War Chant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The war chant is a traditional melody and gesture associated with the Florida State University, specifically its athletic teams. The gesture is part of the war chant is known as the "tomahawk chop." The chop is performed during the chant and is done by bending and straightening the arm as if it were chopping.
The tradition followed Atlanta Braves baseball player, and former Seminoles football and baseball player, Deion Sanders to Atlanta where it was adopted and renamed the "tomahawk chop". Next, the NFL football team, the Kansas City Chiefs adopted it after hearing the Northwest Missouri State marching band perform the war chant while the Chiefs players were warming up for a game against the San Diego Chargers. In recent years, the Braves have played a clip of the Marching Chiefs (Florida State's marching band) playing the chant song during games.
Whenever a Florida State team is about to be defeated, it is not uncommon for the other team's fans to do a mocking version of the chant.
The University of Illinois, also has something that they call the "War Chant." However, Illinois' War Chant is not the same because it doesn't involve doing the "Tomohawk Chop" or saying "Oooooooooh" like Florida State and the Atlanta Braves. The Illini's version involves a faster paced version of the song with a slightly different melody, and clapping above one's head to every drum beat.
The "War Chant" is also used by many high school bands as a fight song.
[edit] Trivia
- The war chant was used in a scene near the end of Mel Brooks's 1993 comedy Robin Hood: Men in Tights (It was simply called "the chop" in the film).
- The war chant was also sampled in Nelly's 2003 hit song "Shake Ya Tailfeather," which was featured on the Bad Boys II Soundtrack.
