Monday, November 27, 2017

Will a time come when Linfielders will sing the college fight song at the drop of a hat?




Note: Many Linfielders (well, in reality just one, me) have requested that this award-winning (my decision) opinion piece -- which originally appeared 11/27/2017 at the Wildcatville blog -- be repeated. So, here it is. At this time -- this is re-posted 12/1/2019 at BWC-Linfield and Linfield Alumni Facebook pages -- changing the name of Linfield COLLEGE to Linfield UNIVERSITY is impending. There is no better time than now to create a Linfield UNIVERSITY Fight Song.
EVERY COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY AND SCHOOL HAS ITS TRADITIONS

Take Washington State University (WSU) in Pullman -- for which I worked 26-plus years -- and Linfield College -- which I attended four years and graduated in 1970 -- for example.

WSU is home of the Cougars/Cougs. A common greeting between those with WSU affinity is "Go, Cougs!"

Linfield is home of the Wildcats/Cats. Between those who are Linfielders it's "Go, Cats!"

Fight songs?

The WSU Fight Song is something Cougs sing at the drop of a hat. It's sung at sporting events by fans and teams, often accompanied by the WSU Marching Band or the WSU Pep Band. It's often sung acapella, oftentimes spontaneously, at other events including commencement.

The Linfield Fight Song is not as well known among Cats. Even when it's played at home football games, Linfield fans may know the tune "On, Wisconsin" and not realize it's the same music used for "On with Linfield," the college's fight song. Even if they know the tune, they may not know the lyrics:

On with Linfield, On with Linfield
Fight right through that line
Take the ball right down the field
A touchdown’s sure this time
Rah, rah, rah!

On with Linfield, On with Linfield
Fight on for your fame
Fight Wildcats, fight, fight, fight!
To win this game!

SUGGESTIONS:

1--Linfield is adding marching band in fall 2018. Hopefully the Linfield Marching Band will play "On with Linfield" loudly and proudly at a variety of sporting and non-sports events. Will a time will come when Linfielders will sing the college fight song at the drop of a hat?

2--Linfield school colors are cardinal and purple. Please make sure both colors are represented in the Linfield Marching Band uniforms!

POSTSCRIPT:

= Link to "On, Wisconsin" band music with lyrics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOYus1BE7jk

= In at least one football game on Linfield's Maxwell Field between the Wildcats and a team from a Wisconsin university, a recording of "On with Linfield" was not played over the Memorial Stadium public address system. Fans and team members of that Wisconsin school (which does not have a fight song using the "On, Wisconsin" tune) would have assumed 1) Linfield was playing "On, Wisconsin" for them, 2) Linfield thought "On, Wisconsin" was their university’s fight song.

 =Audio file On Wisconsin 



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