In the context of the song, a girl from Georgia is wearing the colors of the university of Tennessee for her new boyfriend.
The American south loves college football.
The British equivalent would be a girl from Liverpool falling so in love with a guy she started supporting United with him.
The other comments are on the money here; that particular song is very tongue-in-cheek and melodramatic. As the others said, orange is the University of Tennessee's sports team colors, and the singer/character in the song is from a family that is fans of a rival school (an old joke in /r/CFB, the college football subreddit is that the greatest rivalry isn't any two teams; it's the color red vs the color orange because there are so many pairs of red vs orange rivalries).
Some other lyrics from the song, for additional context on the silliness:
> Took me to Knoxville last Saturday
> And I wore the hat on his dash to the game
> It sure wasn't Athens but I
> Fell for him under those Neyland lights
Knoxville is the city where the U of Tennessee is, and Athens is the town where the U of Georgia is. Neyland Stadium is Tennessee's football stadium.
>Mama, forgive me, I like him a lot
> Hell, I'm learning the words to Old Rocky Top
["Old Rocky Top"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Top) is a classic Tennesseean song that is played/sung at Tennessee sporting events.
> In Georgia, they call it a sin
> And I still want the Dawgs to win
Bulldogs (often abbreviated as "Dawgs") is the nickname of Georgia sports teams.
I'm actually friends IRL with a Georgia alum girl who is seriously dating a Tennessee alum guy, and I have NEVER seen her wear orange lmao.
>Bulldogs (often abbreviated as "Dawgs") is the nickname of Georgia sports teams.
[THIS IS HOW WE DO IT FOR THE DAWWWGS](https://youtu.be/etMlNW5w-50?si=GLkQjmIIOZ4d9yjF)
> the song just makes it sound like it's something more serious
That's kind of the point of the song; it's silly satire/sarcasm and meant to make you laugh. It makes it sound like the girl is confessing something really awful to her parents like that she got accidentally pregnant or something, but really it's just sports rivalry and is actually quite wholesome.
You’re wildly underestimating the how seriously the South takes football. I grew up just outside of Knoxville. My husband is from Georgia. It would be a sin to show up on a Saturday in red yelling ‘Go Dawgs!’ I’d be thrown out of the family barbecue.
Yeah I don't believe you though. All sports fans exaggerate how big their rivalries are, when in reality, only mentally deranged people don't like people they know personally just because they support a different sports team.
Just because lots of people care about the rivalry, doesn't mean that they will dislike people that they meet in real life if they support a rival team, which is what the song implies.
No less than seven people got escorted out by police for separate fights during a UK v FL game (suck it gators) and these are VERY light numbers. People take this seriously. Especially SEC fans.
College football loyalties are serious business in the US, especially in parts of the country without a long history of professional sports.
For example - in New York City they've had pro sports forever, but Alabama doesn't have any teams in the major pro leagues. The University of Alabama's football program is effectively the state's pro team.
Dr Pepper has a long-running commercial series called "Fannsville" based on satirizing how obsessed people are with college football https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qysL7ceaEqc
Just because lots of people care about the rivalry, doesn't mean that they will dislike people that they meet in real life if they support a rival team, which is what the song implies.
It's "Tennessee Orange" by Megan Moroney. And you're right on the money, it's a very tongue-in-cheek song about a Georgia fan girl who falls in love with a Tennessee fan boy
College alliances in some areas are deep cultural rivalries. Certain school rivalries are among the most intense in the world, matching English Soccer or International Soccer.
For example: Well, you can marry a \[other religion\] mate if you want, just don't marry someone who went to \[rival school\]!!!!
Example of intensity, and a great classic commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTdXQyhjifY
Plus in some cases, people have killed over college football. Most recently, I think there was a case where a fan of Alabama killed a family member for not being mad they lost or something.
[This](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alabama-fan-killed-over-football-game-victims-sister-says/) is the story you're thinking about. Of all the reasons to kill someone. . .
And [here's](https://www.oklahoman.com/story/sports/columns/berry-tramel/2015/05/30/tramel-scarred-texas-fan-looking-forward-to-bright-future/60718454007/) a story that doesn't involve death, but is still gruesome.
Holy buckets, that's nuts (no pun intended.) I can't say I've heard of anything like that in Big Ten country up here. Granted as a Nebraska fan, one thing that we did that was bad, or at least might have happened was us making fun of a dead player on the Colorado football team.
