"Fight for California" is the official

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 ...

of the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. The tune is a

march March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March ...

and is from the "trio" or final strain of the "Lights Out March" written by Earl Elleson McCoy in 1906. The lyrics were written by Robert N. Fitch of the class of 1909.

Usage

The song is played whenever a California athlete enters the playing field at the beginning (or after halftime) of an athletic competition, or after a touchdown is scored in football. In football games, it is the final song played during the band's pre-game show, at which time the

Cal Band The University of California Marching Band, usually shortened to Cal Band, is the marching band for the University of California, Berkeley. While it is administered under the auspices of the university, the Cal Band is student-run and represents C ...

marches from a concentric square formation into the script Cal. The Cal Band typically plays the complete "Lights Out March" at the ending of a post-game concert for Cal sporting events that they attend.

History

In 1984, during STS-41-C,

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

mission control woke up the shuttle crew with "Fight for California" in honor of Ox van Hoften, who graduated from Berkeley in 1966.

References

External links

MP3 of "Fight for California" from http://www.fightmusic.comCal Marching Band link to an MP3 file of "Fight for California"
{{Pac-12 Fight Songs American college songs College fight songs in the United States Pac-12 Conference fight songs University of California, Berkeley California Golden Bears