#78: Feeling Strongly About New Jersey

 One of the best things about Notre Dame is the school’s unique ability to draw students from a variety of regions and states around the country.  As a well-known national university, students don’t just come from nearby Chicago (despite #47), but from places as far away as California, Texas, and Florida.  None of these home states, however, is as infamous amongst students as the Garden State of New Jersey.

As a group within the student body, those from New Jersey are proud of where they hail from and the reputation that comes with it.  They’re dedicated fans of The Boss and The Sopranos and proudly cheer for either of the two NFL teams that call their state home.  They have trouble pumping their own gasoline, but easily distinguish themselves by their exit on the New Jersey turnpike.  Students from New Jersey are proud of all these things.

To a certain extent, the pride and loyalty that New Jerseyans have for their state stems from the negative impression and reputation that is perpetuated by students from other states.  These students have their own strong opinions about the state, and convey these opinions by touting stereotypes that everybody has heard and pointing out when their friends from New Jersey meet these stereotypes from time to time (or all the time). 

Because of this process, students from New Jersey will embrace the good things about their state, and the successes that have come from their state, while those from the rest of the country will only use this to focus their jokes and criticism. 

These feelings about New Jersey were exemplified last fall when students embraced MTV’s Jersey Shore as a way to not only quench their thirst for high-quality non-scripted television, but to also bond over their strong feelings about the state and the stereotypes that are associated with it.

For those not from the New Jersey, the show helped to reinforce their perceptions of the state, and give them more fodder for jokes.  Meanwhile, those from New Jersey were actually proud of the show and hail the characters as heroes of their state (ironically despite the fact that only one member of the show’s cast is actually from the state of New Jersey).  One way or another, Notre Dame Students liked the show because of their strong feelings about the state; and while Notre Dame Students come from a lot of places, New Jersey is the only one that creates feelings this strong and divisive.

#77: Celtic Rock

It doesn’t have to be Saint Patrick’s Day (see #11) for Notre Dame Students to be enamored with all things of and (even tangentially) related to Ireland and Irish people because Notre Dame Students love these things throughout the year.  Along with Claddaugh Rings (see #6), Irish Flags (see #55), Guinness, Jameson, and Bailey’s; Notre Dame Students oftentimes like to play Celtic Rock music to make their get-togethers even more Irish.

Celtic Rock music (at least the kind that’s popular amongst Notre Dame Students) is essentially rock or punk music that includes an Irish accented singer and sometimes other instruments such as a fiddle.  Celtic Rock songs often include references to Ireland, the Catholic Church, drinking alcohol, and (strangely) the city of Boston.

While Notre Dame Students appreciate a variety of artists, their go-to Celtic Rock group is Flogging Molly.  With songs such as Drunken Lullabies and Rebels of the Sacred Heart, this band’s music can not only be heard at many student parties, but they also appear at Legend’s from time to time.  Notre Dame Students also utilize the music of Dropkick Murphy’s, as well as the soundtrack to the film The Boondock Saints.

Notre Dame Students like Celtic Rock because it helps them to pretend like they are more Irish than they really are, even if the music is made by people that aren’t really Irish (like most of Flogging Molly and all of Dropkick Murphy’s) and isn’t something that is actually enjoyed by Irish people.  Students like the style of music because it is acceptable in a variety of situations and is always great music for parties.  Because of these things Celtic Rock songs are oftentimes featured on the prototypical Notre Dame Playlist.

#51: Africa (the song)

Long time readers of this site know that Notre Dame Students love Africa (see #1), but what they might not be aware of is that there are two types of Africa that Notre Dame Students Like.  The first is, and more obvious one, is the continent; while the second, and less obvious one, is the 1982 hit song by the band Toto.

Its gonna take a lot to drag me away from you/
There’s nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do/
I bless the rains down in Africa/
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had.

Notre Dame Students love this song and play it more often than any song by Toto should ever be played.  It is played at parties, weddings, tailgates, dances, and is one of the few songs that regularly appears on the playlist at both Finny’s and The Backer.  This song is firmly entrenched on the Notre Dame Playlist.

But why do Notre Dame Students love the song?  Is it because of the lyrics they don’t really know the words to?  Is it because of the chorus that they love to belt out while covered in sweat and clutching their hands around a Keystone Light or a Long Island Iced Tea?  Is it because off the awesome background instrumentals?  Is it because of the sweet percussion break that makes even the most passive of Notre Dame Students bust out some air drums?

NO. 

