Lyr Add: Who Dat Up Dere? (Woody Herman)

Subject: Lyr Add: WHO DAT UP DERE? (Woody Herman)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 29 Mar 15 - 11:04 PM

I had no idea where to put this, so I started a new thread. I heard this on the radio recently and liked it. That's my only excuse.

Parentheses indicate words sung by the band members.

I have no idea why the singer sometimes pronounces it "dere" and sometimes "there," but I tried to document his pronunciation accurately.


WHO DAT UP DERE?
As recorded by Woody Herman's Orchestra, 1943.

Who dat up dere? Who dat down there?
Who dat up dere? (Who dat) down there?
Who dat up dere sayin' who dat down there?
When I say who up dere, who dat down there?

Who dat inside? Who dat outside?
Who dat inside? (Who dat) outside?
Who dat inside sayin' who dat outside?
When I say who inside, who dat outside?

§. None o' your lip there, big boy!
Stop answerin' back.
Give you a tip, there, big boy:
Announce yourself, Jack!

Who dat up dere? Who dat down there?
Who dat up dere? (Who dat) down there?
Who dat up dere sayin' who dat down there?
When I say who up dere, who dat down there?

[INSTRUMENTAL BREAK.]

[REPEAT FROM §.]

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Who Dat Up Dere? (Woody Herman)
From: GUEST,Ewan McVicar
Date: 30 Mar 15 - 10:28 AM

Thanks for this Jim. A ditty I sing quietly and reflectively to myself now and then. Sung with gusto by that Woody himself.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Who Dat Up Dere? (Woody Herman)
From: GUEST,Joseph Scott
Date: 01 Apr 15 - 02:38 PM

The NAACP criticized this song -- words by Bob Russell and music by Walt Kent -- at the time for its use of stereotypical dialect. Russell also wrote the words to "Don't Get Around Much Anymore," "Crazy He Calls Me," and "He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother."

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Who Dat Up Dere? (Woody Herman)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 02 Apr 15 - 08:31 AM

"Who Dat?" is a popular catch phrase in New Orleans, and has been used in many songs. Paul Laurence Dunbar used it in his poems.

Wikipedia has an article on its origin and usage: Who Dat?.

It is so popular on T-shirts, etc., that some have tried to claim copyright on the phrase and collect royalties: See this report from NPR.

Subject: Lyr Add: WHO DAT SAY CHICKEN IN DIS CROWD (Dunbar
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 02 Apr 15 - 12:52 PM

From the sheet music at UCLA. Another copy can be viewed at the Library of Congress:


WHO DAT SAY CHICKEN IN DIS CROWD.
Words by Paul Laurence Dunbar. Music by Will Marion. ©1898.

1. There was once a great assemblage of the cullud population.
All the cullud swells was there.
They had got themselves together to discuss the situation,
And the rumors in the air.
There were speakers there from Georgia and some more from Tennessee
Who were making feathers fly,
When a roostah in a bahnya'd flew up whah those folks could see;
Then those darkies all did cry:

CHORUS: Who dat say chicken in dis crowd?
Speak de word agin' and speak it loud.
Blame de lan'; let white folks rule it.
I's a-lookin' fo' a pullet.
Who dat say chicken in dis crowd?

2. A famous cullud preacher told his listnin' congregation
All about de way to ac':
Ef dey want to be respected an' become a mighty nation,
To be hones' fo' a fac'.
Dey mus' nebber lie, no, nebber, an' mus' not be caught a-stealin'
Any pullets fum de lim';
But an aged deacon got up an' his voice it shook wif feelin'
As dese words he said to him:

CHORUS: Who dat say chicken in dis crowd?
Speak de word agin' and speak it loud.
What's de use of all dis talkin'?
Let me hyeah a hen a-squawkin'!
Who dat say chicken in dis crowd?


[The sheet music cover says:
"The Big Feature of E. E. Rice's 'Summer Nights.' " and
"The Great Success of 'Clorindy, or, The Origin of the Cake-Walk' "]