Fight songs, anyone?

Subject: Fight songs, anyone?
From: Pinkster
Date: 25 Dec 07 - 09:17 PM

Hello all!

I've been looking for a certain type of folk song recently- fighting, bragging songs. Songs that you could sing before a football match or similar to intimidate opponents. Are there any older equivalents to such things? If so, please share!

Subject: RE: Fight songs, anyone?
From: Bert
Date: 25 Dec 07 - 10:11 PM

He's My Brother Sylvest.

Subject: RE: Fight songs, anyone?
From: Sorcha
Date: 25 Dec 07 - 10:23 PM

You mean like school spirit songs? Nearly every school has one.

Subject: RE: Fight songs, anyone?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 25 Dec 07 - 11:20 PM

On, Wisconsin
Minnesota, hats off to Thee
Notre Dame fight song
Fight Fiercely harvard

You could probably find all of these on the Net somewhere.

Subject: RE: Fight songs, anyone?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 26 Dec 07 - 01:29 PM

"Hail to the Victors," the University of Michigan's fight song, is one of the best. Suspiciously very similar to perhaps the very best of all college fight songs, Notre Dame's.

The Michigan song is a couple of years older. (Both songs date back to the late 1800s.) The members of Notre Dame's music department who wrote a new fight song very obviously took their inspiration (and more) from the Michigan song, which they undoubtedly heard more than once ~ the two schools had a very regular rivalry back in those early days of US intercollegiate sports.

To their credit, while they may have been guilty of borderline plagerism, the ND composers (I think they may have been brothers; can't remember for sure) created an even more stirring piece of music and lyrics, destined for widespread fame and adaptation. There's no telling how many high schools ~ and even other colleges ~ use that same tune today for their own theme songs.

Subject: RE: Fight songs, anyone?
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 26 Dec 07 - 04:36 PM

How about Tom Lehrer's "Fight Fiercely, Harvard!"

Subject: RE: Fight songs, anyone?
From: catspaw49
Date: 26 Dec 07 - 08:05 PM

Sorry Poppa but surely you jest!

"The Victors" (ROTFLMAO) is a 3rd rate wimpy-ass fight song of a 29th rate team played by a 43rd rate marching band in a deadbeat state. Let's get real and listen to a REAL fight song played by

The Best Damn Band in the Land

BUCKEYE BATTLE CRY

We have another famous fight song, "Across the Field," but even better, let's all watch and listen while TBDBITL playing the famous "Le Regiment March" does the traditional, one and only,
SCRIPT OHIO.

That's a real band and a real fight song. We do have a thing we use to pay "tribute" to Michigan though........goes like this and we prove that
the TBDBITL can sing too!!!

Spaw

Subject: RE: Fight songs, anyone?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 26 Dec 07 - 09:42 PM

Spaw, I am impressed! The DH and I watched in awe as the Script spelled Ohio. Wonderful.

Subject: RE: Fight songs, anyone?
From: GUEST,crazy little woman
Date: 26 Dec 07 - 09:51 PM

Have you ever heard the one about the Western girl who left the ranch and travelled to Boston. They asked her where she was from, and she replied, 'Idaho.' The answer came as gentle reproof - 'We say "Ohio".'

Subject: RE: Fight songs, anyone?
From: Padre
Date: 26 Dec 07 - 10:50 PM

Stand up and cheer boys, a song for Wilmington
Soon the foe we're meeting, true to you our hearts are beating;
We'll never fear boys, we're loyal every one,
we'll win the game and laud the name of dear old Wilmington.

[a fight song for Quakers]

Padre, who played midfield @ Wilmington College

And then there's:

Let's give a rah for West Virginia
And let us pledge to her anew,
Others may be black or crimson,
but for us it's Gold and Blue.
Let all our troubles be forgotten,
Let college spirit rule,
We'll join and give our loyal efforts
For the good of our old school.

It's West Virginia, It's West Virginia
The Pride of every Mountaineer.
Come on you old grads, join with us young lads,
It's West Virginia now we cheer!
Now is the time, boys, to make a big noise
No matter what the people say,
For there is naught to fear; the gang's all here,
So hail to West Virginia, Hail!

Padre, who ran cross country (and never had the fight song sung for the xcountry team)

Subject: RE: Fight songs, anyone?
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 27 Dec 07 - 11:46 AM

And, while we're at it, how about those mascots? In the US, we have Delaware's "Fighting Blue Hens," UC Irvine's "Anteaters," UC Santa Cruz's "Fighting Banana Slugs" and so on and on...

Subject: RE: Fight songs, anyone?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 27 Dec 07 - 12:24 PM

Sorry to offend you Buckeyes, Spaw ~ but not as sorry as I'll be next week after the Fighting Tigers whip y'all's farmboy asses!