Notre Dame Students love this song simply because of how much they like Africa (the continent).  Notre Dame Students love of Africa (the continent) is so great that as a corollary they will love almost anything that relates to or discusses the continent.  Notre Dame Students also love the song Do They Know It’s Christmas?, the film Hotel Rwanda, and the episodes of ER that feature storylines in Africa.  However, no piece of entertainment is beloved as much by Notre Dame Students because of the Africa Corollary than the song by Toto that students will sing at any time of any night they hear it.

#48: Songs that were popular 6-12 months ago

In the hit CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother* one of the main characters (Robin) hails from Canada and must explain to her friends how music trends take longer to make it to Canada.  While this may or may not be true for the country to the north of ours that Notre Dame Students use to exploit more lenient drinking laws (see #34) it is puzzlingly similar to the tastes Notre Dame Students have for music.

Whether they are too busy studying, praying, or watching football games; for some reason it takes Notre Dame Students much longer to find new songs to enjoy than the rest of the country.  While this phenomenon is inexplicable by conventional means, it can be examined by looking at songs that have become popular over the past year. 

For example, Miley Cyrus’s song See You Again was released nearly two years ago, became popular in the Summer of 2008, and has been playing in Notre Dame bars ever since.  While this song is unquestionably a fine choice to play at Finny’s and The Backer; it has worn out its welcome at nearly every other place in the country outside of a Best of Both World’s Concert (or whatever she calls it these days).  However, Notre Dame Students continue to request the song and enjoy it like it is the hip new thing or a treasured classic (something it will never be).

Meanwhile, it’s nearly impossible to spin a radio dial anywhere in the country without hearing the Black Eyed Peas I Gotta Feeling on several stations.  The song has been at or near the top of the charts for over two months yet is still roughly five months away from becoming a staple at bars and dorm parties.  It might be heard occasionally at Notre Dame, but come January it will be ubiquitous.

This trend has been going strong for several years as well.  Previous songs that Notre Dame Students embraced long past their welcome (and still are embracing) include Taylor Swift’s Love Story, Kelly Clarkson’s Since U Been Gone, Fall Out Boy’s Sugar, We Goin Down, and Estelle’s American Boy (feat. Kanye).  While these songs all had their moment for most of the country, that moment was continued far too long for Notre Dame Students.  

*Returns to CBS on Monday, September 21^st at 8:00 ET . . . trust me, just watch it.

#46: The Question of the Day

Notre Dame Students do not really seem to like The Observer all that much.  Sure, many students grab a copy at lunch and read a few articles in Sports or Viewpoint*, but overall the paper is not the most popular reading material for Notre Dame Students (although its far more popular than its ugly stepbrother The Irish Rover).  However, if there is one section that most students are sure to read every day, it is The Question of the Day.

The Question of the Day appears every day on the second page (behind the front page) of The Observer.  It consists of: a question (duh), and usually five pictures of students giving brief answers to the question that was asked.  The question that is asked can range from being completely serious and controversial to something that is completely ridiculous and barely comical.

Examples of potential questions include:

-What is your favorite dining hall food?

-How angry do the Vagina Monologues make you?

-Do you prefer sweatpants that are blue or grey?

-How do you feel about Bill Kirk?

-Are you going to The Show this weekend?

Regardless of what question is asked, the answers always come from very typical responses.  One student will answer with a phrase that has almost no relation to the question that was asked.  One student will answer the question completely seriously as if it is an important survey.  Two students will answer together, usually by mentioning the others name and pointing towards them in the pictures.  Finally, another student will answer with a question as if they are asking for elaboration of the original question. 

All of these students might make completely ridiculous statements, but they will all be incredibly happy when the paper is actually published because they finally made it into The Question of the Day.  Their picture will appear in the newspaper and people will comment about their statement, no matter how absurd, for the rest of the day.  This will probably be one of the best days of the student’s collegiate career.

Because the people who respond to the question are chosen by a top-secret process that The Observer folks will never reveal, it is impossible to seek out being featured in The Question of the Day.  Whether it happens to people who are in the right place at the right time, or to people who know the right people, The Question of the Day is one of the highest honors that a student can achieve, but one they can never possibly seek out. 

*Notre Dame Students might, from time to time, read the News section of the paper if something interesting is happening, but they will certainly never read any article pertaining to Saint Mary’s unless it is a part of some sort of Viewpoint War.

#39: Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas is You

Christmas is a magical time of year at Notre Dame. In the period between Thanksgiving and the end of finals, Notre Dame Students have many Christmas dances and parties that they attend (see #25). At each of these events they will play countless holiday themed classics ranging from Bing Crosby to Britney Spears, and they will undoubtedly turn to All I Want for Christmas is You many, many times throughout the season.

Each time they play this song, Notre Dame Students will be sure to pull a Sam from Love, Actually (see a number to be written later) and point towards one of their peers during the chorus. During this section, Notre Dame Students will use extreme caution to make sure that things do not become awkward with the person they point towards.

