History Main / FootballFightSong

* "Grand Old Ivy" from ''HowToSucceedInBusinessWithoutReallyTrying''.

* ''Let 'Em Eat Cake'', the sequel to ''OfTheeISing'', has "Up And At 'Em," a ''baseball'' fight song for the Supreme Court (ItMakesSenseInContext), which includes the cheer:

* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' has the [[http://girlgenius.wikia.com/wiki/Transylvania_Polygnostic_University Transylvania Polygnostic University Fight Song]], semi-officially filked by Tom Smith.

* An inversion of this trope: "Step to the Rear", from ''How Now, Dow Jones'', became South Carolina's "The Fighting Gamecocks Lead the Way". The South Carolina lyrics were written by the school's athletic director at the time, Paul Dietzel.

* "On Wisconsin" (University of Wisconsin-Madison, aka "the University of Wisconsin" to all but pedants and those who attend one of the other campuses) starts with the upper brass playing a descending scale while the lower brass play an ascending one, which is such an iconic musical figure that those four bars alone are enough to suggest a fight song. (The University of Alabama's "Yea Alabama" starts with pretty much exactly the same pattern.)

* "On Wisconsin" (University of Wisconsin-Madison, aka "the University of Wisconsin" to all but pedants and those who attend one of the other campuses) starts with the upper brass playing a descending scale while the lower brass play an ascending one, which is such an iconic musical figure that those four bars alone are enough to suggest a fight song.

* Another famous one from the Midwest is the UsefulNotes/UniversityOfMichigan's "(Hail to) The Victors"--which even in-state rivals Michigan State admit is catchy (infuriating, but catchy). UsefulNotes/GeraldFord, who had been a star center at Michigan, preferred when possible to be played in with "The Victors" rather than the usual Presidential {{leitmotif}}, "Hail to the Chief."

* Although it wasn't originally written as a fight song, "Step to the Rear", from ''How Now, Dow Jones'', became South Carolina's "The Fighting Gamecocks Lead the Way". The South Carolina lyrics were written by the school's athletic director at the time, Paul Dietzel.

* Although it wasn't originally written as a fight song, "Step to the Rear", from ''How Now, Dow Jones'', became South Carolina's "The Fighting Gamecocks Lead the Way".

* ''Anchors Aweigh'' (Navy), ''The U.S. Air Force''[[note]]also known as ''Wild Blue Yonder''[[/note]] (Air Force) and ''The Army Goes Rolling Along'' (Army) were originally written as fight songs for their respective military academies but now have become the official songs of their respective service branches.
** In fact, ''The U.S. Air Force'' is no longer the Air Force Academy's official fight song; that's now the ''Falcon Fight Song''.

* ''Anchors Aweigh'' (Navy), ''Wild Blue Yonder'' (Air Force) and ''The Army Goes Rolling Along'' (Army) were originally written as fight songs for their respective military academies but now have become the official songs of their respective service branches.

* Notre Dame's "Victory Cheer" might be the most well-known college football fight song, as Notre Dame features in, by far, the most college football movies. It was used after the "Win one for the Gipper!" speech in ''Knute Rockne, All American'', and so that scene is often Homaged when inspirational speeches are given.

* WeirdAlYankovic's ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq4K1N9XttY Sports Song]]'' is a highly generic fight song whose chorus boils down the point of all said songs to one sentence: "We're great and you suck".

->''"Fight fiercely, Harvard;\\

Impress them with our prowess, ''do!''"''\\

* Speaking of Harvard and parodies, LeonardBernstein rewrote the final chorus of Stravinsky's ''Oedipus Rex'' to what he thought it sounded like, and had the Harvard Glee Club record it.

* Parodied in ''High Button Shoes'' with "Nobody Ever Died For Dear Old Rutgers."

* WeirdAlYankovic's ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq4K1N9XttY Sports Song]]'' is a highly generic fight song whose chorus boils down the point of all said songs to one sentence.

* There's a very British one in RutlandWeekendTelevision that takes it UpToEleven.... it [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dzH0z1_-hY panders to the stereotypes]]

* There's a very British one in ''[[RutlandWeekendTelevision]]'' that takes it UpToEleven.... it [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dzH0z1_-hY panders to the stereotypes]]

* The theme song of ''Coach'' was the instrumental version of the fight song of the team run by the titular coaches, the Screaming Eagles. The song itself was only sung in full when the team celebrated a win (Which happened so infrequently that nobody - not even the coaches - remembers more than the first two lines).

* Another famous one from the Midwest is the UsefulNotes/UniversityOfMichigan's "(Hail to) The Victors"--which even in-state rivals Michigan State admit is catchy (infuriating, but catchy). GeraldFord, who had been a star center at Michigan, preferred when possible to be played in with "The Victors" rather than the usual Presidential {{leitmotif}}, "Hail to the Chief."

* As quoted above, parodied by TomLehrer with the LighterAndSofter "Fight Fiercely, Harvard!" -- perhaps too [[AffectionateParody affectionately]], as it was adopted by Harvard in RealLife.

->Fight fiercely, Harvard;\\

Impress them with our prowess, ''do!''
-->'''-- Music/TomLehrer''', "Fight Fiercely, Harvard"

* Another famous one from the Midwest is the University of Michigan's "(Hail to) The Victors"--which even in-state rivals Michigan State admit is catchy (infuriating, but catchy). GeraldFord, who had been a star center at Michigan, preferred when possible to be played in with "The Victors" rather than the usual Presidential {{leitmotif}}, "Hail to the Chief."

* [[GeorgeOfTheJungle Super Chicken's]] alma mater, the Pittsburgh Institute of Watchmaking (a.k.a. Tick Tock Tech) has a fight song that includes the line "Shockproof, waterproof, seventeen jewels! Rah!!"
* A medley of "On, Wisconsin" (the University of Wisconsin's fight song) and "Fight On" (the University of Southern California's fight song) can be heard in Disney's ''Disney/RobinHood'' during a scene in which Lady Klukk is plowing through Prince John's guards on her way to the forest in a method very reminiscent of a linebacker charging for the goal.

->Fight fiercely, Harvard;
->Fight, fight, fight!
->Impress them with our prowess, ''do!''

* A medley of "On, Wisconsin" (the University of Wisconsin's fight song) and "Fight On" (the University of Southern California's fight song) can be heard in Disney's ''Disney/RobinHood''.

* there's a very British one in ''[[RutlandWeekendTelevision}}'' that takes it UpToEleven.... it [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dzH0z1_-hY panders to the stereotypes]]

There are two types of songs. The most common one heard is the actual Fight Song, which is usually short, sweet, and to the point. The lyrics are memorable, very upbeat, and is normally played as loud as possible. This is typically the song that is played for every touchdown. The other version of this is the School Song. Compared to it's brother, this is played before and after the game in order to show off the overall school spirit to the other team. The lyrics aren't quite as memorable, but much stronger in essence. The key to a good school song is having the tune be both happy and sad; if the game is won, it is meant to let the players take a deep breath and look over their success. If the game was lost, it's a more reassuring tone, reminding that one loss isn't the end of the world, and that the experiences should teach them how to better themselves, not just learn how to win.