I was walking the dog, and a boy passed by on the other side of the street riding his bicycle. As he cruised downhill, he lifted his hands from the handlebars and began to clap in time with the chant, “Olé, Olé, Olé, Olé.”
I knew those words and melody were used in soccer matches around the world, but when I looked it up, I was surprised that the same Olé, Olé, Olé, Olé I had heard at sporting events and in city streets originated in Belgium — and not Spain, or a Spanish-speaking nation. While the song was made famous at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, it has since been replicated around the world.
The tune and refrain of Olé is a beloved anthem by fans of the Montreal Canadians in the National Hockey League and of wrestlers in WWE Raw. It’s sung after touchdowns by college football fans of the Wisconsin Badgers and in celebration of certain Formula One race car drivers.
Whether belted out by Spanish bullfighters or international rugby players, Olé is untranslatable to just one word. It is an interjection of praise or shout of approval, which is why it is fitting as a chorus from an impassioned crowd or from the lips of a child gliding effortlessly down a hill on a bike, no hands, and with a wide, proud smile on his face.
Andrew Taylor-Troutman is the author of “Little Big Moments,” a collection of mini-essays about parenting, and “Tigers, Mice & Strawberries: Poems.” Both titles are available most anywhere books are sold online. Taylor-Troutman lives in Chapel Hill where he serves as pastor of Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church and occasionally stumbles upon the wondrous while in search of his next cup of coffee.
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