The ground is shaking. The stadium rocks from side to side. People are falling out of the stands. Is this an earthquake?
No — it’s just “Jump Around" at Camp Randall.
The iconic song has become a staple at University of Wisconsin-Madison gamedays, sending every Badger fan into extreme excitement at the end of the third quarter.
Along with the House of Pain song, Wisconsin fans also sing along to “Varsity” and “Build Me Up Buttercup.” These traditions are near-universally known to Badgers fans, but their origins are more opaque.
“Varsity” has been a tradition for more than a century. The song originated from a Latin hymn titled “Domine Salvum Fac” written by a French composer before 1898, when a School of Music student, Henry Dyke, created a new version for the time named “Varsity Toast.” A former Wisconsin band director finalized the current version of the song in 1934. Now, countless Badgers fans know the lyrics by heart.
The joyous feeling of linking arms with fellow Badgers boosts one's school pride through the roof. Singing off-key doesn’t matter when it comes to “Varsity,” but fans can channel their inner Taylor Swift with a sing-along to “Build Me Up Buttercup.” The idea behind adding this song to Camp Randall traditions strictly came from its popularity. Following the release of the 1998 movie “There’s Something About Mary” featuring the song, fans adopted the tune as a sing-along. By the early 2000s, it was a staple at Camp Randall as students sang along well after the DJ had stopped.
Intertwined with “Jump Around” is the student section race, where the letters of each section pop up on the big screen. Why does this occur? Kevin Kluender, former assistant athletic director for marketing and promotion, told Isthmus he recalled the race starting in 1998 along with “Jump Around” as a way to hype up the crowd. Looking back, the “big screen” consisted merely of dot matrix letters moving on the board to determine the winner, but it did the job of firing everyone up.
Now, the history of the iconic song that shakes the entire stadium: “Jump Around” by House of Pain. As someone who has experienced the shaking of this song — which has even registered on seismic scales — first-hand from inside the press box, nothing compares to this tradition.
The start of this famous tradition aligns with the start of the student section race back on Oct. 10, 1998 at the Homecoming game against Purdue. Class of 1999 tight end and Wisconsin Athletics marketing intern Ryan Sondrup sat out the game due to injury, so he made a playlist of hype songs for the stadium to use with his fellow teammate. They used a jukebox at Wando’s to test out the songs and pick the final playlist.
The Purdue team, led by quarterback Drew Brees, made a drive toward the end zone at the start of the fourth quarter and had all the momentum on their side. It was then that the first earthquake at Camp Randall occurred. The song blasted through the speakers, and the fans jumped to their feet and sang. Kluender likes to believe this song was the reason for the Badgers’ comeback 31-21 victory.
Since this game, for all except one, the Badgers have jumped. After renovations to Camp Randall in 2003, the administration asked to not play “Jump Around” as they feared the stadium could not withstand 76,000 jumpers. The lack of jumping caused outcry among fans, and administrators quickly looked for an engineer's approval that Camp Randall would be fine.
And Camp Randall is more than fine. It’s fantastic.
These traditions are so much more than just inside that stadium. “Varsity” is a time to connect and link arms with the family of the UW-Madison, and “Build Me Up Buttercup” is about singing your heart out.
"Jump Around” has even become a pivotal part of the commencement ceremonies, where students can jump around with their class for the final time in their student career. Graduating from UW-Madison does not stop one's ability to “Jump Around”. It is just the launching point of showing off school pride.
