Saratoga County might soon have its own song.
We kind of want it to be the symbol of Saratoga, telling people it’s not just a place you can go bet all your money. It has history behind it and it’s home to some people and really matters to a lot of people, said Michael LeRoy.
Michael LeRoy, 14, wrote and attached instrumentation to the song `Ode to Saratoga` in the hopes that garnering an official designation will encourage spirit throughout the county and make outsiders realize the region’s true character.
`Saratoga is home to me. People go to Saratoga to see horses, to see the springs, but when I go to Saratoga it feels natural to be there and that’s kind of the feeling behind the song,` said Michael LeRoy, of Clifton Park. `I wouldn’t have written a song about it if I didn’t feel I had a reason to have a song about it.`
`Ode to Saratoga` actually got started back in the ’90s when Marvin LeRoy, a former Clifton Park supervisor, wrote a version as a poem.
`The idea was started by my dad who decided he wasn’t happy with what was coming to the table as to a song for Saratoga so he decided to write a poem at the time about how he felt about Saratoga,` said Michael LeRoy.
Marvin LeRoy said a song for Saratoga has been kicked around for decades. Twenty years ago, most of the proposed songs were jingles that focused on the racetrack.
`None of them really represented the Victorian, stately aspect of what Saratoga is; the historic place that it is,` said Marvin LeRoy. `I think the idea of a song for the area has been mostly the idea of musicians. Unfortunately, we haven’t really had an effort on the part of elected officials or the community or business officials to do that.`
The LeRoys are determined to make their song `the one.` They’ve been shopping the song around to local chambers and town supervisors. While there’s no official word yet, they said the response has been positive.
`It would prove my point about Saratoga. Saratoga can really bring opportunities not a lot of places can bring,` said Michael LeRoy. `Anywhere else it would take years to get a song as far as it’s gotten now.`
`Ode to Saratoga` might have gotten its first draft years ago, but it didn’t get a fresh look until this January when Michael LeRoy decided to put his improving musician skills to use.
`I rearranged it and turned it into what it turned out to be,` said Michael LeRoy. `First I made a background track where I decided what I wanted it to sound like how I thought Saratoga should sound. Then I took the poem and rearranged it because when it was written it wasn’t written like a song should be, it was more poetic.`
According to Michael LeRoy, Saratoga sounds like trumpets (to represent horse racing), drums (an ode to Revolutionary War marches) and a good beat.
`I thought about the four `H’s` health, history, horses and home,` said Michael LeRoy.
The verses are more detailed but the chorus sums up the region: `Ode to Saratoga, a great American place; With many unique traditions, and the excitement of the race.`
Michael LeRoy does the vocals and all the instrumentation except for the percussion. For that, he enlisted his friend, Alex Lavigne.
`I tell people I probably could have done the drums but in the spirit of Saratoga giving people the chance to do stuff like that is the right thing to do, so I let him,` said Michael LeRoy.
The song has been played once on the radio but never live yet.
`On the 19th of August we’ll be playing it at the Clifton Park Commons for the Babe Ruth World Series with a live band, not just over the speakers,` said Michael LeRoy.
`Ode to Saratoga` was officially released on July 11 and can be heard online at odetosaratoga.bandcamp.com.
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