‘OK BLUE JAYS,’ JUST RELAX
Songwriter behind ‘lazy’ Blue Jays anthem says slow tune was inspired by Randy Newman
Ducking into his daughter’s classroom at Park Lane Public School, Jack Lenz is all smiles. He jokes about how the bed in the corner, meant for the students with physical disabilities, would have been nice to have when he went to school. At the mention of the children who attend the school, Lenz’s casual happiness gives way to more overwhelming emotions. His voice wavers, he tears up and his gaze becomes focused on something far beyond the small classroom. All students at Park Lane, including Lenz’s daughter Mercey, have developmental and often physical disabilities.
Lenz, 66, often visits the school to sing for them. On the eve of the Blue Jays start in the playoff series, Lenz visited to sing perhaps the most famous song he’s written: “OK Blue Jays.” He spoke with the Star about the song, his daughter and the legacy of his work.
Your song is known across the country and affects a lot of people. Were you expecting that when you wrote it? No idea. I write several songs a week, and I write music, score movies and television series, so you’re always under pressure. You’re always trying to meet a deadline. You never know what’s going to happen to it. It was a really good feeling in the studio. It was March 8, 1982 and we had a great group of friends together. We even had Ralph Fraser — the organ player who used to play at the Blue Jays games. And it was just a blast.
It’s been a lot of years since the Jays have been this popular. It seems like the song is part of that. It’s nice that it is. It’s nice to be part of the culture. We’ve become baseball lovers. I played baseball as a kid in Saskatchewan, but there wasn’t much baseball except the local teams. Hockey was a big deal, baseball wasn’t . . . but now it’s huge. Now people in Saskatchewan are as big fans as people in Toronto.
How do you feel about performing with your daughter? I’ve done a fair amount of music at this school, but it’s never easy because it’s not just that my daughter makes me emotional about music and about singing and playing. It’s also the fact that these kids are really so remarkable. They’re these pure kind of souls around us, and that’s why I think your heart gets so affected by it I’m always moved by it, no matter when I come. I mean, we’re so lucky to live in a country like Canada. We have so many blessings here for kids like this. We really do look after our most vulnerable, and I’m always really proud to say I’m a Canadian because of that.
Can you share anything that we don’t know about the song? The thing about a song like this, both (co-writer) Tony (Kosinec) and I really thought, “Well, Randy Newman should write this song.” So it was partly an homage to Randy Newman that we thought of how it should go.
Any prediction for how the Jays will do? I think they’ll go all the way to the Series. I’ve got a good feeling about it. I think Texas is going to be tough.