# 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:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**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 12, 2014, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-to-or-origin-of-this-song-thats-incessantly-chanted-at-college-fb-bkb-games/678343/21 "2014-01-12T17:34:28Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > I’d guess it’s descended from the chanting of the howl at Braves and Seminoles games back in the early 1990s. You’re joking, right? It’s been going on in Europe since the _1920s_. Anyway, FSU fans have been singing the war chant much longer than that. The tomahawk chop began in the 1990s, but the chant goes back farther. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-to-or-origin-of-this-song-thats-incessantly-chanted-at-college-fb-bkb-games/678343/22 "2014-01-12T22:53:54Z")
Speaking of chants at sports events, there’s another one that seems pervasive, especially in college games. It goes B-A-F#-A-B. The first B is a half note, and I think the remaining notes are quarter notes. Ke$ha and Iggy Pop use the chant at the very beginning of “[Dirty Love](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPTdLO762cs).” Does anyone know the origin of this chant? ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-to-or-origin-of-this-song-thats-incessantly-chanted-at-college-fb-bkb-games/678343/23 "2014-01-12T23:33:47Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > Speaking of chants at sports events, there’s another one that seems pervasive, especially in college games. It goes B-A-F#-A-B. The first B is a half note, and I think the remaining notes are quarter notes. Ke$ha and Iggy Pop use the chant at the very beginning of “[Dirty Love](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPTdLO762cs).” Does anyone know the origin of this chant? It sounds like a homage to the opening of [“New Orleans” by Gary (U.S.) Bonds](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9Ib8sC_wX8). ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-to-or-origin-of-this-song-thats-incessantly-chanted-at-college-fb-bkb-games/678343/24 "2014-01-12T23:54:08Z")
I guess Cotton Eyed Joe by the Swedish group is no longer used much? Maybe that was just hockey. BTW, the White Stripes are a great example of how you don’t have to be any good at your instrument to be in a hit band. (listen to the drums) ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-to-or-origin-of-this-song-thats-incessantly-chanted-at-college-fb-bkb-games/678343/25 "2014-01-13T01:05:22Z")
> [@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. THANK YOU! I have been wondering all year what that was. Now that I know I know who to kill. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-to-or-origin-of-this-song-thats-incessantly-chanted-at-college-fb-bkb-games/678343/26 "2014-01-14T10:38:42Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I guess Cotton Eyed Joe by the Swedish group is no longer used much? Maybe that was just hockey. That song has been played at University of Alabama baseball games for several years. The baseball stadium is nicknamed “The Joe.” ---
**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 14, 2014, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-to-or-origin-of-this-song-thats-incessantly-chanted-at-college-fb-bkb-games/678343/27 "2014-01-14T19:48:30Z")
> [@Win\_Place\_Show](#): > > “whoaaaa… ho ho ho ho ho hohhh… whoaaaa… ho ho ho ho ho hohhh…” > [@TonySinclair](#): > > Gee, I had a thousand wrong guesses, all of them songs by Katy Perry. I’ll admit my first instinct was to post a joke about Keanu Reeves doing a remake of _Miracle on 34th Street_. [Previous 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=1)