;^)

Seriously, though ~ you Buckeyes have a great marching band (and a great big one, too, of course), but those damn Wolverines ~ I don't much like 'em, either, you know ~ did come up with a really good song a hundred-some-odd years ago.

Incidentally, HBO aired a very intereting documetnary about the OSU-UM rivalry last night. (Like all HBO programs it will undoubtedly be repeated a few times over the next week or so.) I learned a number of things I never knew before, such as the 1830s boundary dispute over the Toledo area, as well as all the football-related conflict of more recent years. No wonder there's such bad blood up there under those gray midwestern skies!

Subject: RE: Fight songs, anyone?
From: GUEST,Texas Guest
Date: 27 Dec 07 - 11:04 PM

Well, there's only ONE fight song lads - the one that came out of
Notre Dame, Indiana - period, end of discussion. Yep, "Hail To The
Victors" is most excellent, too, but it isn't the Notre Dame Fight Song.

Poppa Gator: my understanding is that ND had the very first marching band in college football. Also, ND had a rivalry with Michigan but
it was not so much on the football field as it was off. Too long and complicated here to get into it but there is a wonderful book out there on the shelves titled, "Shake Down The Thunder: The Story Of The Creation Of Notre Dame Football."

The book was written by one Murray Spurber (the professor who was responsible for the removal of Bobby Knight from Indiana) who asked
himself the question: how did a tiny little Catholic school, founded on a coin and a prayer in the middle of nowhere in the 1800's grow
to become the epitome of college football? Well, the book is not only the story of the founding of Notre Dame football but the growth of college football itself. You'll learn all about the Michigan rivalry, gambling, Rockne and why we didn't join a conference and still are not in one today - and probably won't be during our lifetimes. Go and fetch it - great stuff. Cheers and a Happy New Year to you. See you in Jackson?

Subject: RE: Fight songs, anyone?
From: catspaw49
Date: 27 Dec 07 - 11:41 PM

Hi Poppa

The HBO piece is really cute and very well done. Lots of good history and everything from smart to dumb comments......What was Kerry thinking anyway?

I think the LSU game will be very tough. Good coaching and solid team play makes them look hard to beat, even worse than the Florida bunch last year. OSU has once again had a longer layoff which hurts but I love Jim Tressel and know he'll have them as up as possible. But this wasn't supposed to be anything more than a rebuilding year as most all of the team are Juniors or less. But its been a strange year to say the very least.

Howzabout a bet? OSU wins I'll send you an Ohio State Jersey you need to wear out one day on the streets of Nawleens and be photographed then posted here (Kat's site).   I'll do the same here in Columbus.....or maybe you have another idea? Add a bit of spice to the game!

Spaw

Subject: RE: Fight songs, anyone?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 28 Dec 07 - 09:36 AM

Poppagator, whatever do you mean by 'gray midwestern skies'? You must have the Midwest confused with the Northwest, where whole states have indirect lighting.

Gray skies do occur, but so do blue, black, white, occasional green patches [hail] and beautiful multi-color sunsets.

I generally avoid dawn, but I do remember an autumnal dawn in western Kansas, where black, leafless trees were silhouetted against a glowing, lemon-yellow sky. Wonderful!

Subject: RE: Fight songs, anyone?
From: Rapparee
Date: 28 Dec 07 - 09:51 AM

Rack 'em, sack 'em, tromp 'em, Swarthmore!
Grind them in the mud!
Beat 'em, kill 'em, hit 'em, Swarthmore!
We Want BLOOD!

Well, maybe not....

For a while the rumor was that Paul McCartney and Apple Records owned the rights the ND Fight Song. The rumor was so prevalent that my very own wife, who at the time was Assistant General Counsel at Notre Dame, was asked to look into it.

She made one phone call, to Notre Dame Bands. They had all the paperwork and history -- Notre Dame Bands (note the plural) owns the songs and all the rights thereto. Apple acts as their agent in collecting royalties. The Bands have been collecting money on the fight song for years and years and still are.

For those who live Elsewhere or in caves:

The Notre Dame Victory March (the real title)

Rally sons of Notre Dame
Sing her glory and sound her fame,
Raise her Gold and Blue
And cheer with voices true:
Rah, rah, for Notre Dame
We will fight in every game,
Strong of heart and true to her name
We will ne'er forget her
And will cheer her ever
Loyal to Notre Dame

Cheer, cheer for old Notre Dame,
Wake up the echoes cheering her name,
Send a volley cheer on high,
Shake down the thunder from the sky.
What though the odds be great or small
Old Notre Dame will win over all,
While her loyal sons are marching
Onward to victory.

