A fight song is a rousing short song associated with a sports team. The term is most common in the United States and Canada. In Australia, Mexico, and New Zealand, these songs are called the team anthem, team song, or games song. First associated with collegiate sports, fight songs are also used by secondary schools and in professional sports.
Fight songs are sing-alongs, allowing sports fans to cheer collectively for their team. These songs are commonly played several times at a sporting event. For example, the band might play the fight song when entering the stadium, whenever their team scores, or while cheerleaders dance at halftime or during other breaks in the game. In Australian rules football, the team song is traditionally sung by the winning team at the end of the game.
Some fight songs have a long history, connecting the fans who sing them to a time-honored tradition, frequently to music played by the institution's band. An analysis of 65 college fight songs by FiveThirtyEight identified words commonly used in the lyrics of these songs, including fight, win, and victory. Other common elements of fight song lyrics are mentioning the team's colors, spelling out the school's name, and using the words "hail" and "rah." Many songs were composed by students, alumni, or faculty of the institution; for example, Cole Porter wrote "Bulldog" for his alma mater Yale College. Some songs are created by pairing new lyrics with a pre-existing tune, even another college's fight song.
Hundreds of colleges have fight songs, most originating from the early 20th century in connection with football. The first collegiate fight song in the United States is Boston College's "For Boston", written and composed by T. J. Hurley in 1885. One of the oldest fight songs in Australia is Melbourne Grammar School's "Play Together, Dark Blue Twenty" dating to before 1893. In 1997, USA Today selected "Aggie War Hymn", the fight song of Texas A&M University, as the "No. 1" college football fight song in the United States.
Although used similarly, stadium anthems differ from fight songs because they are not written specifically for a sports team. Fight songs are also different from an alma mater or school song, which is a patronal song for an educational institution and usually has a slower tempo.
List of college fight songs
Many colleges have unofficial fight songs or have changed their official song over the years. Additionally, some colleges have rally songs, spirit songs, cheer songs, and alma maters. This list is exclusively for the fight song or songs currently approved by the institution, even if played infrequently.
Canada +University NameTeam NameFight SongReferenceUniversity of Alberta Alberta Golden Bears and Pandas"University Cheer Song"University of British ColumbiaUBC Thunderbirds"Hail, U.B.C."Bishop's UniversityBishop's Gaiters"Raise a Toast!"Royal Military College of CanadaRoyal Military College Paladins"Precision"Queen's UniversityQueen's Golden Gaels"Queen's College Colours (Oil Thigh)"University of Saskatchewan Saskatchewan Huskies"Fight! Fight! Fight!"University of TorontoToronto Varsity Blues"The Blue and White"University of Western Ontario (Western University)Western Mustangs"The Western Song"
Japan UniversityFight SongReferenceDoshisha University"Doshisha Heroes"Hosei University"Wakaki Hi No Hokori"Keio University""Kwansei Gakuin University"Shingetsu-ki no moto ni, Fight On Kwansei"Meiji University"Shikon No Uta"Nihon University"Hana-no-Seiei"Rikkyo University"St.Paul's will shine tonight"Ritsumeikan University"Greater Ritsumei"University of Tokyo"Tada Hitotsu"Waseda University"Konpeki-no-Sora"
Mexico UniversityTeam NameFight SongReferenceUniversidad Autónoma de Guadalajara"Himnos Tecos!"
