Who dat? is most commonly known as a chant of support by fans for their particular sports team. In recent years its most well known affiliation is with fans of the New Orleans Saints, an American football team. The entire chant is: "Who dat? Who dat? Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints? Who dat? Who dat?"
Though currently in great debate the chant of "Who Dat?" originated in minstrel shows and vaudeville acts of the late 1800s and early 1900s, and was then taken up by jazz and big band performers in the 1920s and 30s.
One of the very first references to "Who Dat?" can be found in the 19th Century,featured in E.E.Rice's song "Summer Nights".In the song we find the words "Who Dat Say Chicken In dis Crowd", with lyrics by poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. Another example is "Swing Wedding," a rarely shown 1930s Harmon-Ising cartoon musical, which caricatured Fats Waller, Cab Calloway, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Ethel Waters, and the Mills Brothers as frogs in a swamp performing minstrel show jokes and jazz tunes.
The frogs repeatedly used the phrase "who dat?"
During the swing era, "who dat" chants back and forth between the band and the band leader or between the audience and the band were common. That is, there was no one specific set of words except for the two magic ones.
"Who Dat?" Lyrics from 1937:
Who dat up there who’s dat down there
Who dat up there who dat well down there
Who’s dat up there, sayin’ who’s dat down there
When I see you up there well who’s dat down there
Who dat inside who’s dat outside
Who’s dat inside who dat well outside
Who’s dat inside, singin’ who’s dat outside
When I see up there well who’s dat out there
Now...Who Dat Say they Own Who Dat !?
Dats Who was started in response to the historic 2010 Saints football season, and national championship win. For over 30 years the Saints have been the red-headed step child of the NFL, who showed little to no concern what fans said or did, but now in the light of the upcoming bowl game the NFL seems to think they have rights to something that they never owned.
The Spirit of Who Dat belongs to the people, belongs to the fans, and we stand behind that idea all the way. Show your love for your boys in New Orleans and their amazing football season! Join Dats Who on Facebook, or follow us on twitter.com/datswhonola
Our site is up and coming! Stay tuned to http://www.datswho.com for the latest Saints fan news, official Dats Who (not licensed by the NFL) merchandise!
Boise Web Design - Tick Chick - JediNinja - Tres Creative
DATS WHO WON DA BOWL!
|
Share