John Philip Sousa said that Michigan's fight song "The Victors" was the greatest college football march ever composed. Very appropriately, Michigan's marching band was the very first recipient of the prestigious Sudler Trophy which honors the top marching band in the nation. It's awarded by the John Philip Sousa Foundation.
The 2 most famous fight songs from the B10 are "The Victors" and "On, Wisconsin!" "The Victors" is the most famous fight song, as the legendary John Philip Sousa called it the greatest college football march ever composed. You only hear the melody here and not the full march. With the fanfare & opening to "The Victors", which is missing here, you'll understand why it's called "the 1812 Overture" & "Stars & Stripes" of all college football marches.
The victors is the greatest fight song but they only played one verse as others they played 2verses must have been controled by a suckeye or a shartan.
The tune was composed in 1909 by William T. Purdy as "Minnesota, Minnesota," with the intention of entering it into a competition for a new fight song at the University of Minnesota. Carl Beck, a former Wisconsin student, convinced him to withdraw it from the contest at the last minute and allow his alma mater to use it instead. Beck then wrote the original, football-oriented lyrics, changing the words "Minnesota, Minnesota" to "On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin!" Hmm, looks like he willingly withdrew it (would have won) and allowed Wisky to have it. So I guess this blind hatred can be directed toward that guy now? Don't worry. We all hate you too!!!
If you look at the comments above, you'll see that I made essentially the same comment about "The Victors" to 2013Boilermaker about a year ago. Agree that the Big Ten has, taken as a conference, the best fight songs in the country. You make a good point when you say that the Big 10 is by far the oldest conference of any in the nation, founded in 1896 (although it only had seven schools then, one of which - Chicago - is long gone).
Agree with you. "Hail to the victors valiant" is only the beginning of the chorus. "The Victors" also has to be one of the oldest if not the oldest of its genre still in use. I don't know of too many songs of any kind written in or about 1898 that are still popular today! "On Wisconsin"? Okay, but not even a close runner-up.
Do you think Maryland will even contend for a Big Ten football championship in the next decade? Doubt it, having Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Penn State in the same division. As for fight songs, who the heck plays a fight song when the opponent scores? Well, feel free to put up the Turtles' fight song here and I'm willing to evaluate it.
One more little quibble: Ohio State's song is incorrectly titled by you as "Fight the Team." While those are the first three words of the chorus, the correct title of their song is "Across the Field." (the next three words).
That's not even the complete version of "The Victors" for the U of Michigan. That's only the melody. How in the hell can you cut out the majestic opening to the song or the refrain? There's good reason that the Big 10 has the best fight songs in the nation. It's the oldest and most traditional football conference in the FBS that has been playing the game since the 1800's. I don't know about Nebraska's fight song though. It kind of pales in comparison to the songs of the original B10 schools.
Yes, I just heard the "Maryland Victory Song." Hope you don't mind me saying this, but it's entirely forgettable to folks like me who are not Maryland partisans. Aside from its stadium which I believe will place it dead last in the Big Ten in capacity, the song is another way in which Maryland doesn't really measure up to Beg Ten standards. Let's face it, the major reason the B10 wanted Maryland is to get more cable subscribers in the DC area to the Big Ten Network. Ditto Rutgers in NYC.
Geez, you really gave Michigan's "The Victors" song short shrift on your audio, all of 23 seconds (not even a repeat of the stirring chorus, in contrast to just about all the others), even though objective music experts have long classified it as the best of the bunch. In fact, John Philip Sousa is reputed to have called "The Victors" one of the five greatest marches ever written, and Sousa himself wrote the other four!
As I said, your Terps figure to be at or near the bottom of the new Big Ten Eastern Division in football, barring some unusual alignment of the planets. You can compete with Rutgers and Indiana, but you'll be lucky to get an occasional win vs. Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, or Penn State. (IIRC, you had a woeful record vs. Penn State when you played them a lot when they were an independent.) Lacrosse? You'll be good there, but no one in the Midwest will give a darn.
@hurtelable I tried finding the best audio for each song, not necessarily the longest or shortest version. If I was showing bias, I would have never even put IU's fight song on here! I wanted to post a longer version, but personally I did not like the other choices that were available (I actually do research for U of M, so I have nothing against them).
I hate that Legends and Leaders division crap. Just make a East and West division and be done with it. Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Indiana and Purdue in the East ... Illinois, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska in the West. All great fight songs though! Not a bad one there!
All classics... Rutgers actually has a pretty good one too. But Maryland... what the hell is that. Worst fight song I've ever heard. Guess that happens when you have 0 football history
