"Roar, Lion, Roar" is the primary fight song of

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. It was originally titled "Bold Buccaneers" and was written with different lyrics for the 1923 Varsity Show ''Half Moon Inn'' by Columbia undergraduates

Corey Ford Corey Ford (April 29, 1902 – July 27, 1969) was an American humorist, writer, outdoorsman, and screenwriter. He was friendly with several members of the Algonquin Round Table in New York City and occasionally lunched there. Early years Ford wa ...

and Morris W. Watkins, and alumnus Roy Webb. In order to compete in the Columbia Alumni Federation's contest to find a school fight song the same year, Ford wrote a new set of lyrics that would become "Roar, Lion, Roar". The title references Columbia's mascot, the Columbia Lion.

Lyrics

The original lyrics are: Today the song is almost always performed with only the second stanza.

"Bold Buccaneers"

The 1923 Varsity Show, ''Half Moon Inn'', was based on characters from '' The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.'' by

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He wrote the short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy ...

, including Rip Van Winkle and Hendrick Hudson, the historical explorer for whom the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

is named and who discovered Hudson Strait and

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay, sometimes called Hudson's Bay (usually historically), is a large body of Saline water, saltwater in northeastern Canada with a surface area of . It is located north of Ontario, west of Quebec, northeast of Manitoba, and southeast o ...

on his ship, the '' Halve Maen'' ("Half Moon"). The play followed the misadventures of the Columbia crew team, to whom the title "Bold Buccaneers" referred to. The lyrics for "Bold Buccaneers" are as follows:

Performers

* Johnny Long and his Orchestra – ''College Favorites (Volume 2)'' (1947)"Search results for 'roar lion roar"
at

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

. Retrieved May 9, 2020. * Lang-Worth Feature Programs (1950?) * Walter Schumann – ''Songs of the Ivy League'' (1951) * Charles Henderson Band and Glee Club – ''Collegiana'' (1960)"Decca Debs Fall 'Rainbow' Release'
Decca 'Rainbow'
. ''The Billboard''. August 1, 1960. Retrieved May 9, 2020. * The Kirby Stone Four – ''Get That Ball'' (1962) * Annette Funicello (with The Wellingtons) – ''Annette on Campus'' (1963) * The Norman Luboff Choir – ''Go Team, Go!'' (1964) * William Revelli – ''Kick Off, U.S.A.'' (1964) * The Mormon Tabernacle Choir – ''Hail to the Victors!'' (1978)

References

External links

Lyrics to song
from the Columbia University Library Ivy League fight songs Columbia Lions Culture of Columbia University American college songs Songs about lions {{NewYork-sport-stub