Before I go, I wanted to make sure you heard this recording from the Chicago Symphony and Chorus. It’s from the last Chicago Bears Super Bowl appearance, but it’ll crank you up as if it happened yesterday.

Early in 1986 as the Chicago Bears football team approached an NFL championship, ‘Bears Fever’ delightfully invaded Orchestra Hall. At the end of a Tchaikovsky-Liszt orchestral concert with music director Sir Georg Solti conducting, applause kept the maestro returning to center stage.

Suddenly, members of the Chicago Symphony Chorus—wearing Bears sweatshirts—streamed onstage, and Solti led the Orchestra and Chorus in a rousing rendition of the Bears’s fight song, ‘Bear Down, Chicago Bears.’ The audience joined in singing, and in the two repeats of the concert, the same thing happened with even more ‘performers’ onstage. Backstage people, Chicago Symphony Orchestra staff, and others—including Lady Valerie Solti—crowded in to sing along.

You can order CSO tickets by clicking here. And in case you want to sing along…

Bear down, Chicago Bears,
Make every play clear the way to victory!
Bear down, Chicago Bears,
Put up a fight with a might so fearlessly.
We’ll never forget the way you thrilled the nation
With your “T” formation.
Bear down, Chicago Bears,
And let ’em know why you’re wearing the crown.
You’re the pride and joy of Illinois,
Chicago Bears, bear down!

Anyway, have a great weekend and make sure to stop by Illinoize if you feel like gabbing.