Singing the Blues Over Fight Songs

By Hal Maas

Before you read further and get ticked because you come to realize I've been down this musical road before, I promise that it's the last huffing and puffing I'm going to do over it. When the last word is written at the bottom of this page I'll have gotten it all out.

Could you imagine the Notre Dame football team pouring onto the football field with fight song that sounded like it came from the collection of the best of Slim Whitman? Or instead of "Hail to the Victors" the Michigan Wolverines celebrated touchdowns to something that sounds like a track Eminem might lay down?

Some songs are just psychologically fastened to a team. Over time one is synonymous with the other.

Except when you get down to the poor high schools -- the ones that have to borrow their fight songs, usually from colleges.

The guy who wrote the catchy "On, Wisconsin" is, I'm betting, getting royalty checks the size of the government bailout plan just because of what I've been hearing over the last month of high school football in mid-Michigan.

I go to watch Clio High School's football team, I hear the band march out playing what sounds a lot like "On, Wisconsin". Hmmph, copycats (except they tweaked one phrase so two short notes are played in place of one longer one)... So I drive five miles south to Mt. Morris to watch that football team, and out comes the school's marching band playing ---- Clio's fight song???? Must be -- it sure sounds like "On, Wisconsin".

One of the local TV stations' cameras goes down to nearby Goodrich High School on game day morning to put the students on camera jumping up and down, cheering (how'd they get all those kids out of bed before 6am -- promise free iPhones???!!!) and listening to the band strike up the ol' fight song -- but, wait -- it's the fight song of Clio --, no, hold it...Mt. Morris...uh, sorry..."On, Wisconsin".

That same TV station decided to put a group of middle schoolers on camera to let them whoop it up for game week in the town of Caro. So, hey, let's have 'em sing their school fight song!

OK, kids -- hit it! -- Oh, come on!! Not "On, Wisconsin" again!!!! Doesn't anyone have a different fight song?

So, after frittering through four frustrating Fridays, I sit down Saturday afternoon to watch Big Ten college football. Ohio State soon surrenders an early touchdown to Wisconsin and --- there it is again!

"On, Wis-con-sin......On, Wis-con-sin.....dah, dah, dah, dah, daaaaaaaaaaaaaah".

Four weeks -- five schools -- same damned song! So I finally started singing/shouting out at the TV: "Cli-o High School, Good-rich High School......"

....make....up....your...own......sooooooooooonnnnnnng!!!"