"Rover" is a song traditionally sung at the end of athletic contest victories by fans of the
University of California Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...
. It is a
parody
A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...
of the song "
I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover
"I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover" is a song from 1927, which was written by Mort Dixon with music by Harry M. Woods. Original recordings were made during 1927 by Nick Lucas (No. 2), Ben Bernie (No. 3), and Jean Goldkette (No. 10).
History
...
". The
UCLA Band
The Solid Gold Sound of the UCLA Bruin Marching Band represents the university at major athletic and extracurricular events. During the fall marching season, this 250-member band performs at the Rose Bowl for UCLA Bruin home football games. Prega ...
arrangement opens with "There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight". Following the opening, the band then plays the chorus to "I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover". The band and students sing the lyrics, then the band plays the chorus again.
History
The song "I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover" was popularized in 1948 by
Art Mooney
Arthur Joseph Mooney (February 11, 1911 – September 9, 1993) was an American singer and bandleader. His biggest hits were "I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover" and "Baby Face" in 1948 and " Nuttin' For Christmas," with Barry Gordon, in 1955. ...
. It was written in 1927 with words by
Mort Dixon
Mort Dixon (March 20, 1892 – March 23, 1956) was an American lyricist.
Biography
Born in New York City, United States, Dixon began writing songs in the early 1920s, and was active into the 1930s. He achieved success with his first published ef ...
There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight
"A Hot Time in the Old Town", also titled as "There’ll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight", is an American popular song, copyrighted and perhaps composed in 1896 by Theodore August Metz with lyrics by Joe Hayden. Metz was the band leader of th ...
'" was written in 1886 with original lyrics by Joe Hayden and music by
Theodore Metz
Theodore August Metz (March 14, 1848 – January 12, 1936) was a German-born American bandleader and composer, best known for writing " There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight".
Biography
Metz was born in Hanover, where as a child he studi ...
, band leader of the McIntyre and Heath Minstrels. The UCLA Band arrangement is titled "Stanford Game (1954)", implying that it was originally played during the halftime of that football game by the UCLA Band.
The current song originated in the late 1960s, when a band student wrote the parody lyrics to the tune of "I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover" during a football game. The UCLA song was retitled simply "Rover".
At the height of the
John Wooden
John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed the Wizard of Westwood, he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships in a 12-year period as head ...
era (1948–1975), "Rover" was played only after lopsided basketball victories. Now, "Rover" is played after all UCLA athletic victories immediately following the alma mater. The lyric "scattered all over the court" is changed to "scattered all over the field" when at a football or soccer match. Also, after the band sings the lyric "and in his head there's a great big dent" they jump off their seats or benches simultaneously and continue singing.
Lyrics
The lyrics to the song are as follows:
Song notes
* The words "all right" and "next page" in parentheses above originate from the days in the 1960s and 1970s when the UCLA student spirit organization, Rally Committee, wrote the words in markers on cards borrowed from the card stunts performed at football games. In card-stunt style, only the cards with the current and next line of lyrics were shown to the crowd; the other cards were reversed, with a half-dozen Rally Committee members standing in front of the crowd each with a card and turning them at the proper time. The words "(All Right!)" (parentheses included) appeared at the bottom of the card with the line "that we overran tonight", and the words "(Next Page)" (also parentheses included) followed the lyrics "are scattered all over the court". As a joke, the students sang the words in parentheses, and they eventually became part of the tradition.
* During the annual game against traditional rival
USC
USC most often refers to:
* University of South Carolina, a public research university
** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses
**South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program
* University of ...
, the lyrics are changed slightly, changing the word "dog" to "horse", as a parody of the Trojans' horse mascot, Traveler.
* Following "And in his head, there's a great big dent", singers jump on the bleachers to make the "crashing" sound.
* During the run of NCAA basketball championships, the UCLA Band reserved an arrangement of the "
Hallelujah Chorus
''Messiah'' ( HWV 56), the English-language oratorio composed by George Frideric Handel in 1741, is structured in three parts. This listing covers Part II in a table and comments on individual movements, reflecting the relation of the musical se ...
" to be played only after a victory in the championship game.
* Other arrangements have been recorded including
** "My Dead Dog Rover" by Hank Stu Dave and Hank (Hank Landsberg and Dave Whited) from 1977, which appears on the
Dr. Demento 25th Anniversary Collection
''Dr. Demento 25th Anniversary Collection'' is a release by radio disc jockey Dr. Demento to celebrate 25 years since the beginning of his radio career and novelty song show. It covers many of the novelty and comedy songs from the 1950s to the ea ...
** "I’m Lookin’ Over My Dead Dog Rover" by Kevin Gershon from 1973 and played on KMET FM in Los Angeles
See also
* "
Mighty Bruins
"Mighty Bruins" is a fight song of University of California, Los Angeles sports teams. Composed by Academy Award-winning composer Bill Conti (with lyrics from UCLA students Barbara Lamb and Don Holley), the song was commissioned by the UCLA Alumni ...
" - UCLA fight song from 1984
* "
Hail to the Hills of Westwood "Hail to the Hills of Westwood" is the school song or alma mater of the University of California, Los Angeles. It was written by Jeane Margaret Emerson
a 1929 graduate of UCLA, and adopted by the school in 1960. The current arrangement performed b ...
Sons of Westwood Bruin Warriors, also known as "Sons of Westwood" and "Big C", is a fight song of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The tune comes from Big C, a school fight song for the University of California, Berkeley. The UCLA Bruin Marching Ban ...