nananana

[Alice Faber]

>Bernie Kane wrote:
>
> >Can't comment on the etymology/usage of the start of this thread, but
> >remember that a long number of years ago there was a pop song with the
> >taunting refrain
> >"nanaNAHna/nanaNAHna/Hey-hey/Goodbye"
> >Can't for the life of me recall the context nor the musical group, but it's
> >obvious that it did represent imitating the mockery of little kids. Is this
> >relevant?
> >
> >Bernie Kane
> >word-finder
>
>Greg Downing's citation of the strange history of this song exactly
>parallels a report I heard on NPR's "All things considered" sometime in
>the last couple of weeks.  It did pretty well for a song that was
>supposed to be forgotten as the B side of what was intended to be a big
>hit on the A side of the record. Naturally, the A side sank without a
>trace.
>
>Now excuse me for a Chicago question: in all this talk of that
>nananana/hey-hey /goodbye song, how come nobody has mentioned that it's
>the unofficial song of Chicago White Sox fans?  They love to sing it
>when a Sox player hits a homer.
>
Not just that...In just about every professional arena I've ever seen
a baseball, hockey, or basketball game telecast from, home-town fans
chant/sing this rather boisterously towards the end of a game when
their team is finishing off a clear victory. Occasionally the fans
are prompted by music (side B, naturally!) played over the PA system,
but more often it's purely spontaneous.