The Alabama football team has only three home games left. Only three more games for students to blanket the quad, decked in their finest crimson and white, three more games to violently wave thousands of shakers, three more games to join together as a University and cheer for our most unifying force: The Crimson Tide.
There are only three home games left, too, for the administration to rectify a saddening situation – the fact that Dixieland Delight is no longer played in the fourth quarter. This song, complete with the lyrical additions unique to The University of Alabama, has long been an integral part of the home game experiences. Shouting out lyrics about the southern experience, linking arms and spinning around to a fiddle – these are some of the most joyous moments the student section has ever experienced.
What student does not remember first learning the lyrics to Dixieland Delight? Whether it was an older student taking you aside and teaching you just exactly what you would be spending your dollar on, or whether you were just an unsuspecting out-of-stater who heard the surprising additions for the first time in Bryant-Denny, everyone knows exactly how they felt when they first discovered this wonderful tradition. It was a feeling of special belonging. This was just for you, a University of Alabama student.
It’s true that the lyrics screamed out so passionately by fans have some less-than-proper language that University officials far up in their sky boxes may not be especially keen on. However, this passion does not reflect poorly on our University as a whole. In fact, it’s just the opposite. Anyone listening to the student section’s rendition of Dixieland Delight knows just how much our students love our football team and love our school and how vocally we will support them and rail against our opponents. They get a glimpse of just how deep the culture of tradition and camaraderie runs at Bama.
Most importantly, though, it serves as a vital source of inspiration for our football players. Multiple players have tweeted about how they miss the song being blared in the stadium, remarking on how much energy it brings to Bryant-Denny. The players feel supported, encouraged and part of something much larger than themselves.
Our campus culture is so frequently stratified along so many different lines: conservatives versus liberals, Greeks versus independents. The one time we can all come together, regardless of race, creed, gender or political affiliation, is when that melodic, twangy guitar starts playing and we all yell out the one thing we truly believe in — that we hate Auburn.
Administrations and all others who have sway in deciding what is played during these last twelve quarters of home game football: please reinstate this song. Our fanbase is one of the most loyal and most passionate in all of college football, and we deserve to have the traditions we so love honored.
Soon, there will be no students left at UA who have ever had the experience of hearing it sung by thousands of students in the stadium. Don’t deprive future students of one of the most enjoyable, unifying traditions that Alabama has. Bring back the magic that is Dixieland Delight.