United States UniversityTeam NameFight SongRefAbilene Christian UniversityAbilene Christian Wildcats"ACU Fight Song"Adelphi UniversityAdelphi Panthers"Alma mater"Adrian CollegeAdrian Bulldogs"Adrian College fight song!"United States Air Force AcademyAir Force Falcons"Falcon Fight Song"University of AkronAkron Zips"Akron fight song"University of AlabamaAlabama Crimson Tide"Yea Alabama!"Alabama A&M UniversityAlabama A&M Bulldogs"the Drake song"University of Alabama in HuntsvilleAlabama-Huntsville Chargers"We Are Chargers"Alabama State UniversityAlabama State Hornets"Hail Alabama"University of Alaska FairbanksAlaska Nanooks"UAF Fight Song"University at Albany, SUNY Albany Great Danes"Purple and Gold"Albion CollegeAlbion Britons"Fyte Onne!"Albright College Albright Lions"Albright Fight Song"Alcorn State UniversityAlcorn State Braves"Alcorn ode"Alfred UniversityAlfred Saxons"On, Saxon Warriors"Allegheny CollegeAllegheny Gators"Alma Mater"Alma CollegeAlma Scots"Alma College Scots Fight Song"American UniversityAmerican Eagles "AU Fight Song"Amherst CollegeAmherst Mammoths"Lord Jeffery Amherst" and "Cheer for Old Amherst"Anderson University (Indiana)Anderson Ravens"Raven Fight Song"Angelo State UniversityAngelo State Rams"ASU Fight Song"Appalachian State University Appalachian State Mountaineers"Hi Hi Yikas"University of ArizonaArizona Wildcats"Fight, Wildcats, Fight!" "Bear Down, Arizona"Arizona State UniversityArizona State Sun Devils"Maroon and Gold"University of ArkansasArkansas Razorbacks"Arkansas Fight"University of Arkansas–Pine BluffArkansas–Pine Bluff Golden Lions"UAPB Fight Song"Arkansas State UniversityArkansas State Red Wolves"ASU Loyalty Fight Song"Arkansas Tech UniversityArkansas Tech Wonder Boys and Golden Suns"ATU Fight Song"United States Military Academy Army Black Knights"On Brave Old Army Team"Ashland UniversityAshland Eagles"The Battle Song"Assumption CollegeAssumption Greyhounds"Greyhounds Win"Auburn UniversityAuburn Tigers "War Eagle"Augsburg UniversityAugsburg Auggies"The Auggie Fight Song"Augustana College (Illinois)Augustana Vikings"The Augustana Fight Song"Augustana University Augustana University Vikings"The Augustana School Song"Austin CollegeAustin Fighting Roos"Austin College Fight Song"Austin Peay State UniversityAustin Peay Governors"Austin Peay Fight Song"Baldwin-Wallace UniversityBaldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets"B.W. Battle Song"Ball State UniversityBall State Cardinals "Fight, Team, Fight"Barry UniversityBarry Buccaneers"Go Barry Go"Bates CollegeBates Bobcats"School Songs"Baylor UniversityBaylor Bears "Old Fight"Bellarmine UniversityBellarmine Knights "Bellarmine University Fight Song"Belmont UniversityBelmont Bruins "Belmont University Fight Song"Bemidji State University Bemidji State Beavers "Go Bemidji Beavers"Benedictine CollegeBenedictine Ravens"Raven Fight Song"Bethune-Cookman UniversityBethune-Cookman Wildcats "Let's Go Wildcats"Birmingham–Southern CollegeBirmingham-Southern Panthers"Birmingham-Southern Fight Song"Black Hills State UniversityBlack Hills State Yellow Jackets"BHSU Fight Song"Boise State UniversityBoise State Broncos"Boise State Fight Song"Boston CollegeBoston College Eagles"For Boston"Boston UniversityBoston University Terriers"Go BU"Bowling Green State UniversityBowling Green Falcons"Forward Falcons"Bradley UniversityBradley Braves "Bradley Loyalty Song"Brandeis UniversityBrandeis Judges"Brandeis Fight Song"Brown UniversityBrown Brown"Ever True to Brown" and "The Brown Cheering Song"Bucknell UniversityBucknell Bison"Ray Bucknell"Buena Vista UniversityBuena Vista Beavers"Buena Vista Fight Song"University at BuffaloBuffalo Bulls"Buffalo Fight Song"Butler UniversityButler Bulldogs"Butler War Song"Brigham Young University BYU Cougars"The Cougar Song" Brigham Young University–HawaiiBYU–Hawaii Seasiders"BYU-H Fight Song"University of California, BerkeleyCalifornia Golden Bears"Fight for California"California Lutheran UniversityCal Lutheran Kingsmen and Regals"The CLU Fight Song"California Polytechnic State University, San Luis ObispoCal Poly Mustangs "Ride High, You Mustangs"Cal Poly Humboldt Cal Poly Humboldt Lumberjacks"Drive On Humboldt"California State Polytechnic University, PomonaCal Poly Pomona Broncos"Bronco Fight Song"California State University, BakersfieldCal State Bakersfield Roadrunner "CSUB Victory!"California State University, East BayCal State East Bay Pioneers"Pioneer Fight Song"California State University, FullertonCal State Fullerton Titans"Fight On, Titans"California Institute of Technology Caltech Beavers"Fight for California Tech"Cameron UniversityCameron Aggies "Aggie's Fight"Campbell UniversityCampbell Fighting Camels"Campbell University Fight Song"Canisius College Canisius Golden Griffins"Canisius College March"