The Nashville Predators are entering a pivotal Game 5. Our city sits on the precipice of frozen glory. The timid need not apply, as the pressure will only continue to rise, the stakes only to get higher.

We at MP&F have made no secret of our borderline creepy obsession with our Preds and have spent much of the last few weeks keeping one eye on our work and the other on Bridgestone, which we can see out our window, just a couple of blocks from our office.

To help spread our excitement, we’ve combined forces to create a Preds Pump-Up Playlist to get you ready for tonight’s game in Pittsburgh, with the staff here submitting the go-to songs they like to hype themselves up with.

In the playlist, you’ll see the wide range of eclectic tastes shared by the staff here from AC/DC (Roger Shirley) to Kanye West (Erin Mercer) to Alabama (Javier Solano) to Neil Diamond (Dan Schlacter) to, somewhat regrettably, the Hamilton soundtrack (Selby Graepel).

Check out some of the reasons certain songs made it into the playlist below.

Theoretically, the songs here represent an evergreen pump-up playlist, so you have creative license to use before your next big client meeting or company softball game if you’d like.

Finally, let’s go, Preds!

You Shook Me All Night Long – AC/DC

  • If you can’t get pumped up listening to this song, you may be comatose. – Roger Shirley

Eye of the Tiger – Survivor

  • Always a perennial favorite! – Pat Ackerman
  • This was the song that got us all pumped up at high school pep rallies. Every time I hear it, I get nostalgic. – Mary Ruth Raphael

Africa – Toto

  • No explanation necessary. – Angela Argiro*

* This is a song literally about taking a trip to Africa, so I feel an explanation is, in fact, necessary; but I digress. – Thomas Mulgrew

America – Neil Diamond

  • When I was a kid, my siblings and I used to get pretty hyped up by listening to “[Coming to] America” on our parents’ record player. I don’t know what we were getting hyped for … maybe jumping off the back porch or throwing Jarts up in the air and running out of the way before they came back down and impaled us. Whatever it was, this song got us ready for it. – Dan Schlacter

Let It Roll – Little Feat

  • The ultimate victory song. – David Fox

My Shot – Hamilton: An American Revolution Soundtrack

  • It’s hard to pick one song; but “My Shot,” sung by Alexander Hamilton and his young revolutionary friends, embodies unparalleled spirit and inspiration. Hamilton sings about his hopes for the future and his desire to be remembered (both in his fame and in his service to his country), which is why he doesn’t want to throw away his shot or any chance he gets at achieving his goals. I’m sure Hamilton and his comrades would have been big hockey fans, so in the words of George Washington later in the show (and probably the second song I would recommend): “History has its eyes on you.” – Selby Graepel*

*Selby really likes this musical. – Thomas Mulgrew

Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go – Wham!

  • I just absolutely, 100 percent love this song. What can I say? – Evan Wofford

We Ready – Archie Eversole

  • This is the official hype song of the Hackin’ Flacks kickball team. – Greg Ellis

Dixieland Delight – Alabama

  • My high school soccer team hype song. D.C. team, but we had a lot of KIX 106FM (country format) fans on our team, lots of kids who dipped. We blasted that before games and as a victory song afterward. Didn’t like the song very much, but it was our thing. – Javier Solano

Scatman (ski-ba-bop-ba-dop-bop) – Scatman John

  • Throwing it back to the ’90s with this one. I was a big Jock Jams lover growing up, and listening to this song could make me run for miles. – Aleah Heinlein

Bonus Pump-Up Video:

  • I challenge any human to watch the first four minutes of “Top Gun” and not be able to bench press like a 1,000 lbs. as a result of that music combined with flight crew guys doing cool stuff and then fighter jets going bananas. Dude, and then later in the movie when Ice Man and everyone is in trouble and Mav’s not sure he can do it, but then Mav’s like, ‘Maverick’s supersonic. I’ll be there in 30 seconds.’ Bench goes up to 2,000 lbs. … easy. – Dan Schlacter