Cal Songs
Fight for California
Written in 1909 by Earl Elleson McCoy, Robert N. Fitch; arranged by Robert O. Briggs.
© UC Regents. All Rights Reserved.
Song Clip: MP3 (1236 kB)
Our sturdy Golden Bear,
Is watching from the skies,
Looks down upon our colors fair,
And guards us from his lair.
Our banner Gold and Blue,
The symbol on it too,
Means FIGHT! for California.
For California through and through!
Stalwarts girded for the fray,
Will strive for victory,
Their all at Mater's feet will lay,
That brain and brawn will win the day.
Our mighty sons and true
Will strive for us anew,
And PIVOT! for California,
For California through and through!
In 1906 Earl Elleson McCoy, a student at the University of Illinois, wrote the "Lights Out March" and dedicated it to the commander of his R.O.T.C. unit. "Fight for California" is simply the trio and break strain of the "Lights Out March," with an added introduction written by Charles Cushing. Though arguably THE quintessential Cal song, "Fight's" origin is rather uninspiring. Brick Morse tells the story of how the lyrics for "Fight for California" came to be written by Robert Fitch: "One day the Glee Club was fooling around with a tune called 'Lights Out.' Fine for a college song,' said Bob Fitch, 'believe I'll write some words to fit the music.'"
Of all Cal songs, "Fight for California" has the distinction of being played in arguably the most unique venue: namely, outer space. In 1987, NASA launched a shuttle mission to rescue and repair a communications satellite known as SolarMax. Several members of the shuttle crew were graduates from Berkeley, and one morning during the mission, mission control woke the crew to the blaring strains of "Fight for California." Undoubtedly, the crew did not wake up late that morning!
"Fight for California" is played whenever a Cal athletic team enters the field of play, after every Cal scoring play in football, and whenever the Straw Hat Band marches into a performance. "Fight for California" traditionally is the fourth song of the Cal Band's pregame, to which the Band marches from a block formation into the Script Cal.