Feature
Centennial of Spirit The Arkansas Fight Song turns 100 by Darinda Sharp ’94 ’99 ‘05 and T. T. Tyler Thompson ‘72 The Arkansas Fight Song celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. Its creation, in conjunction with the university’s Alma Mater and newly adopted Razorback icon, was part the school’s search for a new social identity between the turn of the century and World War I. The University of Arkansas chose the Cardinal as its first mascot in the late 1800s, but in the early 1900s the mascot began to evolve. In 1909, students, faculty and alumni were invited to submit poems as part of contest to find lyrics for a new Varsity Song. An alumnus named Brodie Payne won the contest, university music professor Henry D. Tovey set the words to music, and it is sung today as the Alma Mater. The same year, famed Arkansas football coach Hugo Bezdek told fans his winning team had “played like a wild band of razorbacks.” The quote popularized a new animal with its own Arkansas tradition, and the Razorback began to eclipse the Cardinal as the school’s mascot. In 1913, an engineering student and clarinet player in the U of A Orchestra named William Edwin Douglass, wrote the lyrics and tune to a spirit song. Douglas approached his orchestra director, the same professor Tovey who scored the Alma Mater, about developing the Field Song into something more. Tovey arranged the piece, adding chords and additional instrumentation to Douglass’ words and melody, to
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create the song we know today as the Arkansas Fight Song. In the early 1900s, what is now the Razorback Marching Band was still known as the Cadet Band. All land grant colleges required courses in military tactics as part of their curriculum for male students, and the Cadet Band was officially assigned to the military department, but it also played at football games and rallies. A century later, the Arkansas Fight Song has expanded from its football roots and become a staple at many Razorback athletic events as well as in homemade videos and concert venues including a recent rendition by the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, which played a rousing version of it during a 2011 concert. ArkansasRazorbacks.com dedicates a page to teaching the Fight Song to new fans. On this page, the Fight Song is dubbed “Arkansas Fight” and readers are informed that “one of the first tasks of a new Razorback is learning to sing the University of Arkansas fight song” and “it is a unique tune, fitting of the only college in America with a Razorback mascot.” For 100 years the Arkansas Fight Song has brought a smile to the face of countless University of Arkansas Razorback fans. Here’s to its continued commitment to never yield and keep fans on their toes for at least 100 more. n
Arkansas • Winter 2013
11/27/13 11:04 AM