I was at the last Michigan vs Washington football game in Ann Arbor and a Michigan fan who is a friend of mine commented that our fight song is the most arrogant thing he has ever heard. I had never thought about that, but it must seem that way for other schools. We may have the most arrogant song, but USC has the most obnoxiuous, unless of course you are a Trojan fan then you love it.
Bow Down to Washington is the official fight song of the University of Washington. It was written by Lester Wilson in 1915 for a competition requesting a new song for the university; the competition, sponsored by The Daily, had a grand prize of $25 (the equivalent of $460 in 2005).
"Bow Down to Washington" was first used as a fight song at the Washington-California football game on November 6, 1915. It is typically played and sung at all University of Washington sporting events that the Husky Marching Band is present at.
Bow Down To Washington
Bow down to Washington,
Bow down to Washington,
Mighty are the men
Who wear the purple and the gold,
Joyfully we welcome them
Within the victors fold.
We will carve their names
In the Hall of Fame
To preserve the memory of our devotion.
So heaven help the foes of Washington;
They're trembling at the feet
Of mighty Washington,
Our boys are there with bells,
Their fighting blood excels,
It's harder to push them over the line
Than pass the Dardanelles.
So victory's the cry of Washington...
Our leather lungs together
With a Rah! Rah! Rah!
And o'er the land
The loyal band
Will sing the glory
Of Washington forever.
Happy Sunday everyone!
Sunday, July 30, 2006
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9 comments:
JohnB; Arrogant!, you should tell your friend arrogance is "Hail to the Victors Valiant" & "Hail Hail to Michigan The CHAMPIONS of the WEST." or "Shake Down the thunder from the sky" (like they have a connection to the man). Will agree with you that the Tribute to TROY is most obnoxious, "Fight On" is ok. How can somenody be champions of the west when they are east of the mississippi. Truthfully, IMHO the two best known fight songs in college ball (minus service academies) are Michigan and ND. My gripe with Bow Down is its very hard to sing in key. I like the Bow Down part and when Bissell was Band director would play that short ditty "BOW DOWN TO WASHINGTON" after first downs, defensive stops etc, kinda like USCs tribute. So tell your friend, I used to be arrogant till five years ago, and hopefully will be again in 3-5 years.
According to my Michigan friend....Champions of the West was coined in the 1890's.
"I don't think people at the turn of the century really thought that there was much East of Chicago other than Cowboys, and Indians. the truth was there wasn't. So places like Michigan, Ohio,and Illinois were considered the West at that time."
To illustrate the point check out the population figures below.
In 1900 San Francisco was by far the largest western city with a population of 350,000 people. It was also the 7th largest city in the country. Denver was next at 125,000, followed by Butte, Montana at 115,000. LA was near 100,000, while Seattle was at 80,000.
I think it is very interesting that Butte, Mt. was that big at the turn of the century since it only has around 30,000 living there now.
Fascinating place to visit if you get a chance since you can still see the footprint of a much larger town that has been swallowed by the mine, and the surrounding hills.
I like Bow Down....always sends shivers up my spine.
The only one I ever knew was On Wisconsin. For some reason our HS adopted it and I used to have to play it in band. Well, that, and the rat____ ratshit, dirty old...etc.
As far as history goes, my grandmother used to tell me there was once talk of the UW being established in the Boistfort Valley. It would have been at the Klaber hopyard where the high school used to be. Here's what it looked like a few years ago. The hopyard is the large field in the upper middle. Pullman west?
http://www.gainline.us/gainline/2006/07/a_startup_ventu.html
Well, that didn't work.
hopyard
I think Chehalis would have been a great place for WSU. Yakima was the suggested location for WSU, but Yakmanian's had a choice between that and the state fair, they took the state fair. WSU went to Pullman.
I had no idea that Chehalis was a possible spot for UW.
Interesting stuff on the UW and WSU histories. This is good, HoD did you attend West Seattle HS? I believe they used On Wisconsin. I am an old (very old) Metro league type, know Sealth HS (brand new school) used Michigan, Franklin HS used ND, and (cough cough) my Garfield used Oregon as a secondary fight song.
JohnB, I did know about the west thing, everyone I have met from Ohio says I grew up out west in Ohio. You would think by now, that saying would have changed.
Well the out West thing is a reflex deal, everyone grew up with that back East. Yep, Detroit is out West.
"On Wisconsin" was the O'Dea fight song too, with new words, seems that it is the most popular fight song out there based on it's adoption by high schools across the country.
I think the funniest cheer I heard was from Garfield HS.
" G-A-R-FI-E-L-D, Garfield, Garfield Yesiree! "
What was funn was the cadence and the use of FI...I guess you would have to be there, but very funky.
No, I went to small schools in SW WA, Napavine and Rainier. Rainier used On Wisconsin
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