![]() ![]() Here was something American to the core, something that pictured to us that for which we fight, and that which we love above all else. As all the men heard it, a tremendous roar went up, for here was something tangible. Over the waves there came the song that I, that none of us who ever spent our school years at S.C. Then I heard, and never again will I ever have such a lump in my throat. “I could hear a cheer in some of the other assault craft, but I could not identify the song until the wind changed. ![]() “On the deck of our transport our commanding officer had ordered the band to play,” he wrote. Long, a USC alumnus, described the scene in a 1944 letter. As the task force motored ashore to Attu in the Aleutian Islands, music suddenly rang out over the waves. troops to capture an island in the Pacific theater of World War II. In 1943, “Fight On!” became legendary outside the university when it inspired U.S. Accompanied by fingers formed in the shape of a V for victory, a verbalized “Fight On” became a greeting, an expression of encouragement and a farewell in the Trojan Family vernacular, one that captured the reputation of the ancient Trojans as fighters no matter the odds. USC’s sports teams had been nicknamed Trojans in 1912 because of their athletes’ “fighting spirit” against teams who were “bigger and better-equipped,” according to Los Angeles Times sportswriter Owen Bird. Within a few years of its composition, “Fight On!” had become USC’s most popular fight song and a rival nationally to older, more established anthems like the “Notre Dame Victory March,” “On, Wisconsin!” and Michigan’s “The Victors.” Unlike those songs, “Fight On!” transcended its musical origins to become a motto for USC students and alumni. “As a campus musician, I was on the committee, and I’m glad to say I had sense enough to vote for ‘Fight On!’ over my own piece.” “To show how nuts people can be, the music committee awarded first prize to my song and second to ‘Fight On!’ ‘Fight On!’ has become probably the equal of the Notre Dame fight song in the country,” he wrote. Wesson, who went on to be USC’s first sports information director, admitted as much in a 1965 letter to the Los Angeles Times. ![]() Wesson’s entry ended up winning the contest and the $100 grand prize, but he later confessed the best song didn’t come out on top. Earlier that year, Wesson had written what would become the university’s official alma mater, “All Hail,” and was on the committee to find a song that would “generally represent the school, one that will be adaptible for all occasions and not characteristic of a season or single game,” according to the Daily Trojan.Įarly piano sheet music for “Fight On!” While many traditional fight songs are written in a straightforward 2/4 time signature, “Fight On!” is in a 6/8 time signature that gives it a jaunty lilt. Thirty songs were evaluated by the committee, including “Cardinal and Gold” by Al Wesson. ![]() In November 1923, “Fight On!” was entered into a song contest held by USC’s Rally Committee. The first chorus has the trumpets leading the melody, the second chorus is led by the sousaphones and drums keeping time and the third chorus hands the melody to the trombones with high brass and woodwinds playing flourishes underneath. Traditionally, three choruses of the song are played. This provided more opportunity for rhythmic and melodic variation and gives it its jaunty lilt. “Fight On!” was uniquely composed in the compound 6/8 time signature. Most traditional fight songs are written in a straightforward 2/4 or cut-time meter, suited to musicians marching down the field. Grant helped Sweet write the lyrics, and “Fight On!” was born. Listening in, he told Sweet the tune would make a great fight song. Vaudeville-performer-turned-dental-student Milo Sweet was playing the song’s melody on a piano at USC’s on-campus YMCA when religious studies major and USC band saxophonist Glen Grant passed by. The story of “Fight On!” dates back a year earlier, to 1922. Although now considered one of the greatest college fight songs, when the song’s composers entered it into a campus song contest in 1923, it came in second. 26, the Trojan Marching Band will celebrate the centennial of its iconic fight song, “Fight On!,” at USC football’s regular season finale at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. It’s the fight song that begat a motto for an entire university - and this year it turns 100. ![]()
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