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Fight song of the University of Michigan | |
| Lyrics | J. Fred Lawton, 1911 |
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| Music | Earl Vincent Moore, 1911 |
| Adopted | 1911 |
| Audio sample | |
"Varsity" is a fight song of the University of Michigan.
| | |
Fight song of the University of Michigan | |
| Lyrics | J. Fred Lawton, 1911 |
|---|---|
| Music | Earl Vincent Moore, 1911 |
| Adopted | 1911 |
| Audio sample | |
"Varsity" is a fight song of the University of Michigan.
It was composed by two Michigan students, J. Fred Lawton and Earl Vincent Moore, [1] while they were riding a street car in Detroit in 1911. [2] Lawton had graduated from Michigan in June 1911, and met Moore in Detroit that October. Moore suggested to Lawton that the university needed a new fight song, and that the two of them should create it. Lawton wrote the lyrics while Moore composed the music for the song. [2]
"Varsity" was written in 1911 as a replacement for "The Victors", which includes the line "Champions of the West" that no longer applied to Michigan athletics after the university departed the Western Conference. [1] [3] Michigan football coach Fielding H. Yost pulled Michigan out of the conference in 1907 due to changes made to its recruiting and eligibility rules, and the football team played as an independent for the next decade before rejoining what ultimately became the Big Ten Conference. According to University of Michigan music historian Joseph Dobos, "The Victors" had all but disappeared from campus in the 1900s, and the most popular songs at football games and pep rallies were the alma mater, "The Yellow and Blue", and a modified version of "Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight" that included Michigan-specific lyrics. [4]
"Varsity" was first played at a Friday night pep rally held at University Hall on October 6, 1911, where Michigan Marching Band director Eugene Fischer heard it and agreed to play it the very next day during the football team's game against Case. [1] [4] It is likely that Fischer made his own band arrangement of the song overnight. After the performance of "Varsity" at halftime of the Case game, The Michigan Daily called it "stirring" and opined that it would become "one of Michigan's most popular songs". [5] It was featured in the song book Michigan’s Favorite College Songs in 1913, the third and final major song book to be produced by the university. [6]
In 1917, "The Victors" began being played again as Michigan returned to the Western Conference, and it surpassed "Varsity" in popularity during the 1920s. [4] In 1951, the "M Fanfare", the university fanfare, was composed from both of Michigan's fight songs, "Varsity" and "The Victors", as well as its alma mater, "The Yellow and Blue". [7]
In 1969, Lawton, aged 81, collapsed and died just outside Michigan Stadium following a football game against Wisconsin during which he guest conducted the Michigan Marching Band in playing "Varsity". [2] The marching band continues to play the song regularly at Michigan football games. [6]
Men of Michigan onto victory, Ev'ry man in ev'ry play.
Michigan expects her Varsity to win today!
Rah! Rah! Win for Michigan!
Varsity, Down the field.
Never yield, Raise high our shield.
March on to victory for Michigan,
And the Maize and Blue.
Oh Varsity, We're for you,
Here for you to cheer for you.
We have no fear for you. Oh Varsity! [8]
"The Victors" is the fight song of the University of Michigan. Michigan student Louis Elbel wrote the song in 1898 after the football team's victory over the University of Chicago, which clinched an undefeated season and the Western Conference championship.
The Michigan Marching Band is the official marching band of the University of Michigan. The band performs at all Michigan Wolverines football home games, select away games, and numerous concerts, pep rallies, and parades. As a student musical ensemble, the MMB evolved from the original Michigan Band of twenty-two players in 1896 to today's band of over 400 members.
"Carmen Ohio" is the oldest school song still used by Ohio State University. The song was composed by freshman athlete and Men's Glee Club member Fred Cornell in 1902 or 1903. According to some accounts, he composed it on the train ride home from Ann Arbor, Michigan after Ohio State suffered an 86-0 loss to the Michigan Wolverines. The song was set to the tune of "Spanish Hymn", or "Spanish Chant", and the Men's Glee Club first performed it in 1903; however, it did not gain popularity until after its publication in The Lantern on October 10, 1906. At the following Ohio State-Michigan football game on October 20, 1906, "Carmen Ohio" was published in the program. In 1915, Cornell recalled that he wrote the song in 1903 at the request of the Men's Glee Club, and other family members later stated that the train story might be an exaggeration or outright fabrication. Currently, after every home football game in Ohio Stadium, win or lose, the football team and the crowd sing the first verse of Carmen Ohio, accompanied by The Ohio State University Marching Band. It is also sung by new graduates at the end of the university's commencement ceremonies, after diplomas are distributed.
