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"There Goes Old Georgetown"
Listen is the unofficial name of the
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...
sports teams' fight song
A fight song is a rousing short song associated with a sports team. The term is most common in the United States and Canada. In Australia, Mexico, and New Zealand these songs are called the team anthem, team song, or games song. First associated ...
. It is also known as simply "Georgetown Fight Song". It is actually an amalgamation of three songs, only the oldest of which, 1913's "The Touchdown Song", contains the lyric "here goes old Georgetown". Onto a version of this was added "Cheer for Victory", written in 1915, and "The Hoya Song", written in 1930, both of which are included in their entirety.
The authors of these songs, and of the combined version, are unknown. Although some effort has been taken to change the song, no serious proposal has come forth.
Music
Georgetown's fight song is rare among U.S. university fight songs for mentioning other colleges by name, generally rivals of Georgetown in the early to mid-20th century. Specifically, it mentions
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
,
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
,
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
,
College of the Holy Cross
The College of the Holy Cross is a private, Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, about 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston. Founded in 1843, Holy Cross is the oldest Catholic college in New England and one of the oldest ...
, the
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...
, and
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
, and mocks their fight songs. In the late 20th and early 21st century, the Hoyas only played Cornell and Holy Cross regularly in football, and many of these schools no longer used the fight songs that Georgetown's song mocks. By 2015,
rowing
Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...
was the only sport in which Georgetown athletes competed against all colleges named in the fight song. The song lacks references to
Big East Conference
The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and M ...
rivals, such as
Villanova.
During men's and women's basketball games, the line "Straight for a
touchdown
A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...
" is typically changed to "Straight for a
rebound," which allows the rhyme to continue. In some editions, both the football and basketball versions are sung back to back, while others repeat the first two verses. The final verse is usually followed by a
call and response
Call and response is a form of interaction between a speaker and an audience in which the speaker's statements ("calls") are punctuated by responses from the listeners. This form is also used in music, where it falls under the general category of ...
of the school cheer, "
Hoya Saxa
Hoya Saxa ( ) is the official cheer and "college yell" of Georgetown University and its athletics teams. The term is an Ancient Greek word usually transliterated from as from the word () meaning "such" or "what" as in "what manner of", and is ...
." Anyone can start the Georgetown fight song by asking a large group of Hoyas, "How long's it been?" The group will reply with the fight song. With a properly motivated Hoya crowd, starting and holding the long low base note of "It'sā¦" will also work.
Usage
The song is typically performed at athletics events by the Georgetown University Pep Band, but is also used at other large university occasions. Campus music groups such as The Georgetown Chimes use the song regularly in their performances. In 2006, Georgetown students produced a film, ''Georgetown Forever'', which brings to life different elements of the fight song. The fight song has also been parodied by campus groups such as the Georgetown Solidarity Committee. Though freshmen often memorize the lyrics as part their first week's activities, the song is notoriously difficult to learn,
[ and accurate performance of the fight song is required for membership in certain spirit groups, such as Hoya Blue and the Jack Crew.]
See also
*Hoya Saxa
Hoya Saxa ( ) is the official cheer and "college yell" of Georgetown University and its athletics teams. The term is an Ancient Greek word usually transliterated from as from the word () meaning "such" or "what" as in "what manner of", and is ...
* Georgetown University Alma Mater
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
External links
Official page
on Georgetown Hoyas athletics
*
{{Georgetown Hoyas men's soccer navbox
Georgetown Hoyas
American college songs
College fight songs in the United States
Big East Conference fight songs
Songwriter unknown