Day 35 – Songs and chants

Topic Point:Listen closely to the background at soccer matches, be they club or nationalteam,and you will hear singing and chanting. They go well beyond therepetitive, “U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!” that we hear at the Olympics. World footballchants are creative yet easy to sing, following a folk chant melody that ispart song, part poem. They originated in the late 1800s though there is somedebate about the first recorded chant.[1]United States soccer fans have created a delightful group of chants. The “USA”chant is used sparingly at U.S. National Team matches (men or women); the songsand chants provide for a more festive environment and seem to be more upliftingfor the players. Along with the singing, there can be a variety of musicalinstruments including drums and horns, perhaps the most famous being thenotorious vuvuzela.

Chants are made for both club and nationalteams. They can be for the team or for a player, one of the most significantforms of praise for an athlete. There are also chants made against officials,and sometimes the opponent. They are often humorous, though pushing theboundaries of tastefulness at times with profanity and obscene gestures. Historicallythe lines were radically crossed, often leading to violence or, at the veryleast, inappropriately derogatory remarks that could be racist, sexist, orhomophobic. Leagues and clubs have addressed this resulting in significantly improvedbehavior, though sadly the bad behavior does emerge from time to time.

Ted Lasso: Thereare a variety of delightful chants demonstrated throughout the show. Theyinclude the AFC Richmond chant (S1E6, S1E7, and other episodes), Jaime Tartt’schant (S1E5, S2E3), and Roy Kent’s chant (S1E10, S2E5). Sam Obisanya is awardeda chant in S2E11 after achieving a hat trick. This one may have spontaneouslydeveloped during that match by a fan or group of fans, and it took hold overthe stadium. There was also Zava’s chant when he was signed by Richmond, andthe pub fans even had a chant for a television show (the bake-off show S3E11).

Soccer-related note: While various American professional soccer leagues have existed, thefirst popular league was the North American Soccer League. Chants were minimalamongst the teams’ fanbase but trended with the other American sports leagues(D-fense; Na Na Hey Hey Goobye; Let’s go, [insert team nickname]).

As MLS increased in size and popularity,the teams in the league have chants sung to them by a very loyal fanbase. Manyof these fans travel to away matches, or have coordinated fan clubs in otherMLS cities, to adequately represent even when the team is on the road. This isalso seen in Ted Lasso (S3E3) with some road victories, and the playerscelebrate on the sideline near the section of Richmond fans.

American Sports comparison: Colleges have fight songs that fans may sing after a score, andthere are a few other chants through American sports, college and professional.However, the chant does not seem to have taken hold across American sports,though they are very popular in MLS and a few college student sections seem tohave adopted the spirit.

Chants, all be they relatively short inlength, were more common in the 1970s and 1980s, when the organ was a largepart of the game experience for fans in the stadium or arena. This has largelybeen replaced by music played over the PA system. A favorite chant in the1970s-early 80s was the song, “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” performed bySteam. Though a recorded song heard on the radio back in the day, it was notplayed over the PA system. Instead, fans would sing it spontaneously, sometimesaccompanied by the organ, to taunt the opposing team when victory was certain.

[1] Les Back reports in the Sociological Review that the firstrecording was made in 1887 after the Scottish Cup Final; Evan Lloyd reports onShorthand.com that the first recording was made in 1898 for a WolverhamptonWanderers player.

Interactive

Below is a link to the American Outlaws chants page. The Outlaws are one of the major supporters of U.S. Soccer – men and women. On this page, you will find the words to the songs and chants, along with several audio/video to see the festivities and fanfare! I think a few are missing (I believe that we will win is one). However this is a good representation.

Should you become more interested in soccer, you might attend an MLS match. The same music, singing and fanfare can be experienced for these clubs. The atmosphere is festive and the beat of the drumming is captivating.

https://theamericanoutlaws.com/chants