Formed in 1845, the Holy Cross Crusaders Marching Band (HCMB) is one of the oldest organizations at The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA, and one of the oldest college bands in the United States. The Crusaders Marching Band first began performing at football games in 1910 and the band's role has expanded significantly since to include other athletic appearances, performing at all home football games, selected away games, in exhibition at high school band competitions, and at various events throughout the country. In the spring, the marching band converts into the Holy Cross Crusader Pep Band and plays at all home basketball games, and travels with the teams to the NCAA tournament. The Marching Band performs at Fitton Field while the Pep Band plays in the Hart Center.
Oskee Wow-Wow is the official fight song of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The song was written in 1910 by two students: Harold Vater Hill '11 (1889–1917), credited with the music, and Howard Ruggles Green '12 (1890–1969), credited with the lyrics.
"The Nittany Lion" is a traditional fight song played by the Penn State Blue Band at football games and other sporting events. During the pre-game show of home football games at Beaver Stadium, it is part of the traditional Lion Fanfare and Downfield. While it is not the official fight song of Penn State, it is one of the songs most widely associated with the university, and is also incorrectly referred to as "Hail to the Lion". On Fridays and Saturdays, the clock tower in Penn State's Old Main plays a line of the chorus music at the fifteen-minute mark of each hour, and adds a line every 15 minutes until the whole chorus is played on the completion of the hour.
The "Penn State Alma Mater" is the official alma mater of The Pennsylvania State University. The song was accepted by the university in 1901.
Kentucky Fight is a fight song at the University of Kentucky. It is a fairly traditional-sounding march, and the lyrics are almost never sung. The song has three verses: one is generic, one is for football, and one is for basketball.
"Roar, Lion, Roar" is the primary fight song of Columbia University. It was originally titled "Bold Buccaneers" and was written with different lyrics for the 1923 Varsity Show Half Moon Inn by Columbia undergraduates Corey Ford and Morris W. Watkins, and alumnus Roy Webb. In order to compete in the Columbia Alumni Federation's contest to find a school fight song the same year, Ford wrote a new set of lyrics that would become "Roar, Lion, Roar". The title references Columbia's mascot, the Columbia Lion.
"Hail Varsity" is the fight song of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (NU), written in 1936 by Joyce Ayres and composed the same year by Wilbur Chenoweth. The song is often played at Memorial Stadium during Nebraska's football games by the University of Nebraska Cornhusker Marching Band and at other athletic events by the school's pep band.
"Hail to Pitt" is the most traditional fight song of the University of Pittsburgh, which is commonly referred to as Pitt. The saying "Hail to Pitt!" is also the most traditional and commonly used slogan of the University of Pittsburgh and its athletics teams. The slogan is frequently used in promotional material, printed on merchandise and souvenirs. It was also the title of a 1982 history of Pitt athletics by author Jim O'Brien. The slogan is often used among alumni as a statement of affiliation, including as a closing signature in conversation or correspondence between alumni, and is sometime abbreviated as "HTP" or "H2P", the latter of which is a registered trademark of the university and is frequently used on official university signage and merchandise.
The alma mater of the University of Pittsburgh was adopted soon after the University changed its name in 1908 from the Western University of Pennsylvania to its current moniker. Lyrics were written by George M. P. Baird, class of 1909 and were set to the tune of what was then the Austrian National Anthem. A new tune for the "Alma Mater" hymn was composed by Charles W. Scovel, class of 1883, but it was not widely adopted and was either lost or became obscure.
The 1910 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1910 college football season. The team's head coach was Fielding H. Yost in his 10th season at Michigan. While playing a schedule that included some of the best teams in the country, Michigan compiled an undefeated 3–0–3 record and outscored opponents 29 to 9. Early in the season, the Wolverines defeated a Michigan Agricultural Aggies team that compiled a record of 6–0 and outscored opponents other than Michigan 165 to 2. The Wolverines tied a Penn team that compiled a 9–1–1 record in 1910 while outscoring opponents 184 to 19. They also tied an Ohio State team that finished the season with a 6–1–3 record and outscored opponents 182 to 27 and a Case team that handed Ohio State its only defeat. In the final game of the season, Michigan shut out an undefeated Minnesota team that had outscored its previous opponents 179 to 0.
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