And for Poppagator, a real tear-jerker:

Notre Dame, Our Mother

Notre Dame, our Mother
Tender, strong, and true
Proudly in thy heavens,
Gleams thy gold and blue.
Glory's mantle cloaks thee
Golden is they fame,
And our hearts forever,
Praise thee Notre Dame,
And our hearts forever,
Love thee Notre Dame.

At the end of every game, win or lose, everyone stands up and sings the last song -- or mumbles along if they don't know the words.

Subject: RE: Fight songs, anyone?
From: Flash Company
Date: 28 Dec 07 - 10:22 AM

It's a rare old team to play for,
It's a rare old team to know,
And when you learn about our history
It's enough to make your heart grow sa-a-a-ad,
We dont care whether we win ,lose or draw,
What the hell do we care,
All we know, there's going to be a row,
And good old Russell Street will be there!

I think I heard it from Dominic Behan.

FC

Subject: RE: Fight songs, anyone?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 28 Dec 07 - 12:17 PM

Texas Guest, you let the word "we" slip into your post, so I suppose I can assume that you and I are both ND alums now living in warmer climes. What I wrote is from memory, but I'm pretty sure it came from ND magazine or some other "Irish" source (The bits about the Michigan fight song being slightly older and a source of inspiration for our even-more-superior song). I'm pretty sure I remember something about the composers being brothers, too.

Notre Dame and Michigan have played each other in a huge number of college football games, starting back in those very early days and, more recently, every year since the early 70s. In my student days (65-70), however, this rivalry was not active at all. Notre Dame had an annual meeting with Michigan STATE that was a huge deal at the time, and in fact involved a memorable tie game AND a tie for the national championship my sophomore year. But U of M was not on the radar screen at all; we didn't play them, and they were not a national power at that time.

Leenia, I spent five winters in South Bend, IN, and I know very well just how dark and gray ~ and snowy! ~ those skies can be. Perhaps it's because my school days predated the onset of global warming, but what I remember is a series of dark, gloomy, snowbound, and very l-o-o-o-n-g winters, during which the ground stayed covered with snow from Thanksgiving all the way through St. Paddy's Day (mid-March) every year. (Northwestern Indiana, just to the windward of Lake Michigan, gets more snowfall than any other area in the Lower 48.)

Spaw, your proposal is intriguing, but I'm too broke to bet much of anything these days. Well, maybe I can afford an LSU t-shirt, but not one of those quasi-authentic $90 game jerseys. For a little over a year there, we were temporarily rich thanks to flood insurance money, and I was having the time of my life writing four- and five-figure checks to various contractors as if it were something I'd been doing all my life. Now all the extra money is gone, and we're not yet bringing in enough income to make up for it. Reality bites!

Besides which, I'm not all that much of an LSU fan, anyway ~ although this year, the football Tigers are kind-of taking on the role that the Saints played last year, representing the hopes and dreams of our entire region. I am not entirely bought-into that notion, but since I have so many friends who are die-hard purple-and-gold-bleeding LSU fans and alums, I'd rather see them win than lose.

Personally, I'm basically dispasionate about the BCS game outcome ~ just as you seem to be. I mean, it's not as if you're an OSU alum, right? But if I recall correctly, you live right there ~ not just in the state of Ohio, but smack dab in Columbus itself, or at least "greater" Columbus. Am I right?

Rapaire: What Swarthmore team was ever out for blood? Y'all are Quakers, aren't you? Or, at least, were at one time? Of course, Tricky Dick Nixon was brought up Quaker...

Subject: RE: Fight songs, anyone?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 28 Dec 07 - 06:11 PM

I guess you are in the US, Pinkster?

Trust me. You don't wan't the 'fight songs' that chanted at our wonderful UK football matches.

It is best left to your imagination.

D.

Subject: RE: Fight songs, anyone?
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 28 Dec 07 - 06:19 PM

The trouble with a lot of US college and university fight songs is that the lyrics were written anywhere from the late 1800's to the early 1900's, in many cases, and can seem awfully dated; even ludicrous to modern ears. The bands still play the songs, but few know the words or care to sing them, unless they are as simple as USC's.

Subject: RE: Fight songs, anyone?
From: Rapparee
Date: 28 Dec 07 - 06:38 PM

Actually, I have had nothing to do with Swathmore except that I once knew a preacher who'd graduated from there. I myself BA'ed at a small and fairly insignificant college in west-central Illinois and MS'ed myself at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland.

I am not now, nor was I ever, a student at the University of Notre Dame or in any way connected with it except as the husband of a University Administrator.