Goodbye papa, please pray for me: Tigres fans honour Terry Jacks, as their team beats the Whitecaps

Andre-Pierre Gignac PHOTO: MASTERFUT

There are songs that are simply destined to become stadium anthems. When the White Stripes came up with the bass line to “Seven Nation Army,” they must have envisioned it being played and sung in stadiums around the world. Men Without Hats’ playful “Pop Goes the World” has been lifted a few times.

“Seasons in the Sun” is not one of those songs. Or, at least, it shouldn’t be. Vancouver songwriter Terry Jacks penned the smash hit in the early ‘70s, a mournful song about a man looking back on his life as he awaits his end.

But, for most of the second half, the loud-as-hell trumpeter (or was it a trumpet section) in Monterrey’s famous “Volcano” stadium belted out “Seasons in the Sun.” Over and over. Maybe it was because Tigres were playing the Vancouver Whitecaps Tuesday night in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions League semifinal —  and well, Terry Jacks is from Vancouver.

Maybe Tigres fans have a weird sense of occasion. Maybe they celebrate a championship with a trumpet rendition of Depeche Mode’s “Blasphemous Rumours” or the Smiths’ “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now.”

Or maybe they’ve got a thing where they play songs from the cities of the teams they’re playing. Or a fetish for Canadian pop hits. Maybe they regale Cruz Azul with the Spoons’ “Romantic Traffic” or throw Chivas off their game with Martha and the Muffins’ “Echo Beach.”

But “Seasons in the Sun” kinda tied up the game nicely. The Whitecaps went to Mexico with one mission — survive. Instead, after a 2-0 loss, they might be thinking, “what a nice CL campaign we had. Goodbye to you our trusted friends.”

For 66 minutes, the Whitecaps held on and held on and held on. French national teamer Andre-Pierre Gignac had a great chance to put Tigres in the lead in the first half, but his shot took a slight deflection off Whitecaps defender Tim Parker and went wide. Luis Quinones had a chance to head Tigres into the lead, but, from about two feet out, somehow headed the ball over the bar.

Tigres had a number of great chances, but Whitecaps David Ousted was the equal to them. So, of course, the first goal would come after a series of self-inflicted wounds. First, Whitecaps centre back Kendall Waston mishit a clearing attempt. Eduardo Vargas got the ball at the top of the box, sprayed it wide to Gignac, whose low cross went off Waston and in for the own goal.

(Maybe the Grapes of Wrath’s “All the Things I Wasn’t” would be a good own-goal song.)

Whitecaps keeper David Ousted held the score at 1-0 for a good 20 minutes, making a series of saves, including a sensational diving stop on Quinones. Meanwhile, the Whitecaps had a couple of decent chances to steal a road goal, but Brek Shea didn’t con anyone with his entry into the worst-dive-of-the-year sweepstakes, and Nicolas Mezquida didn’t convert when he should have hit the net.

(Saga’s “Wind Him Up” might be a decent he-missed-the-net song)

Finally, Vargas slammed in a point-blank shot late in the game, giving Tigres the edge they deserved.

And, unless the Whitecaps can enjoy a massive turnaround in the second leg at BC Place… goodbye papa it’s hard to die.