If they have already achieved the victory of a long term relationship then this issue is a moot point, but if not then problems arise. Most females overcome this problem by pointing at one of their girls, while most males overcome the issue by pointing out into thin air. However, sometimes Notre Dame Men try to use this as an opportunity to make the first move towards what could result in a long term relationship. Typically, this ends in failure (or possibly a dance floor makeout).

Notre Dame Students love this song so much, that they play it year-round. Would any Notre Dame Student be surprised if the song was played at Finnegan’s in September? No; in fact this is expected. Likewise, no student would hesitate to put the song on at a party in April. Notre Dame Students love this song, and it has become an essential part of the Notre Dame Playlist.

#25: Planning Things

Because Notre Dame Students were all considered ‘leaders’ in high school, they all became accustomed to being followed by their peers in whatever they did.  These students were also used to planning events for student groups, classes, and social activities.  At Notre Dame, planning things takes on an entirely new level as Notre Dame Students overly plan every activity they do.

These activities can range from the trivial (dinner at the dining hall) to the complicated (travelling in Europe over Spring Break) to the unnecessarily complicated (planning dorm parties).  No matter what the activity is, there are usually multiple students in the group that want to take up the mantle of leader and do more planning than would ever be necessary to properly plan the event. 

Oftentimes these activities have something to do with drinking (see #11) where students constantly feel the need to make complicated plans about what they are going to do.  Drinking plans become take on a life of their own due to conflicting pregames, overly complicated party themes, bar crawls, party playlists, finding rooms for dorm parties, money collection, and the mere task of deciding which bar to go to.

Planning events for Notre Dame Students has become an even more complicated task because of technology.  Even a low key night might involve scores of text messages, emails, and Facebook wall posts.  A party (whether it be in a dorm or off-campus) will certainly involve several meetings, multiple ‘epic-length’ emails, a money collection process, debate over playlist options, and almost certainly the creation of a Facebook event.  These parties will certainly be fun for those that attend, but there is an abnormally high amount of planning that goes into a bunch of college students getting drunk.

While football weekends and special events bring out some fairly elaborate plans, the most over-planned times of the year are the weeks at the end of each semester.  In the winter everybody and their roommate feel the need to throw some sort of Christmas themed event.  Usually this entails cheesy sweaters, egg nog, and peppermint schnapps, and sometimes these events even include caroling and Christmas movies.  Off-campus students especially must be prepared to attend between four and eight Christmas parties just because each and every house or apartment that their friends live in will need to plan a party of their own (despite the fact that each of these parties will be the same).

However, the most overly planned time of the year is the end of Spring Semester when everybody wants to throw their own ‘Last Party of the Year’.  This planning reaches its climax at the end of Senior Week when each and every senior needs to plan an event for their friends and family.  Because these Seniors know that tendency of Notre Dame Students to overly plan events, they are sure to get their event on the calendar early (possibly as early as January) so that all of their friends will commit to it before others events are planned.  This inevitably ends with Notre Dame Seniors shuffling their parents from event to event the nights before commencement just so all of their friends are happy (on the plus side, they get really drunk in the process).  

#9: Bon Jovi

If you have ever been to a Dorm Party at Notre Dame, then it goes without saying that you have probably heard large masses of inebriated freshmen singing the chorus to Living on a Prayer.  This song is one of the staples of the Dorm Party and requisite singing material for all Notre Dame Students.  Freshmen, in particular, play the song so frequently that by the time a Notre Dame Student is a sophomore, he or she feels compelled to walk out of any room where the song is played.  However, Notre Dame Students don’t just love the song, but they also love the band that plays it: Bon Jovi.

Never mind that this band had its glory years when current Notre Dame Students were in diapers, the student love for the band and its lead singer is unflinching.  Every year before big pep rallies rumors spread that Jon Bon Jovi will be a special guest and treat students to his rendition of the Notre Dame Victory March, and usually pep rallies come and go and Bon Jovi does not.  However, last fall Jon Bon Jovi did actually come to a pep rally and treated the students who were there to his rendition of . . . waving to the crowd. 

For his great performance moving his hand from side to side and accepting praise from Coach Weis and the Band, the student body gave him their biggest cheers since USC had a 4^th and 9 situation 3 years ago.  For all the cheers, one would have expected the man to at least sing one song.  Nope.  Notre Dame Students were just content to see the man who wrote the lyrics that they danced to their first semester on campus.  Meanwhile, the Band of Fighting Irish was having the time of their lives playing some of the singer’s more famous tunes (all of which are well before their time).

Do Students love him for his music, his New Jersey roots, or because his most famous song has the word prayer in it?  This question might never be answered.