The Story Behind Alabama Football’s Anthem, “Dixieland Delight”

Everyone knows SEC football and country music go together like fine wine and stinky cheese. However, it’s unclear exactly how that came to be. Yes, there are a plethora of cultural attributes pointing towards this connection. Yet no one can seemingly put a thumb on some of the connection’s founding moments. Well, one of the songs to solidifying this All-American relation is Alabama’s “Dixieland Delight.”

Released in 1983, “Dixieland Delight” is one of Alabama’s biggest hits. Furthermore, it’s one of The University of Alabama’s biggest hits, as the song is the anthem of the Crimson Tide football team. Often sung at Bryant-Denny Stadium in the fourth quarter, the tune has become far larger than its original intent. But, how exactly did the song become the Crimson Tide’s anthem?

Rogers’ Inspiration for “Dixieland Delight”

In addition to writing “Dixieland Delight,” Rogers also wrote Alabama’s No. 1 hit “Jukebox In My Mind.” Though, “Dixieland Delight” has always remained his most notable work and he shared his inspiration with Al.com. Rogers told the publication the inspiration for the song came from driving down a country road, “and the thought just came, ‘rolling down the backwoods, Tennessee by-way,’ and “I finished about half of [The Song] that day.”

So with the other half to write, Rogers wandered into the woods and found the rest of the inspiration he needed. “I didn’t know where I was going” and “I look around and there was a white-tail buck deer, a red-tail hawk sitting on a limb and a chubby old groundhog was all around me,” said Rogers. It seems like a song has never been written so easily. Regardless, nothing about Rogers’ story or inspiration has anything to do with Alabama football. So, how in the world did it become their anthem?

Alabama Crimson Tide’s Solidarity

Like many of these urban legends, there is no “official” start date or moment when this trend started. Rather, it’s something that just happens, and when it does people don’t ask questions. But, we do. That said, one alleged and eerie reason this song might have been adopted by the Crimson Tide is due to its relevance with famed coach, Bear Bryant.

Released on January 28, 1983, “Dixieland Delight” came just two days following Bryant’s death on January 26. If you’re into superstition or the supernatural, you can craft that picture for yourself, but it seems Bryant might have posthumously gifted the Crimson Tide his last piece of influence.

However, a far more plausible reason for this adoption of the song is its relevance to the state. If you read the lyrics, you very well can pick up on its ties to the state and the region as a whole. Thus, it seems the song is a piece providing the football team and its fans with a unifying and celebratory feeling of the South and the state of Alabama. In all, the brings people together under one roof. The roof of the university and the state of Alabama.

Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for CMT