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The Lost
Fight Songs
Created
2/18/01;
Updated
8/3/14
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Page
Two: The Lost Fight
Songs
of
Northwestern
Page One: Standard School Songs
Page Three: From the Vault
Since their debuts, "Go
U Northwestern" and "Push On" have remained a part of the NU marching
band's
play list. "Push On" has occasionally waned in popularity, but it
never left. Numerous other original Northwestern fight songs have
not had such staying power. From the turn of the Twentieth
Century
through the early forties, several other fight songs were NU
staples.
Some, like "Northwestern," were relatively short-lived, but
influential;
others, like "Wild Cats" and "Hail to Our Varsity," (not an original
tune)
were wildly popular in their day, but now unknown.
By the mid
thirties, "Go
U" and "Push On" had claimed their spots as Northwestern's only fight
songs
(original fight songs, that is. How can we forget that
Jimi Hendrix's
"Purple Haze" has been an unofficial fight song since the early
seventies?).
HailToPurple.com is pleased to feature some of these "lost fight songs
of
Northwestern," from the golden age of NU's original fight songs.
I
have coded these songs into MIDI files from the earliest available
sheet
music. The MIDI files are small in size and very easy to
download;
however, the sound is somewhat crude (I'm no MIDI expert...).
For
some of these songs, the MIDI file represents the first time the tune
has
been played in generations. Here are seven songs from NU's
fight song heyday that have been lost to
obscurity.
"Wildcat Victory"
It's been
ten years since HailToPurple.com last featured a lost song. Since then,
we've received the sheet music to one of the last fight songs to be
published during NU's golden age of fight songs: "Wildcat Victory,"
which debuted in 1939.
Alexander Sweet, a member of Northwestern's class of 1936, wrote
"Wildcat Victory" as a victory song, to be performed after a... Wildcat
victory. The song was supposed to take its place next to NU's other
fight songs. Instead, it quickly dropped out of play.
Wildcat Victory
Hear that great big band play,
Spurring you on your way,
To the field of battle
Onward to the fray,
We know our Northwestern
has a grand old name.
Make us proud to say
we've won another game.
Chorus:
Wildcats, hold that line, hold that line!
Wildcats, now's the time, now's the time!
Drive on, strive on, we must make a score,
For Northwestern as we have before.
Wildcats, throw a pass, throw a pass!
We must win this game.
Fight! Fight!
Fight on, give us another
Wildcat victory.
Stay
tuned: later in 2014 HailToPurple will follow "Wildcat Victory," one of
the final NU fight songs, with a lost song that is among the very earliest Northwestern songs.
"Wild
Cats (The 'Wild Cat' Song)"
Donald Robertson secured
his place in NU history by penning "Rise Northwestern" in 1913.
However,
this was not the only Northwestern song Robertson wrote; in fact, he
wrote
many
that, when they were first performed, rivaled "Rise Northwestern" in
popularity.
Among his successful NU tunes were "Hail Alma Mater True"-- the next
song on this page-- "Because We
All Like Old NU," "Northwestern Military March," "Fraternity Man," "Mr.
Willard Hall," "For I Am a College Man," "Sandwich Day," and the first
featured song here, "Wild Cats."
"Wild Cats"
was first performed
in 1926, less than two years after NU took the Wildcat nickname.
The tune was an overnight success, bumped Robertson's own "Rise
Northwestern"
as NU's premiere fight song, and was diligently played at every
football
game along with "Go U Northwestern." "Go U" eventually regained
its
own status as the number one fight song, but "Wild Cats" remained a
favorite
for several more seasons. By the early forties, however, "Wild
Cats"
began to slide into obscurity, and never returned to the band's
repertoire.
Part of the
problem might
have been the song's (relatively) inane lyrics. However,
the
tune is actually catchy, especially once you've hummed it about a
hundred
times while coding the damn thing into a midi file.
'Wild
Cat' Song
Wild Cats,
They're Purple
Wild Cats Yow-ow!
Wild Cats,
They're winning
Wild Cats Yow-ow!
Bring your
Champions,
they're our meat
U Northwestern
won't
be beat
Stratch 'em,
bite 'em,
claw 'em, fight 'em
Yow! Yow! Yow!