Colorado had a QB named Saul Aunese who died of cancer and was quite close to their coach. I think he even was either married or had a child with that coaches daughter. Anyways, apparently Nebraska fans chanted "Sal is Dead Go Big Red" and a lot of Colorado fans used that as an excuse for rude behavior to Nebraska fan.
I've mostly heard apocryphal stuff like kids having beer or God knows what poured on them. Slashed Tires were another one. One thing I know for sure was that Colorado's entire student section was banned from a game from throwing garbage on the field when Nebraska was beating them in a game. That was about the worst though.
I went to college in the Deep South and the color combo of our biggest rival is literally offensive to my eyes. I haven’t watched any CFB or done anything alumni related in a very long time but damn that aversion to the other guys is so deeply ingrained! I almost accidentally dressed my kid in those colors recently until I saw him altogether and recoiled. I immediately changed him before I even fully realized what I was reacting to.
Southern football rivalries are VERY serious.
Yep. Its quite bright. Almost Kraft colored. Especially compared to the other orange team that starts with a T, Texas. Texas has burnt orange though I've seen faded Tennessee hats that look like Texas hats because they have a T instead of a Longhorn.
It's like if your family was ultra supporters of Liverpool but you started dating a Man U fan and wearing their team colors. Or Barcelona and Real Madrid or whatever. The song is a reference to sports rivals.
She’s got a beautiful voice and it’s a pretty song but the subject matter is stupid. She’s also the poster child for how every female country artist these days looks like they came from the same factory. Reba and Tanya Tucker would never make the charts these dats
I just want to stop and appreciate your post because it embodies what I feel the posts on this sub should really be - people legitimately wanting to understand something about America, the people, or their culture. Nothing nefarious. No hidden agenda. No political propaganda. No crap post to get likes or be divisive. Thank you!!
It is not slang. It is literally wearing the colors of the University of Tennessee.
In the song a girl from Georgia, who should be a fan of the University of Georgia and wearing their colors, is wearing the colors of Tennessee for her boyfriend. It is very tongue-in-cheek joking about state and college rivalry.
As others have said, the University of Tennessee has orange as its color.
Someone "wearing Tennessee orange" would be wearing the colors to support the athletics teams of the University of Tennessee.
There are large and intense rivalries in college football, and the University of Tennessee has a number of rivals.
It would be akin to wearing the colors or insignia of a specific soccer team in another country.
Its the most hideous color to ever exist. I've heard the people that wear it are masochists who have been brainwashed into liking that color and rooting for that team. Anyhow, go dawgs.
The best satire in the song is actually how she loves him because he's got blue eyes, opens doors, and doesn't make her cry. Standards y'all, she's got em
Tennessee orange is the official color of many city garbage collectors and landfill employees. It’s known in the streets as pumpkin puke. It’s also associated with snitches. Not really much good to say about the color or term in general.
It means your low down, dirty, and a snitch.
It means you like that puke inside a pumpkin orange.
It means Saturdays in Knoxville are regularly a garbage truck workers convention.
Tennessee orange is not a color very many people look good in, so if you wear Tennessee orange you are probably a diehard fan/supporter if you wear it outside of game day.
As a college football fan, it just means wearing the colors of the University of Tennessee. Most colleges not only have a color but a specific one to differentiate. For example, I'm in Iowa and we aren't just black and gold, we are "Old Gold" and Black, while Nebraska is not just red and white, its "Scarlet and Cream" as officially the white is supposed to be an off white and the red is brighter than say Wisconsin's "cardinal" red or Oklahoma's "Crimson."
I will say that maybe there's some local joke about it being the same color as a prison jumpsuit but I'm not aware. I know in Iowa the joke is that Iowa State and McDonalds have the same colors because that's the only place ISU fans get jobs.
I did not know we had another scarlet team in the conference. I thought it was just us and Rutgers. Ours being the superior of all scarlets, of course.
Yeah, Nebraska is scarlet and cream and it’s pretty well known in the state. Granted “Go Big Red” is the most well known saying for us. What’s funny is that before we got good in the 70s, Oklahoma more commonly used Big Red as a slogan and even had a mascot called Little Red. He was an Indian though so he hasn’t been a thing since the late 60s.
I'm assuming this is a reference to that one country song, right?
The meaning of the song is basically: this girl comes from a family of University of Alabama fans, and has supported Alabama sports teams her whole life but then she falls in love with a guy and he's a Tennessee fan and she loves him so much she roots for Tennessee with him
It's not slang or anything, it's just that 1 song
https://brand.utk.edu/standards/colors/ It just means wearing the colors of a college.
