Detroit Lions vs. Green Bay Packers Song of the Game: ‘Hold on Tight’ by ELO

Electric Light Orchestra is one of my favorite bands of all time. I learned of them in my college years, but as I expanded deeper into their catalogue, I realized I wasn’t just meeting them now, I had known them all along. “Mr. Blue Sky” was a song I had likely memorized by the time I was six. “Telephone Line” was “that song” playing in the background of the fantastically odd scene when Steve Buscemi crossed out Billy Madison from his People to Kill list. “Showdown” was that badass song playing the background when Roy Munson was in an epic bowl-off against the greatest character Bill Murray has ever played: Ernie McCracken.

For decades, ELO had been creating hit after hit and went underappreciated and overlooked. It’s not the most flashy of music and it’s probably not challenging enough for music snobs to enjoy, but their history is some of the most consistently good stuff out there.

And yet, they never reached the pinnacle of pop music. They currently hold the record for most US Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 hits (20) without ever reaching No. 1.

ELO is the Detroit Lions.

Detroit Lions vs. Green Bay Packers Song of the Game: “Hold on Tight” by Electric Light Orchestra

At halftime of Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers, I immediately sent out a warning shot across Lions twitter. Detroit, currently up 24-0, was in no way safe against this Packers team. A few weeks ago the Bears learned this lesson the hard way, and Lions fans don’t need a long memory to recall the last time Aaron Rodgers mounted a 20-point comeback in that very same building.

Hold on tight to your dream
Hold on tight to your dream

Sunday wasn’t just about holding on to a three possession lead, but for the Lions it was a chance of hold out any hope of a successful 2018 season. The team was on life support after a 1-3 start, and heading into the bye week at 1-4 would’ve sent the players to their homes filled with doubt and frustration.

And it started to look like the Lions would not only lose on Sunday, but drop the game in gut-wrenching fashion as Rodgers was working his Devil Magic yet again. At one point, the Packers were a yard and two-point conversion away from making it a three-point game with over four minutes left. We had seen this before.

When you see the shadows falling
When you hear that cold wind calling
Hold on tight to your dream

But because this season makes no sense, things went the Lions way on Sunday. The passing play setting up the Packers in the red zone was actually incomplete upon review. Mason Crosby would miss his fourth field goal a few plays later, and the Lions offense actually closed out a game they had the lead in.

I don’t know why ELO breaks into French halfway through this song, but can you honestly say it’s more confounding than anything we’ve seen out of the Detroit Lions this season?

Check out our full playlist to the 2018 season below (or here if you don’t see it). You can catch our explanations of each choice here.