Yow! Yow!
Yow! YOW!
NU's marching
band in 1930,
performing a formation
that, ahh, we
probably won't
see again any time soon.
"Hail
to Alma Mater True!"
Donald G. Robertson wrote both the words and music to "Hail
to Alma Mater
True!" It's uncertain exactly when Robertson penned the song, but
he
probably wrote it while a student at Northwestern, likely around 1912.
While
"Hail to Alma Mater True!" is unfamiliar to today's fans, its influence
is
definitely present. The song not only influenced Thomas Tyra, who
wrote
the English lyrics to the Alma Mater (note the first line of
Tyra's
lyrics...), it served as the basis for Robertson's next effort at a
fight
song, "Rise Northwestern." Notice the similarities of the tune
and
lyrics of the opening verse of "Hail" compared to the "Push On" verse
that
precedes the "Rise Northwestern" chorus.
For a while in the late 1910s and early 1920s "Hail to Alma Mater
True!"
was very popular, and took a place alongside "Go U Northwestern,"
"Quaecumque
Sunt Vera," and Robertson's own "Rise Northwestern." By the time
Robertson's
last successful fight song, "Wild Cats," started to be played, "Hail"
was
beginning to fade from use. This is really a shame-- I personally
believe
that "Hail to Alma Mater True!" could very well be the best fight song
NU
has ever had. That's quite something when one considers the
quality
of "Go U Northwestern" and "Rise Northwestern" and the critical acclaim that they
receive to this day. However, "Hail to Alma Mater True!" is a
simple
and fantastic song. Listen to the tune and try to imagine NUMB,
in
full force, playing it from mid-field at halftime.
Hail to
Alma Mater True!
Push on along,
push on along,
Onward Northwestern U,
Brighten her name
Lead on to fame
Ever strong and true.
With song and shout,
Voices ring out,
We'll make it loud and clear.
Echoes re-sound all the world round
Lead on with a cheer!
Chorus:
Hail Alma Mater true.
Our praises ring for you.
Fling out your proud, purple banner high!
Lead on to win!
We pledge our loyalty.
Push on to victory!
Firm in our stand, we will ever be.
Hail Northwestern U!
"Northwestern"
"Northwestern" pre-dates
"Go U Northwestern" by at least three years, and was likely played at
NU's
first homecoming in 1911. Belle McCord wrote the words and music
in (approximately) 1909. The tune, simple and folksy, contains
several
bars* that clearly influenced the creator of Ohio State's fight song,
"Across
the Field." "Across the Field" was penned in 1915, and its author
must have been exposed to "Northwestern." The lyrics, however,
were
anything but simple. Overwrought and Star-Spangled-Banner
dramatic,
they bear the mark of the Romantic poets.
The tune
was immediately
relegated to "second fiddle" by "Go U Northwestern." By 1919, it
was still played, but very infrequently. By 1925, McCord's
"Northwestern"
had slipped from the marching band's repertoire. For the first
time
in over 75 years, here it is.
Northwestern
1.
Northwestern!
Northwestern!
Every hilltop sounds her fame,
Ev'ry wave her
murmur'd
name. Send the purple on before!
Back it with a
hundred
more! Shout! Shout! the war cry out!
Victory is
ours before
we win!
2.
Northwestern!
Northwestern!
Daughters fair and sons all brave,
Dauntless on
the land
or wave. "Quaecumque sunt vera," shout;
Of her triumph
never
doubt! Sing! Sing! let heaven's arch ring!
Regal old
Northwestern
to the fore!
3.
Northwestern!
Northwestern!
Classic fortress on the lake,
Nothing shall
your ramparts
shake. Let each soldier proudly ride,
With the
purple at his
side! Sound! Sound! on all sides 'round!
Old
Northwestern's sons
go forth to win!
4.
Northwestern!
Northwestern!
Shout her name along the line,
Let her
blazoned purple
shine! Proudly high her banner raise!
Wake the
vaults of heaven
with praise! Strike! Win! let war begin!
Ne'er a
traitor foe shall
breathe her name!
5.
Northwestern!
Northwestern!