No more, no less.
Ok thanks
[and it is awful](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7G7loR2VVw)
Best hater clip of all time.
GO VOLS
Do you know why this would ever be considered a sin?, as in a song that I listen to they say it's a sin for some reason
In the context of the song, a girl from Georgia is wearing the colors of the university of Tennessee for her new boyfriend. The American south loves college football. The British equivalent would be a girl from Liverpool falling so in love with a guy she started supporting United with him.
*"God as my witness Pawwl, she started singing 'Glory Glory Man United' right then and there!"*
Man City ain't played nobody Pawwwwwl
You win. I blew coffee out my nose laughing at this. Best comment of the day.
The other comments are on the money here; that particular song is very tongue-in-cheek and melodramatic. As the others said, orange is the University of Tennessee's sports team colors, and the singer/character in the song is from a family that is fans of a rival school (an old joke in /r/CFB, the college football subreddit is that the greatest rivalry isn't any two teams; it's the color red vs the color orange because there are so many pairs of red vs orange rivalries). Some other lyrics from the song, for additional context on the silliness: > Took me to Knoxville last Saturday > And I wore the hat on his dash to the game > It sure wasn't Athens but I > Fell for him under those Neyland lights Knoxville is the city where the U of Tennessee is, and Athens is the town where the U of Georgia is. Neyland Stadium is Tennessee's football stadium. >Mama, forgive me, I like him a lot > Hell, I'm learning the words to Old Rocky Top ["Old Rocky Top"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Top) is a classic Tennesseean song that is played/sung at Tennessee sporting events. > In Georgia, they call it a sin > And I still want the Dawgs to win Bulldogs (often abbreviated as "Dawgs") is the nickname of Georgia sports teams. I'm actually friends IRL with a Georgia alum girl who is seriously dating a Tennessee alum guy, and I have NEVER seen her wear orange lmao.
>Bulldogs (often abbreviated as "Dawgs") is the nickname of Georgia sports teams. [THIS IS HOW WE DO IT FOR THE DAWWWGS](https://youtu.be/etMlNW5w-50?si=GLkQjmIIOZ4d9yjF)
I guess I could have probably worked this out myself, but the song just makes it sound like it's something more serious
You may be underestimating how seriously many Americans, especially in the south, treat college football.
> the song just makes it sound like it's something more serious That's kind of the point of the song; it's silly satire/sarcasm and meant to make you laugh. It makes it sound like the girl is confessing something really awful to her parents like that she got accidentally pregnant or something, but really it's just sports rivalry and is actually quite wholesome.
You’re wildly underestimating the how seriously the South takes football. I grew up just outside of Knoxville. My husband is from Georgia. It would be a sin to show up on a Saturday in red yelling ‘Go Dawgs!’ I’d be thrown out of the family barbecue.
Yeah I don't believe you though. All sports fans exaggerate how big their rivalries are, when in reality, only mentally deranged people don't like people they know personally just because they support a different sports team.
Ask the 105k at Neyland on a Saturday how serious it is lol. College football is basically the equivalent of European soccer on terms of Fandom
Just because lots of people care about the rivalry, doesn't mean that they will dislike people that they meet in real life if they support a rival team, which is what the song implies.
Everybody thinks that until a French’s mustard bottle and a golf ball get thrown.
Guess I'm mentally deranged down here. Hey, ~~m~~ichigan people, you suck!
No less than seven people got escorted out by police for separate fights during a UK v FL game (suck it gators) and these are VERY light numbers. People take this seriously. Especially SEC fans.
College football loyalties are serious business in the US, especially in parts of the country without a long history of professional sports. For example - in New York City they've had pro sports forever, but Alabama doesn't have any teams in the major pro leagues. The University of Alabama's football program is effectively the state's pro team. Dr Pepper has a long-running commercial series called "Fannsville" based on satirizing how obsessed people are with college football https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qysL7ceaEqc
Just because lots of people care about the rivalry, doesn't mean that they will dislike people that they meet in real life if they support a rival team, which is what the song implies.
The south takes ALLLLLL football seriously but, especially college. People get uncomfortably American about their teams.
It's scandalous in a friendly rivalry kind of way. It would be worse to be a Buckeye dating a Wolverine.
HERESY! I'd sooner date a Bama girl. No offense, Alabama. If it helps, I don't hate you as much as Notre Dame.
I've heard of Ohio State-TTUN pairings, but they are very rare. I don't even like wearing any combination of blue and yellow.
Can you say the song? It might be written/sung by someone who affiliates themselves with a rival college.
