Its simple lyrics, written in the first person plural, repeatedly express the indifference of its performers to the entirety of the state of Michigan and declare their place of origin to be some other location.
It has also been used in a variety of contexts by baseball and football fans from Chicago, Minnesota, Ohio, North Carolina, and Tennessee (primarily during the Johnny Majors coached years[citation needed]).
In 1896, a group of Cornell alumni gathered in Chicago and sang a song with the following lyrics: "We don't give a ---- For the whole State of Michigan; We're from Illinois.
[6] According to another account, Ohio Wesleyan coach George Gauthier, a Michigan State alumnus, led his team in singing the song in the locker room before the 1928 game began.
[10] The song was performed in the 1940 play The Male Animal, written by Ohio State University alumni James Thurber and Elliott Nugent, and subsequently turned into a in the 1942 motion picture of the same name.