# is there a name to (or origin of) this "song" that's incessantly chanted at college fb/bkb games? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 9, 2014, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-to-or-origin-of-this-song-thats-incessantly-chanted-at-college-fb-bkb-games/678343 "2014-01-09T06:19:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Win\_Place\_Show](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/win_place_show/32/13469_2.png) [@Win\_Place\_Show](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Win_Place_Show)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-to-or-origin-of-this-song-thats-incessantly-chanted-at-college-fb-bkb-games/678343/1 "2014-01-09T06:19:34Z")
it’s hard to “write out”, but if you’ve watched any college football or basketball games in the last (year? two years?) then you’ve certainly heard it… “whoaaaa… ho ho ho ho ho hohhh… whoaaaa… ho ho ho ho ho hohhh…” for those of you who know what the hell I’m talking about - is this part of a song that’s too “hip” for me to know where it’s derived from? Is it one of those FSU “tomahawk chop” things that originated at just one school, and then went “viral”? I can’t imagine there’s a wikipedia article behind this one, but if there is - consider this “ignorance fought”. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-to-or-origin-of-this-song-thats-incessantly-chanted-at-college-fb-bkb-games/678343/2 "2014-01-09T06:23:40Z")
Is this the song you’re talking about? [“Rock and Roll Part 2”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO7WNsTYOSs) by Gary Glitter ---
**Author:** ![Win\_Place\_Show](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/win_place_show/32/13469_2.png) [@Win\_Place\_Show](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Win_Place_Show)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-to-or-origin-of-this-song-thats-incessantly-chanted-at-college-fb-bkb-games/678343/3 "2014-01-09T06:31:05Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Is this the song you’re talking about? [“Rock and Roll Part 2”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO7WNsTYOSs) by Gary Glitter naw, that’s a fair shot (I think that’s one of the iconic “stadium anthems” that you do hear all over the place), but the one in my head is one that has zero music attached to it, it’s more just people “chanting”, similar to the tomahawk-chop chant thing. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-to-or-origin-of-this-song-thats-incessantly-chanted-at-college-fb-bkb-games/678343/4 "2014-01-09T06:34:39Z")
“Seven Nation Army” by the White Stripes Sorry no link. On phone. ---
**Author:** ![Win\_Place\_Show](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/win_place_show/32/13469_2.png) [@Win\_Place\_Show](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Win_Place_Show)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-to-or-origin-of-this-song-thats-incessantly-chanted-at-college-fb-bkb-games/678343/5 "2014-01-09T06:56:13Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > “Seven Nation Army” by the White Stripes > > Sorry no link. On phone. Boom! Ignorance fought, and thank you! What’s sad is I actually recognize the song, but I just never “connected the two”, or figured out how it became the “in-thing” of stadium chants. [Youtube link, for whatever it’s worth](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J2QdDbelmY) Thank you **ZipperJJ**! eta: [this is what I was trying to spell out in the OP](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piEWdXQSgA8) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-to-or-origin-of-this-song-thats-incessantly-chanted-at-college-fb-bkb-games/678343/6 "2014-01-09T07:18:30Z")
> [@Win\_Place\_Show](#): > > or figured out how it became the “in-thing” of stadium chants. I’d be interested in that history, too, if anyone knows. My best guess would be that some band played it a lot, then people sang along with, and then moved to places without bands. But you’d think that would take a while. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-to-or-origin-of-this-song-thats-incessantly-chanted-at-college-fb-bkb-games/678343/7 "2014-01-09T07:31:11Z")
Wikipedia is [your friend](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Nation_Army)for this kind of question. TL/DR it’s a Euro football thing being aped by US fans. ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-to-or-origin-of-this-song-thats-incessantly-chanted-at-college-fb-bkb-games/678343/8 "2014-01-09T14:46:40Z")
Huh, I would have thought you were talking about [Zombie Nation by Kernkraft 400](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPoiPZYbtnA). Relevant part begins at 1:15. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-to-or-origin-of-this-song-thats-incessantly-chanted-at-college-fb-bkb-games/678343/9 "2014-01-10T03:45:55Z")
> [@yellowjacketcoder](#): > > Huh, I would have thought you were talking about [Zombie Nation by Kernkraft 400](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPoiPZYbtnA). Relevant part begins at 1:15. The name of the song is Kernkraft 400. Zombie Nation is the artist. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-to-or-origin-of-this-song-thats-incessantly-chanted-at-college-fb-bkb-games/678343/10 "2014-01-10T18:00:55Z")
