It is arguably the most recognizable taunt in human history. You've heard it at Yankee Stadium when a pitcher gets pulled. You've heard it in political rallies when a candidate concedes. Honestly, you've probably even hummed it under your breath when a coworker you dislike finally quits. But the na na na hey hey kiss him goodbye lyrics weren't supposed to be a hit. In fact, the guys who wrote it didn't even want their names on the record.
The year was 1969. Gary DeCarlo, a singer with a velvet voice, was recording what he thought were sure-fire hits for Mercury Records. The label wanted a B-side—a filler track—to put on the back of his single "Sweet Laura Lee." Paul Leka and Dale Frashuer, his collaborators, dug up a song they’d partially written years earlier in a band called The Chimes. They needed to make it longer. They needed it to be "un-hip" enough that DJs wouldn't play it instead of the A-side.
So, they started chanting.
The Accidental Birth of the Na Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye Lyrics
The recording session for this "filler" track was a mess, but a brilliant one. Paul Leka reportedly sat at the piano and just started pounding out that famous blues-rock riff. Because they didn't have a full set of lyrics ready, they filled the gaps with "na na na" and "hey hey." It was a placeholder. It was literal gibberish meant to be replaced later by "real" poetry.
They kept it.
They even added a drum track that sounded like someone hitting a heavy crate, giving it that thumping, tribal urgency. When the executives at Mercury heard it, they realized the B-side was actually better than the A-side. DeCarlo was horrified. He didn't want to be known for a "garbage" song with nonsense lyrics. To protect his "serious" career, the band name Steam was invented. Steam didn't exist. It was just DeCarlo’s voice layered over and over again to sound like a crowd.
The song exploded. By December 1969, it was number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The irony is thick: a song designed to be ignored became an immortal piece of pop culture, while "Sweet Laura Lee" vanished into the bargain bins of history.
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What the Lyrics are Actually Saying (Beyond the Chant)
While everyone remembers the chorus, the verses of the na na na hey hey kiss him goodbye lyrics tell a fairly standard story of romantic rivalry. It’s a "guy-stealing-your-girl" narrative.
The narrator is talking to a woman whose current boyfriend doesn't treat her right. He’s basically telling her, "Look, this guy is a loser, he’s making you cry, and I’m right here waiting."
- "He'll never love you, the way that I love you."
- "He'll never consider you, lady, say goodbye."
It’s surprisingly tender in the verses. Then, the chorus hits, and it turns into a gloating, triumphant parade. That’s the disconnect that makes it work. The "na na na" part feels like a crowd of people pointing their fingers at the losing guy. It moved from being a song about a breakup to being a song about defeat.
The 1977 Pivot: How Sports Claimed It
For nearly a decade, the song was just an oldies hit. That changed in Chicago. Nancy Faust, the legendary organist for the Chicago White Sox, started playing the melody when an opposing pitcher was removed from the game.
It was a stroke of genius.
The crowd instinctively picked up the "na na na" chant. It was easy to sing, even if you were three beers deep. It was insulting but catchy. Within a few seasons, every stadium in America was using it. When you look at the na na na hey hey kiss him goodbye lyrics today, you don't think about a guy losing his girlfriend. You think about a basketball player fouling out or a politician losing an election.
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The Complexity of Ownership and Ego
Gary DeCarlo’s relationship with the song remained complicated until his death in 2017. He spent years trying to prove he was the voice of Steam. Because the "band" was a studio creation, a different group of musicians was hired to tour and lip-sync the song on TV shows like American Bandstand.
Imagine seeing a bunch of strangers on TV, wearing 1960s fringe vests, taking credit for your voice.
It’s a cautionary tale about the music industry. DeCarlo eventually embraced it, performing the song for nostalgic fans, but the shadow of that "filler" track defined his entire professional life. It’s a weirdly human story about how the things we value least are often what the world values most.
Why It Stays at the Top of the Charts (Mentally)
Psychologically, the song utilizes a "callback and response" structure that triggers something primal. The repetitive nature of the "na na na" acts as an earworm. There is no linguistic barrier. You could be in a stadium in Tokyo or a pub in London; everyone knows how to sing "na na na."
It’s the universal language of "you lost."
Analyzing the Musical Structure
Musically, the song is built on a very simple progression. It’s mostly C, F, and G—the bread and butter of rock and roll. But the production is what saved it from being boring. They used a high-pitched organ sound that cuts through stadium noise perfectly.
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- The Tempo: It’s roughly 115 beats per minute. This is the "walking pace" of music, making it easy for a crowd to clap along in unison.
- The Layering: Paul Leka used a technique called "overdubbing" to make DeCarlo’s voice sound like a mob. This is why it feels so natural for a crowd of 50,000 people to join in. It was literally designed to sound like a group.
Modern Misconceptions
One thing people get wrong is thinking the song was written by a British group. Because of the "hey hey" and the rowdy vibe, many assume it came out of the UK pub rock scene or the British Invasion. Nope. It’s as American as a Chicago hot dog.
Another common mistake? People think the lyrics are "Kiss them goodbye."
Grammatically, in the context of sports, "them" makes more sense because you're addressing a team. But the original na na na hey hey kiss him goodbye lyrics are singular. It’s about one guy. The "him" is the boyfriend who is about to be dumped.
Actionable Takeaways for Music Fans and Creators
If you’re a songwriter or a content creator, there’s a massive lesson here: Don't overthink the "placeholder" ideas.
Sometimes the thing you do when you aren't trying—the joke, the chant, the "dumb" riff—is the thing that resonates because it’s stripped of pretension. The creators of Steam were trying to write a "bad" song to make the A-side look better. In doing so, they accidentally tapped into a raw, energetic simplicity that "serious" art often misses.
How to use this history in your life:
- Check the B-sides: When listening to legacy artists, always look for the tracks they didn't think would be hits. That’s often where the most creative risks live.
- Embrace the Chant: If you're leading a group or designing a brand, remember that "nonsense" syllables like "Na Na" are more memorable than complex slogans.
- Give Credit: If you're a musician, ensure your session contracts are airtight. Gary DeCarlo lost years of recognition because "Steam" was a faceless entity.
- Context is Everything: The song proves that a piece of art can be completely redefined by its audience. The White Sox fans turned a breakup song into a weapon of psychological warfare.
Next time you hear that thumping drum and the familiar chant, remember Gary DeCarlo in that 1969 studio. He thought he was recording a throwaway track. Instead, he was recording the soundtrack to every victory and every defeat for the next sixty years. It’s a reminder that once you release something into the world, the world gets to decide what it means, not you.