"When the Saints Go Marching In" is used by a number of teams in various sports. It may be used as the team's theme song or reserved for when they score. It may be used with the standard lyrics, specialized lyrics, or no lyrics at all.
When sung by a crowd, it is often started at a very slow tempo, around 70 beats per minute. The next verse is then dramatically sped up to somewhere around 140 beats per minute.
The following is a partial list of notable uses.
Famous quotes containing the words when the, saints, marching and/or sports:
“Kings were wont to honour philosophers; but if I had such I would honour them as angels that should have such purity in them that they would not seek when they are the second to be the first, and when they are third to be the second.”
—Elizabeth I (1533–1603)
“Its imaginary value will increase with the years, and if he [his grandson-in-law] lives to my age, or another half century, he may see it carried in the procession of our nation’s birthday, as the relics of the saints are in those of the church.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“The Saints come,
as human as a mouth,
with a bag of God in their backs,
like a hunchback,
they come,
they come marching in.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“The whole idea of image is so confused. On the one hand, Madison Avenue is worried about the image of the players in a tennis tour. On the other hand, sports events are often sponsored by the makers of junk food, beer, and cigarettes. What’s the message when an athlete who works at keeping her body fit is sponsored by a sugar-filled snack that does more harm than good?”
—Martina Navratilova (b. 1956)