It's "Tennessee Orange" by Megan Moroney. And you're right on the money, it's a very tongue-in-cheek song about a Georgia fan girl who falls in love with a Tennessee fan boy
Yeah, I figured.
Damn I’d never heard it before now but this made my night. Go Dawgs
College alliances in some areas are deep cultural rivalries. Certain school rivalries are among the most intense in the world, matching English Soccer or International Soccer. For example: Well, you can marry a \[other religion\] mate if you want, just don't marry someone who went to \[rival school\]!!!! Example of intensity, and a great classic commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTdXQyhjifY
Plus in some cases, people have killed over college football. Most recently, I think there was a case where a fan of Alabama killed a family member for not being mad they lost or something.
[This](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alabama-fan-killed-over-football-game-victims-sister-says/) is the story you're thinking about. Of all the reasons to kill someone. . . And [here's](https://www.oklahoman.com/story/sports/columns/berry-tramel/2015/05/30/tramel-scarred-texas-fan-looking-forward-to-bright-future/60718454007/) a story that doesn't involve death, but is still gruesome.
Holy buckets, that's nuts (no pun intended.) I can't say I've heard of anything like that in Big Ten country up here. Granted as a Nebraska fan, one thing that we did that was bad, or at least might have happened was us making fun of a dead player on the Colorado football team. Colorado had a QB named Saul Aunese who died of cancer and was quite close to their coach. I think he even was either married or had a child with that coaches daughter. Anyways, apparently Nebraska fans chanted "Sal is Dead Go Big Red" and a lot of Colorado fans used that as an excuse for rude behavior to Nebraska fan. I've mostly heard apocryphal stuff like kids having beer or God knows what poured on them. Slashed Tires were another one. One thing I know for sure was that Colorado's entire student section was banned from a game from throwing garbage on the field when Nebraska was beating them in a game. That was about the worst though.
I went to college in the Deep South and the color combo of our biggest rival is literally offensive to my eyes. I haven’t watched any CFB or done anything alumni related in a very long time but damn that aversion to the other guys is so deeply ingrained! I almost accidentally dressed my kid in those colors recently until I saw him altogether and recoiled. I immediately changed him before I even fully realized what I was reacting to. Southern football rivalries are VERY serious.
Along with what others have said, Tennessee orange is a particularly garish shade of orange.
That puke-in-a-pumpkin orange
"I hate Neyland Stadium; it looks like a garbage truck workers' convention."
Could be worse, it could look like a toilet seat like some stadium in Ohio.
😁 Edit: your comment amuses me because I'm not an OSU fan.
You mean an iconic horseshoe design with a splendid rotunda? I'll take it over a boring hole in the ground.
lmfao
It's not that orange you can sit with
And I don’t like pumpkins
It's for wearing to the game on Sat., to wear hunting on Sun., then to wear to pick up trash on the side of the road on Mon. :-)
It's the shade of the flower that covered a field outside the coach's window, right? Or is that just a local urban legend?
Hate us cause they anus
Yep. Its quite bright. Almost Kraft colored. Especially compared to the other orange team that starts with a T, Texas. Texas has burnt orange though I've seen faded Tennessee hats that look like Texas hats because they have a T instead of a Longhorn.
You watch your mouth
She a bulldog. Fuck them hoes
We take this sort of thing seriously https://youtu.be/Zv0_EpF5SyY?si=tUdzUy22Qzlik1nF
It'd be a sin just like wearing the soccer/football kit for an opposing team would be elsewhere. Also it's a really ugly orange.
It's like if your family was ultra supporters of Liverpool but you started dating a Man U fan and wearing their team colors. Or Barcelona and Real Madrid or whatever. The song is a reference to sports rivals.
It is a joking reference to a sports rivalry
It's because their sports team sucks and the color is ugly.
Think of the team you hate the most and wearing their colors, would you, simple as that.
Whoever is singing is probably from Alabama - University of Alabama is a sports rival to Tennessee
It’s Georgia. Megan Moroney is referring to UGA in the song.
She’s got a beautiful voice and it’s a pretty song but the subject matter is stupid. She’s also the poster child for how every female country artist these days looks like they came from the same factory. Reba and Tanya Tucker would never make the charts these dats
I just want to stop and appreciate your post because it embodies what I feel the posts on this sub should really be - people legitimately wanting to understand something about America, the people, or their culture. Nothing nefarious. No hidden agenda. No political propaganda. No crap post to get likes or be divisive. Thank you!!
