"Texas Fight" is the officialfight song of theUniversity of Texas at Austin and was written by Colonel Walter S. Hunnicutt in collaboration with James E. King, then director of the Marlin High School Band.[1][2] The words, as finally adopted by the school, were written byBurnett “Blondie” Pharr, the director of the Longhorn Band from 1917 to 1937.[3]
It is sung to a fast tempo versionTaps, a song played at manymilitaryfunerals.[1] "Texas Fight" is played following touchdowns and extra points at University of Texas (UT)football games, otherLonghorn sports events, as well as on other occasions of celebration.[1][4] The repeated strain contains portions of "The Eyes of Texas," the school'salma mater.[1] It is also played atAustin-Bergstrom International Airport at the top of every hour.[1][4]
Hunnicutt wrote "Texas Fight" in response to the song used by their longtime rivals,Texas A&M University. One of the Aggie songs then wasFarmers Fight, which consisted of the words "Farmers Fight" sung toTaps, a song played at manymilitaryfunerals. Impressed by the song, Hunnicutt figured he would write "Texas Fight" also sung to Taps, but making the song more march-like and having "Texas" throughout instead of "Farmers."[1] In a letter written in 1952 by Colonel Hunnicutt, he says "I wrote 'Texas Fight'... in an attempt to counteract the songs and yells of the Texas Aggies, which were not too complimentary to our Student Body and some of which tended to ridicule 'The Eyes of Texas'."[5]
The words of the song as finally adopted were written byBurnett "Blondie" Pharr, director of theLonghorn Band from 1917 to 1937. "Texas Fight" is played following touchdowns and extra points at University of Texas (UT)football games, otherLonghorn sports events, as well as on other occasions of celebration.[1][4][3]
The repeated strain contains portions of "The Eyes of Texas," the school'salma mater. This modification was made in the summer of 1967 at the suggestion of Charles "Buster" Griffith, a member of the trumpet section, and was premiered - unannounced - at the first football game that fall, after which it became tradition.[1]
The wording of the song is as follows.[6]
Texas Fight, Texas Fight,
And it’s goodbye to A&M.
Texas Fight, Texas Fight,
And we’ll put over one more win.
Texas Fight, Texas Fight,
For it’s Texas that we love best.
Hail, Hail, The gang’s all here,
And it’s good-bye to all the rest! (YELL)
Yea Orange! Yea White!
Yea Longhorns! Fight! Fight! Fight!
Texas Fight! Texas Fight,
Yea Texas Fight!
Texas Fight! Texas Fight,
Yea Texas Fight!
The Eyes of Texas are upon you,
All the livelong day.
The Eyes of Texas are upon you,
You cannot get away.
Texas Fight, Texas Fight,
For it’s Texas that we love best.
Hail, Hail, The gang’s all here,
And it good-bye to all the rest!
"Hail, Hail, the gang's all here" is rarely, if ever, sung. It is almost always replaced with "Give 'em hell, give 'em hell! Go, Horns, go!"Another version often used at football games, particularly by students, is "Give 'em hell, give 'em hell! Make 'em eat shit!".,[1][2][4][7][8] which was intended originally as a jab at theArkansas Razorbacks.Another version used at the annual Texas-OU game is "Give 'em hell, give 'em hell! OU sucks!" In a commercial forESPN'sCollege GameDay,Kirk Herbstreit improvised "Yeah, we're Texas, just north of Mexico. Home of the armadillo, black gold and El Arroyo..." before Longhorns coachMack Brown says, "we don't freestyle 'Texas Fight', Big Boy." Also the A&M in "And it’s goodbye to A&M" is often replaced by the current opponent of Texas, if it's not A&M.
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