"V for Villanova, V for Victory" is the

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 ...

Villanova University Villanova University is a private Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Augustinians in 1842 and named after Saint Thomas of Villanova. The university is the oldest Catholic university in Penns ...

. The song was written by Irving R. Leshner under the pen name Les Irving and copyrighted in 1948. Leshner, a local pianist, is known for recording with local band leader

Jan Savitt Jan Savitt (born Jacob Savetnick; September 4, 1907 – October 4, 1948), known as "The Stokowski of Swing", from having played violin in Leopold Stokowski's orchestra, was an American bandleader, musical arranger, and violinist. Early life and ...

, "The Stokowsky of Swing" on the Victor label in the 1930s. "V for Villanova" is best known for being played by the University's

pep band A pep band is an ensemble of instrumentalists who play at events, usually athletic, with the purpose of entertaining and creating enthusiasm in a crowd. Often members of a pep band are a subset of people from a larger ensemble such as a marchi ...

at university events, especially athletic events. Other Villanova songs include "March of the Wildcats" by McKeon, Gill, and Giordano, "The Villanova Anthem" (Alma Mater) by Al Dubin and Joe Burke and "Hail, Villanova", Words by T.J. Spillane, Music by F.A. Schimpf, Jr., and "The Belle Air Waltz", music by Carmen Giordano.

Lyrics

"V" for Villanova, "V" for Victory
"B" for Blue and "W" for White
For the Blue and the White we will fight!
Fight! Fight! Fight!
Fight for Villanova, Fight for Victory
1. For we're out to win the frey;
Villanova leads the way,
With a capital "V" for Victory.
2. For we're out to beat the foe
Show the en-e-my we know
how to win with a "V" for Victory.
Vill-a-no-va
V-I-L-L-A-N-O-V-A
"V" for Vic-tor-y
V-I-C-T-O-R-Y
It's a tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye,
and a "V" for a
V-I-C-T-O-R-Y

References

# Studwell. E. S., Schueneman, B. R. (1998). College Fight Songs: An Annotated Anthology. Routledge, p. 37 # O'Brien, Robert F. (1991). School Songs of America's Colleges and Universities: A Directory. Greenwood Press, p. 113 American college songs College fight songs in the United States Big East Conference fight songs Colonial Athletic Association fight songs Villanova Wildcats {{Pennsylvania-sport-stub