Olé, Olé, Olé

"Olé, Olé, Olé" (from Spanish: "Oé, Oé, Oé") is a football chant.

Origin

One evidence of the chant appeared in an article of the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia from 1982. It was during the final match of the Spanish Football League that year. After Real Sociedad had been proclaimed champion, the people at the Atotxa Stadium in San Sebastián started to sing "Campeones, campeones, hobe, hobe, hobe", which literally means "Champions, champions, we are the best". The latter three words belonging to the Basque language. The chant expanded to the rest of Spain, and became known as "Oé, Oé, Oé".

The word "olé" itself, being a Spanish interjection thought to be derived from an Arabic invocation of Allah, or the oath والله (w-állah, “by Allah!”) [1] is mostly associated with the bullfighting of last centuries, but also with other sports after the 19th century.[2] It was chanted when individuals seemed to rise above themselves in performance.

The chant is used frequently in football games around the world (for example by the supporters of the Republic of Ireland national football team[3][4]), and can be heard in Montreal Canadiens hockey games when the team is winning.[5]

In Argentina, sometimes the name of a person the people could be cheering to is added at the end; e.g.: "Olé, olé olé olé, Die-go, Die-go! (referring to Diego Armando Maradona).

Anderlecht Champion

"Olé, Olé, Olé (The Name of the Game)"
Single by The Fans
Released 1987
Genre Pop
Label ZYX Records
Writer(s) Armath – Deja
Producer(s) Roland Verlooven

In 1985, Hans Kusters, the head of the Belgian label Hans Kusters Music, asked music producer Roland Verlooven and singer Grand Jojo to "write a song for the Belgian football champs Anderlecht called “Anderlecht Champion”".[6] It was composed by Armath (an alias of Roland Verlooven[7]) and Deja, and recorded both in French and Dutch by the Belgian singer Grand Jojo, along with the players of R.S.C. Anderlecht, and released that year by Disques Vogue.

A year later, he recorded another version, "E Viva Mexico", which introduced the chorus "Olé, Olé, Olé, Olé, We are the champions".

Both of the versions used a slightly different variation of the chant, which probably was also originated in Spain. This chant was the basis for many versions to be recorded by many other artists, including the more popular 1987 hit of a group known as "The Fans". The other being Chumbawamba's 1998 hit "Top of the World (Olé, Olé, Olé)".

In 2009 it was recorded by Overtone, and used in the 2009 film Invictus.

Olé, Olé, Olé (The Name of the Game)

In 1987, Roland Verlooven produced a more internationally popular version of the chant, "Olé, Olé, Olé (The Name of the Game)". It was recorded by a group known as "The Fans",[8] and published by Hans Kusters Music. It was released in Spain by Discos Games, and in Germany by ZYX Records. The text of it goes "Olé, olé, olé, olé, we are the champions, we are the champions", but there are widespread misunderstandings of it rather being "...we are the champs, we are the champs" by many who have simply not heard and understood the lyrics correctly.

Other uses

It is the chorus of a song titled "¡Olé!", by the Bouncing Souls. The chant is also used in ice hockey in Canada. Especially with regards to the Montreal Canadiens hockey club. In the United States, the chant has been used at American football games. The chant is also common at WWE events taking place in Europe, in Montreal or in the U.S. with a large European crowd, such as the April 8th, 2013 edition of WWE Raw at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey the night after WrestleMania 29, as well as the March 30, 2015 edition of Raw emanating from the SAP Center in San Jose, California, the night after WrestleMania 31. The chant was repeatedly heard throughout the May 4, 2015 telecast of WWE Raw that took place at the Bell Centre in Montreal, thereby establishing the arena as one of the loudest crowds in WWE. [9]

Toronto Blue Jays fans have adapted the chant from "Olé" to "José" and use it to cheer for Silver Slugger Jose Bautista.

More recently in WWE NXT, the cheer has become associated with Sami Zayn, who used the Bouncing Souls song as his entrance music when he performed as El Generico. Zayn is also a resident of Montreal, where the chant is popular. The cheer is also wildely used by supporters of college soccer in the United States and led to the creation of a mascot at the University of California, Santa Barbara, simply named Olé.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kaye, Alan S. (April 2005). "Two Alleged Arabic Etymologies". Journal of Near Eastern Studies 64 (2): 109–111. Retrieved September 2015.
  2. ↑ "Desde el vestuario realista salían voces cantarinas de los jugadores que se apuntaban al clarnor popular: «Campeones hobe, hobe, hobe». Lo de hobe se puede traducir por el mejor en la lengua vasca"
  3. ↑ THOMAS J. FITZGERALD, DIANA ROJAS, and MARAH SHUMAN (1994-06-19). "A GREAT DAY FOR THE IRISH AS ITALY IS DEFEATED, 1–0". The Record (Bergen County, NJ). Banging on bodhran drums, the Irish were on their feet – an hour before game time. They chanted, "Ole, ole," their national soccer cheer, imported from Spain
  4. ↑ Doyle, John (June 7, 2002). "Green Army conquering with smiles". The Globe and Mail.
  5. ↑ http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100420/mtl_habslose_100420/20100420/
  6. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20080514201924/http://www.hanskustersmusic.com/home/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=26
  7. ↑ http://www.discogs.com/artist/Roland+Verlooven
  8. ↑ http://www.discogs.com/artist/Fans%2C+The The Fans Discography at Discogs
  9. ↑ http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1597510-wwe-raw-live-results-reaction-and-analysis-post-wrestlemania-29-show
  10. ↑ http://ucsbgauchos.cstv.com/genrel/blank_ole00.html

External links

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