"Glory, Glory" is the rally song for the

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The offic ...

, the athletics teams for the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

. The melody of "Glory, Glory" is the same as that of "Say Brothers Will You Meet Us," " John Brown's Body," and "

Battle Hymn of the Republic The "Battle Hymn of the Republic" is an American patriotic music, American patriotic song written by the abolitionist writer Julia Ward Howe during the American Civil War. Howe adapted her song from the soldiers' song "John Brown's Body" in N ...

." The song was arranged for the University of Georgia Band by member, and later Department of Music chair, Hugh Hodgson in 1915. Although "Glory, Glory" is the de facto fight song, UGA's 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 ...

is "Hail to Georgia".

Lyrics and uses

The song is played by the Georgia Redcoat Marching Band when the Bulldogs take the field, as well as after touchdowns and other events favorable to the Georgia football team. Georgia fans often replace the "G-E-O-R-G-I-A" phrase with "To Hell with..." and insert the name of a rival or a particular school that the Bulldogs happen to be playing at the time. During games versus

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, they can be heard singing, "And To Hell with USC." One of the most popular alternate lines is "And to Hell with

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

!" When Georgia wins a football game, the Georgia Redcoat Band plays a version of "Glory, Glory" that ends in Beethoven's "

Ode to Joy "Ode to Joy" ( ) is an ode written in the summer of 1785 by the German poet, playwright, and historian Friedrich Schiller. It was published the following year in the Thalia (German magazine), German magazine ''Thalia''. In 1808, a slightly revi ...

." This special ending, known as the "Angel Tag," is never played or rehearsed outside of Georgia football wins.

The Battle Hymn of the Bulldog Nation

A slower version, using a much more complete melody of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" is played before the start of each home football game on campus at

Sanford Stadium Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium is the on-campus playing venue for football at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States (also known as UGA). The 93,033-seat stadium is the ninth-largest American football stadium in the NCAA ...

. A trumpet-playing member of the Georgia Redcoat Marching Band takes a position in the upper deck of the south side stands, near the west endzone, and reverently plays the first fourteen notes of the Battle Hymn to a cheering crowd, while a historical video montage of the football team's greatest moments, narrated by UGA legend and famous former Georgia play-by-play announcer

Larry Munson Lawrence Harry Munson (September 28, 1922 – November 20, 2011) was an American sports announcer and talk show host. He was best known for handling radio play-by-play of the Georgia Bulldogs football games from 1966 to 2008. He also handl ...

, is displayed on the west endzone scoreboard. The rest of the band on the field then finishes the first stanza and the rest of the song, which is referred to as "The Battle Hymn of the Bulldog Nation" by Munson. During the solo, the Bulldog fans in Sanford Stadium rise to their feet, take off their hats, and point them in the direction of the soloist as a sign of respect. This tradition was added following the internet publication of a tribute to UGA football entitled "Seven Notes On A Trumpet" penned by an unnamed fan of UGA, originally posted on a UGA sports-related internet message board called the Dawg Vent. This is one of the most hallowed traditions of Georgia Bulldog football. The music for the Battle Hymn, arranged by UGA student arranger Jeff Simmons in 1987, was originally written as a

brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

warmup, but has since become the Redcoat Band's signature piece.

References

Sources

Songs of the Georgia Bulldogs

{{SEC fight songs 1915 songs Auburn High School (Alabama) Georgia Bulldogs Southeastern Conference fight songs Glory (honor)