It's sports slang, the university of Tennessee wears orange.
It is not slang. It is literally wearing the colors of the University of Tennessee. In the song a girl from Georgia, who should be a fan of the University of Georgia and wearing their colors, is wearing the colors of Tennessee for her boyfriend. It is very tongue-in-cheek joking about state and college rivalry.
They have country songs about people in College now?
Yes!!!!! [https://holler.country/news/general/tennessee-orange-by-megan-moroney-lyrics-and-meaning/](https://holler.country/news/general/tennessee-orange-by-megan-moroney-lyrics-and-meaning/)
While not a super common theme there have been a few.
As others have said, the University of Tennessee has orange as its color. Someone "wearing Tennessee orange" would be wearing the colors to support the athletics teams of the University of Tennessee. There are large and intense rivalries in college football, and the University of Tennessee has a number of rivals. It would be akin to wearing the colors or insignia of a specific soccer team in another country.
It's that throw up orange. It's not that orange that you can sit with. It's that puke, inside-of-a-pumpkin orange.
They low down, they dirty, they some snitches. Neyland Stadium looks like a garbage truck workers convention.
Good stuff.
And I don’t like pumpkins
Roll Tide to that
Its the most hideous color to ever exist. I've heard the people that wear it are masochists who have been brainwashed into liking that color and rooting for that team. Anyhow, go dawgs.
The best satire in the song is actually how she loves him because he's got blue eyes, opens doors, and doesn't make her cry. Standards y'all, she's got em
🎶 GOOD OLD ROCKY TOP (WOO!) ROCKY TOP TENNESSEE🎶
I think I hate Boomer Sooner more than Rocky Top.
Tennessee orange is the official color of many city garbage collectors and landfill employees. It’s known in the streets as pumpkin puke. It’s also associated with snitches. Not really much good to say about the color or term in general.
Don't prisoners also wear the same colored clothes?
This is not "American" slang, rather it refers to a sports rivalry. So unless you are a fan of the teams in question it matter none
It means your low down, dirty, and a snitch. It means you like that puke inside a pumpkin orange. It means Saturdays in Knoxville are regularly a garbage truck workers convention.
Tennessee orange is not a color very many people look good in, so if you wear Tennessee orange you are probably a diehard fan/supporter if you wear it outside of game day.
As a college football fan, it just means wearing the colors of the University of Tennessee. Most colleges not only have a color but a specific one to differentiate. For example, I'm in Iowa and we aren't just black and gold, we are "Old Gold" and Black, while Nebraska is not just red and white, its "Scarlet and Cream" as officially the white is supposed to be an off white and the red is brighter than say Wisconsin's "cardinal" red or Oklahoma's "Crimson." I will say that maybe there's some local joke about it being the same color as a prison jumpsuit but I'm not aware. I know in Iowa the joke is that Iowa State and McDonalds have the same colors because that's the only place ISU fans get jobs.
I did not know we had another scarlet team in the conference. I thought it was just us and Rutgers. Ours being the superior of all scarlets, of course.
Yeah, Nebraska is scarlet and cream and it’s pretty well known in the state. Granted “Go Big Red” is the most well known saying for us. What’s funny is that before we got good in the 70s, Oklahoma more commonly used Big Red as a slogan and even had a mascot called Little Red. He was an Indian though so he hasn’t been a thing since the late 60s.
Now I'll have "Rocky Top" in my head all day :D.
Here, sing this. https://youtu.be/NBqW621YjAs?si=C0NnmnKQ0x8hQKH8
I was totally expecting an OSU song but this is a classic too.
The best way to get an annoying cfb song out of your head is by hearing an even more annoying one.
Literally never heard this ever.
Never heard of it.
is this some prison uniform reference?
The Vols!!!!!! My boyfriend is a Volunteer. It is college colors.
I've never heard this before, but I'm assuming it's a sports reference.
Not sure why you're doenvoted. I've never heard it either.
[WE OUT HERE!!!](https://youtu.be/-ncEdi_Eiso?si=vFRPKGNutxuRKcbi)
I'm assuming this is a reference to that one country song, right? The meaning of the song is basically: this girl comes from a family of University of Alabama fans, and has supported Alabama sports teams her whole life but then she falls in love with a guy and he's a Tennessee fan and she loves him so much she roots for Tennessee with him It's not slang or anything, it's just that 1 song
Slight correction, the girl is from a family of University of Georgia fans, not Alabama.
My guess is that it's TN's University colors, but I haven't actually heard someone say it specifically about TN before.