"Tribute to Troy" is an epic
fanfare
A fanfare (or fanfarade or flourish) is a short musical flourish which is typically played by trumpets, French horns or other brass instruments, often accompanied by percussion. It is a "brief improvised introduction to an instrumental perfo ...
most frequently associated with the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
(USC), whose fans use it as a
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 was composed in 1965 by Ronald Broadwell, the director of USC's
Spirit of Troy marching band. Variously described as "an incessant stanza of pounding drums and blaring horns," and "reminiscent of rallying the citizenry to guard the perimeter of the ancient Troy city-state," it is traditionally performed at
USC Trojan football games following each USC defensive stop. A count in 2011 found that the song was played nearly 600 times over the course of that year's
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
season.
Though the song has no lyrics, some fans of opposing teams sing along the invented lyrics "this is the only song we know, it's boring and it's slow".
"Hardcore" alumni and fans of USC have been known to make "Tribute to Troy" the
ringtone
A ringtone, ring tone or ring is the sound made by a telephone to indicate an incoming call. Originally referring to and made by the electromechanical striking of bells, the term now refers to any sound on any device alerting of a new incoming ...
on their mobile phones, while opposing football teams often play the song on a loop over loudspeakers during practice to acclimate themselves prior to games at the
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Conceived as a hallmark of civic pride, the Coliseum was commissioned in 1921 as a mem ...
.
The song has inspired both derision and acclaim. The ''
Phoenix New Times'' has named "Tribute to Troy" one of the "top 10 most annoying college football fight songs," while a columnist with ''
The Seattle Times
''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington (s ...
'' once referred to it as "almost as annoying as
Nancy Grace
Nancy Ann Grace (born October 23, 1959) is an American legal commentator and television journalist. She hosted ''Nancy Grace'', a nightly celebrity news and current affairs show on HLN, from 2005 to 2016, and Court TV's ''Closing Arguments' ...
".
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
, however, has commented that "'Fight On,' USC's official fight song, is a little cornball, but the Spirit of Troy more than makes up for the hokum with the stirring 'Tribute to Troy'", while ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' has described the tune as "a great tradition that fans and non-fans alike can appreciate".
"Tribute to Troy" is often erroneously referred to as "Conquest".
"Conquest," a different song, is performed following USC football victories and is adapted from the score of the 1947 film ''
Captain from Castile''.
See also
* "
Fight On
"Fight On" is the fight song of the University of Southern California. It was composed in 1922 by USC dental student, Milo Sweet, with lyrics by Sweet and Glen Grant, for a student spirit competition. The song is played at all USC sports competitio ...
"
References
External links
Piano rendition of "Tribute to Troy" (YouTube video)
{{USC Trojans football navbox
University of Southern California
American college songs
College fight songs in the United States
Pac-12 Conference fight songs