T

he most popular cheers at the state's rival universities - "Rammer Jammer" at Alabama and "Bodda Getta" at Auburn - have stirred controversy over the years and largely remain a mystery to opponents.

Each is beloved by its fans. Each is filled with nonsense words. Each taunts opponents. Each has a word that requires "bleeping" around young children.

And, as you can tell by their titles, they are anything but standard cheers. Here's a look at the origins of these odd chants.

Bodda Getta

When I was writing my 2010 book "Hidden History of Auburn," I could find no university record or any other history of the "Bodda Getta" cheer. So I started making phone calls and gathered some history.

The words to the chant are:

Bodda getta, bodda getta, bodda getta, bah,

Rah, rah, rah,

Sis boom bah,

Weagle, weagle,

War Damn Eagle!

Kick 'em in the butt, Big Blue,

Hey!

No one seemed to remember the original spelling of the words--some say "bod" instead of "bah," some write "wegl" instead of "weagle." The spelling above became "official" when it was printed on T-shirts licensed by Auburn University and sold at local bookstores. Trey Johnston, a J&M owner, said in 2010 he devised the spelling of the chant because he had no written record on which to base it.

So who wrote the chant? In 2014, Ken McCord came forward with an explanation.

"The cheer was actually conceived at Robert E. Lee High School in Montgomery in 1962 when I was a sophomore there," he said. He credited band captain Pete Howard with creating the chant.

When contacted, Howard explained: "This cheer, in its original version, was created in the fall of 1962 by the trumpet section of the Robert E. Lee High School Band in Montgomery," he said.

The original words were:

Botta geeta, botta geeta, botta geeta, bah!

Rah, rah, rah! Sis, boom, bah!

Push 'em in the mud, Big Red!

Howard said the high school band chant continued after he graduated and went to college.

"At this point, however, the story becomes speculative," Howard said. "In 1965, a group of Lee band members apparently went on to play in the band at Auburn. As freshmen, they were required to create a cheer. It appears to me that they simply modified a cheer that they had remembered from Robert E. Lee High."

However, Howard doesn't know which students may have passed the chant along and changed the words to fit Auburn's battle cry and colors.

Rammer Jammer

The "Rammer Jammer" cheer was created nearly two decades after "Bodda Getta," according to an account by cheerleaders in an article in The Tuscaloosa News.

The cheer has been banned at periods since its inception in about 1982 because of its taunting nature and use of the word "hell." The words to Rammer Jammer, when Alabama is playing Auburn:

Hey Auburn!

Hey Auburn!

Hey Auburn!

We're gonna beat the hell outta' you!

Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer

Give 'em hell, Alabama!

When played after the game, "we just" is substituted for "we're gonna."

The words "rammer jammer" were derived from the name of a defunct student magazine that was published for several decades beginning the 1920s.

The Tuscaloosa News quoted Kathleen Cramer, retired from UA's office of student affairs, stating the chant was created by cheerleaders on a bus ride back from the Mississippi State game in about 1982. She didn't remember the exact year, but if it was written in 1982, it would have been created during Bear Bryant's last year as coach.

Cramer, who was the cheerleading sponsor at the time, said the cadence for the chant was based on the infamous "Hotty Toddy" cheer at Ole Miss.

"It was patterned after that," Cramer said. "We wanted to incorporate old cheers, as well as things particular to this state. And it was immediately popular."

Here are the words to "Hotty Toddy:"

Are you ready?

Hell, yeah! Damn right!

Hotty Toddy, Gosh almighty

Who the hell are we, Hey!

Flim Flam, Bim Bam

Ole Miss, by damn!

In thinking of symbols unique to the state, the Alabama cheerleaders settled on yellowhammer, the state bird, because it rhymed with Rammer Jammer.

In the 1990s, the university banned the cheer because of its taunting nature and inclusion of the word "hell," according to The Bleacher Report. When the issue was put to students for a vote at Homecoming 2005, 98 percent voted to keep the cheer. However, it is now only chanted following a Crimson Tide victory.

Today, Rammer Jammer is the name of a locally made light beer, as well as the title of a 2004 book about obsessive sports fans "Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer: A Journey into the Heart of Fan Mania."

Join al.com reporter Kelly Kazek on her weekly journey through Alabama to record the region's quirky history, strange roadside attractions and tales of colorful characters.

Call her at 256-701-0576 or find her on

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