"Here Come the Irish": Part Two on Notre Dame Songs

In 2003, former Notre Dame All-American center John Scully set out to create a song that captured the Notre Dame spirit, and he did just that.

Teamed with producer Jim Tullio, Scully managed to add to the illustrious history of great Notre Dame songs like The Victory March, Hike Notre Dame, The Rakes of Mallow, and Damsha Bua.

He gained perhaps his greatest notoriety for writing and recording "Here Come the Irish," a song about the University of Notre Dame that—wouldn't you know it—doesn't contain a single explicit reference to football. The song illustrates Scully's willingness to take on a daunting challenge. It wasn't as if Scully and co-producer Jim Tullio had never heard "The Notre Dame Victory March."

"We wanted a distinctive effort," Scully says. "But we wanted something perpendicular, not opposite."

The universal acclaim which greeted the release of "Here Come the Irish" left no doubt that Scully and Tullio had hit their target.

"The lyrics are from an observer's point of view," Scully explains.

"It doesn't matter if you're an All-American, the president of the University, or a freshman in his first semester, everyone ends up being a brick in the wall."

 

Scully is proud of what he and his teammates accomplished at Notre Dame. The 1980 team he captained as a senior surprised nearly everybody by climbing to the top of the polls by November. But Scully doesn't spend much time reliving those days.

"We get to go out every day and write our own biographies," he says. "What I did at Notre Dame is ancient history."

Two labels which Scully does gladly embrace are that of husband and father. Living in Joliet, Ill., with his wife and two teenage daughters, Scully has changed labels once again, entering the commercial insurance field.

 

The early indications are that Scully will be labeled a success once again.

This article is also featured on Stars and Slights

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