Western freedom brought her forth,
Wed with valor
of the
North. To defend her honored name,
Regal
splendor, classic
fame. Fight! Fight! with all your might!
Let her
haughty foes
be named no more!
*Compare the music during
the first verse's lyrics, "Shout! Shout! the war cry out!"
with Ohio State's music during "Hail! Hail! the gang's all
here!"
"A
Northwestern Battle Cry"
Before there was Homecoming,
before there was Northwestern Field, there was "A Northwestern Battle
Cry."
Written by Shelby Harrison and John Rosborough in 1904, it is the one
of
the earliest NU fight songs to feature original music and lyrics.
It was also one of the first songs performed by the official NU
Marching
Band, organized just the year before.
Exactly
when "Battle Cry"
fell out of the band's play list is not certain, but by the mid
twenties
it definitely was no longer being played. Here is "A Northwestern
Battle Cry," a long-lost NU fight song over a century old.
A
Northwestern Battle
Cry
1.
Sing out, ring
out, cheers
for the purple!
Let voice and
drum echo
afar;
All hail
thee!
Northwestern!
Thou art our
crowning
star.
Chorus:
Then give a
rah, rah,
rah!
Here's to
warriors bold,
hurrah, rah, rah,
And cheer,
cheer, cheer,
fighting along,
With a hurrah,
rah, rah,
We swell our
battle cry
With cheering
and song,
cheering and song.
Before NU's classes staged the Waa-Mu musical reviews, they
performed an
annual review at the Ravinia festival site north of campus. The
Ravinia
reviews were called The Purple Domino. The Purple Domino of May
1911
was written by seniors Gerald Row and Rufus Blount, and was written at
the
height of the Golden Age of fight songs. Most of the music
written
for that year's Purple Domino focused on events of the day on campus
(similar
to today's Waa-Mu), and two of the songs were about NU football.
One of these
two songs, "The Grand Old Game," caught on and became a staple
of campus songs, played well into the thirties. (The other song,
"For
the Honor of Old Northwestern," is featured below)
The music,
penned by Blount, is very dated and has a strong "old timey" feel,
but is nonetheless a very good tune. Unfortunately, Row's lyrics, with the exception of one
mention of "the Purple," are mostly generic and forgettable.
The
Grand Old Game
I
In the early spring
Politely sing of baseball, golf and track;
Along with June
Please change your tune
When tennis has come back;
But verily, right merrily
The pigskin's glory tell;
Don't sing at all
About football: Stand up,
Stand up and yell
Chorus:
It's a grand old game;
It's a grand old game;
The very name sets hearts aflame.
Just thinking of football;
For it's a grand old game;
It's a grand old game!
No sport is there
Can e'er compare
With the grand old game.
II
When the crowd is on
The bleachers and the team is on the field;
The wind blows like
A blizzard, and
Our blood is half congealed;
The Purple makes a touchdown, Oh!
Then maybe we are tame
And maybe we don't all yell then that it's
The grand old game!
"For the Honor of Old
Northwestern"
The other football song from the May 1911 Purple Domino show
was "For the Honor of Old
Northwestern." Unlike "The Grand Old Game," "For the Honor"
fell into obscurity
almost immediately after the 1911 performance.
Rufus
Blount wrote the music, which resembles bar tunes from the time.
Row's lyrics
are notable because they actually mention a fact specifically
pertaining
to NU's team: the December 1905 disbanding of the varsity team which
lasted
two years. This is the only known NU fight song to make any
reference to
a specific event.
For the
Honor of Old Northwestern
I
In the year of Nough-ty Five
Of course you know it all
The trustees and the faculty
Came out against foot-ball.
But things
have changed around now
And everyone is gay.
The Purple will be heard from,
The grand old game we'll play.
Chorus:
For the honor of Northwestern,
Is the burden of our lay;
We're proud of Old Northwestern,
And we show it ev'ry day.
She is our
Alma Mater
And to her we'll all be true;
We'll do our share, Yes, ev'ry-where.
For the honor of Old N.U.
II
In the chilly Autumn
When foot-ball days begin
We'll see the Purple on the field
Prepared to fight and win.
We'll see
the Purple banners,
That on the breezes swell.
And when the team goes down the field,
The crowd takes up the yell!
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