota), La Murga played 44 songs (including 8 renditions of *clapclapclap* ATX). This year, they only played 37 songs (including 4 renditions of *clapclapclap* ATX). Were the songs longer this year compared to last? Or perhaps the tempos might have been slower year over year? We aren’t sure, but we’ll keep an eye on that number as the season develops.
And as a bit of housekeeping, we’re going to try to introduce some new stats into the numbers this year, like which songs are most often played back-to-back, which songs are more often played when Austin has a lead, etc. These new data elements will all be works-in-progress until the season progresses a bit further, but if there are any stats that you’d like to see us cover, let us know in the comments.
And until next time, please remember: “tienes que saber que aquí es así.”
H.E. Pennypacker
H.E. Pennypacker spends far too much time thinking about Austin FC, much to the consternation of his friends, family, and employers. He could really go for a sandwich right about now.