As long as it pushes the ‘clunk-clunk-_clank_’ from “We will, we will rock you” out of stadium use after far too many decades, I’m all for it. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-to-or-origin-of-this-song-thats-incessantly-chanted-at-college-fb-bkb-games/678343/11 "2014-01-10T18:11:12Z")
> [@Hoopy\_Frood](#): > > The name of the song is Kernkraft 400. Zombie Nation is the artist. That might be the most common song/artist transposition there is. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-to-or-origin-of-this-song-thats-incessantly-chanted-at-college-fb-bkb-games/678343/12 "2014-01-10T18:33:20Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > That might be the most common song/artist transposition there is. Probably doesn’t help that the only thing really said in the song is “Zombie Nation.” ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-to-or-origin-of-this-song-thats-incessantly-chanted-at-college-fb-bkb-games/678343/13 "2014-01-10T19:08:07Z")
Well, other than > [@](#): > > whoaaaa… ho ho ho ho ho hohhh… whoaaaa… ho ho ho ho ho hohhh… I think they say “liftoff” or something in there, too. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-to-or-origin-of-this-song-thats-incessantly-chanted-at-college-fb-bkb-games/678343/14 "2014-01-10T19:26:46Z")
I’ve noticed a lot of stadiums actually switching to the White Stripes song to play over the speakers. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-to-or-origin-of-this-song-thats-incessantly-chanted-at-college-fb-bkb-games/678343/15 "2014-01-10T20:05:46Z")
I think a lot of stadiums decided to stop playing _Rock and Roll Part 2_ after the whole Gary Glitter kiddy-porn thing became news stateside (apparently long after it happened in the UK, because Coke did a huge ad campaign focused around the song at about that time.) ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-to-or-origin-of-this-song-thats-incessantly-chanted-at-college-fb-bkb-games/678343/16 "2014-01-10T21:51:13Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I think a lot of stadiums decided to stop playing _Rock and Roll Part 2_ after the whole Gary Glitter kiddy-porn thing became news stateside (apparently long after it happened in the UK, because Coke did a huge ad campaign focused around the song at about that time.) I saw some Penn State volleyball games this year and noticed the band played a song that sounded much like, but was clearly not, _Rock and Roll Part 2_. Can’t imagine why a Penn State athletic team would want to keep away from Gary Glitter associations… ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-to-or-origin-of-this-song-thats-incessantly-chanted-at-college-fb-bkb-games/678343/17 "2014-01-11T19:57:00Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Probably doesn’t help that the only thing really said in the song is “Zombie Nation.” Seems to be par for the course with Electronica. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-to-or-origin-of-this-song-thats-incessantly-chanted-at-college-fb-bkb-games/678343/18 "2014-01-11T21:31:21Z")
I’d guess it’s descended from the chanting of the howl at Braves and Seminoles games back in the early 1990s. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Nlgfs7bIhys/maxresdefault.jpg "FSU Seminoles College Football BCS National ChampionsTomahawk Chop at DOAK") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nlgfs7bIhys) Outside of college sports the first time I think it entered popular culture was in the 1991 World Series where the Braves faced down the Twins. The Tomahawk Chop started being a ‘thing’ there - as it has been at many sporting events where one team has a native American theme or connection. From there it’s spread and the White Stripes song sort of overtook the original chant. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-to-or-origin-of-this-song-thats-incessantly-chanted-at-college-fb-bkb-games/678343/19 "2014-01-11T21:51:47Z")
> [@Win\_Place\_Show](#): > > “whoaaaa… ho ho ho ho ho hohhh… whoaaaa… ho ho ho ho ho hohhh…”. Gee, I had a thousand wrong guesses, all of them songs by Katy Perry. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-to-or-origin-of-this-song-thats-incessantly-chanted-at-college-fb-bkb-games/678343/20 "2014-01-12T08:57:54Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I think a lot of stadiums decided to stop playing _Rock and Roll Part 2_ after the whole Gary Glitter kiddy-porn thing became news stateside (apparently long after it happened in the UK, because Coke did a huge ad campaign focused around the song at about that time.) They need to switch to: KLF - Doctorin’ The Tardis > [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > I’d guess it’s descended from the chanting of the howl at Braves and Seminoles games back in the early 1990s. I suspect it started a lot earlier than that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-to-or-origin-of-this-song-thats-incessantly-chanted-at-college-fb-bkb-games/678343.md?page=2)