Who Dat?

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Who dat? is the name of a chant of support by 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?" Later it was stolen by the Cincinnati Bengals and turned into "Who Dey."

[edit] Origins

The chant of "Who dat? Who dat say they gonna beat dem Saints" 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.

The first reference to "Who Dat?" can be found in the 19th Century. A featured song in E.E. Rice's "Summer Night's" is the song "Who Dat Say Chicken In dis Crowd."

"Who dat?" was used as a tag line that has been around since the days of Negro minstrel shows. "Who dat?" "Who dat say who dat?" Many different black-faced gags played off that opening.

One example is an old 1930s Harmon-Ising cartoon musical on Turner Classic Movies which included caracatures of Fats Waller, Cab Calloway, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Ethel Waters, and the Mills Brothers. Called "Swing Wedding," the cartoon seldom sees the light of day because it's viewed as racist in its portrayal of blacks. They were frogs in a swamp, doing minstral show jokes and cutting loose with jazz tunes. The frogs repeatedly used the phrase "who dat?"

In the swing era, "who dat" chants back and forth between the band and the band leader or between the audience and the band were extemporaneous...made up on the spot. 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 Button up your lip there big boy Stop answerin’ back Give you a tip there big boy Announce yourself jack Who dat up there who’s dat down there Who dat up there who dat, well down there Who’s dat up there, singin’ who’s dat down there When I see you up there you bum Well who’s dat down there Who dat

Staged minstrel skits had frightened black people saying "who dat" when they encountered a ghost, or someone imitating a ghost. Then, the "who dat"..."who dat say who dat"...skit would play itself out. This skit was done frequently in short reels from the 1930s - 1950s and in some early TV shows too. Even the Marx Brothers had a "who dat" routine. Often, a ghost was called a "who dat." An animated character, now banished to the archives as being racist, MGM's Bosko had such an encounter in a toon called "Lil Ol Bosko in Bagdad" in 1938.

"Who Dat?" became a familiar joke with soldiers during World War II.

Back in WWII, US fighter squadron pilots would often fly under radio silence. But things get lonely up there in the cockpit, so after a while there'd be a crackle of static as someone keyed his mike. Then a disembodied voice would reply, "Who dat?" An answer would come, "Who dat say who dat?" And another, "Who dat say who dat say who dat?" After a few rounds of this, the squadron commander would grab his microphone and yell, "Cut it out, you guys!" A few moments of silence. Then... "Who dat?"

Finally, it was adapted by Southern University and New Orleans Public Schools in the 1960s, and Saints fans adopted it in the early 1970s. It was also adopted by wrestling fans of the Junkyard Dog, who wrestled locally in the Mid South Wrestling area in the early 1980s.

[edit] Recorded Versions

• Who Dat? - Aaron Neville
• Who Dat? - JV (Jimmie Vestal) Two different versions recorded
• Who Dat 2006 - Ghost & Birdfinger
• Are You A Who Dat? - Mike Grothues
• Dat "Who Dat" Jazz - Olympia Brass Band
• A Who Dat Christmas - Who Dat Children's Choir
• Who Let the Dogs Out (Who Dat remix) - Baha Men/Clear Channel New Orleans

[edit] Variations

There have been accusations that the Cincinnati Bengals stole the chant, adapting it to Who Dey.

A hip-hop song by the same name was recorded by Miami rapper J.T. Money in 1999.