Glory to the Green-the original

[greenjoe]

OK, so I was wrong about the game last Saturday, but I got a great parking space and zero traffic !

This weekend, I got the latest NORTH TEXAN magazine.  Among other things, there was an article about one Charles Langford, former football player and cheerleader.  In 1923, unsatisfied with the selections of "college songs" available for North Texas State Normal College, he wrote what we call today, "Glory to the Green."

The original song had 2 verses in addition to the chorus that we sing today as the entire song.  There are very few alterations from the original to today.

 

Singing glory to the green, singing glory to the white

For we know our dear old college is forever in the right.

Down the corridor of years, we'll forget the joys and tears,

But the Normal, the Normal, we love.

 

Feel free to sing either version Saturday against La. Tech.  (there is a game this weekend, isn't there ?)

GO MEAN GREEN

 

Edited October 9, 2022 by greenjoe

[Glory to the Green]

[SilverEagle]

On 10/9/2022 at 5:10 PM, greenjoe said:

OK, so I was wrong about the game last Saturday, but I got a great parking space and zero traffic !

This weekend, I got the latest NORTH TEXAN magazine.  Among other things, there was an article about one Charles Langford, former football player and cheerleader.  In 1923, unsatisfied with the selections of "college songs" available for North Texas State Normal College, he wrote what we call today, "Glory to the Green."

The original song had 2 verses in addition to the chorus that we sing today as the entire song.  There are very few alterations from the original to today.

 

Singing glory to the green, singing glory to the white

For we know our dear old college (1) is forever in the right.

Down the corridor of years, we'll forget the joys and tears,

 (2) But the Normal, the Normal, we love.

 

Feel free to sing either version Saturday against La. Tech.  (there is a game this weekend, isn't there ?)

GO MEAN GREEN

 

1. Sometime  ( fairly recently ) this was changed to "is striving for the right".

Since it did not need to change because of a change in name etc,  why was this changed? And who authorized it?

2. My wife always finds this reference (Normal)  funny.  She usually says "since when?".

Edited October 13, 2022 by SilverEagle

[greenjoe]

We haven’t been normal in years.

[letsgiveacheer]

Unless I am getting senile (highly likely), it's been "striving for the right" since my time at North Texas. Rhythmically, "forever in the right" is not correct and would have received a D- in composition class. I have no idea when the change was made but it was a long, long, time ago.

Objectively speaking, and as someone who has played and conducted both more times than I care to count, our fight song and alma mater are musically disappointing. I wish we had something else but it is what we have and what we love.

[UNT 90 Grad]

3 minutes ago, letsgiveacheer said:

Unless I am getting senile (highly likely), it's been "striving for the right" since my time at North Texas. Rhythmically, "forever in the right" is not correct and would have received a D- in composition class. I have no idea when the change was made but it was a long, long, time ago.

Objectively speaking, and as someone who has played and conducted both more times than I care to count, our fight song and alma mater are musically disappointing. I wish we had something else but it is what we have and what we love.

"Rhythmically" it works using the lyrics above but would not have worked when modified to reference "our university" (6 syllables) rather than our dear old college (5 syllables).

[NT93]

48 minutes ago, letsgiveacheer said:

Unless I am getting senile (highly likely), it's been "striving for the right" since my time at North Texas. Rhythmically, "forever in the right" is not correct and would have received a D- in composition class. I have no idea when the change was made but it was a long, long, time ago.

Objectively speaking, and as someone who has played and conducted both more times than I care to count, our fight song and alma mater are musically disappointing. I wish we had something else but it is what we have and what we love.

I think our fight song is great.  The alma mater is just ok.

[letsgiveacheer]

46 minutes ago, UNT 90 Grad said:

"Rhythmically" it works using the lyrics above but would not have worked when modified to reference "our university" (6 syllables) rather than our dear old college (5 syllables).

Correct and my guess is that the change was made in 1961 when we became a university.

 

[SilverEagle]

My main objection to our fight song (musically) is that the intro takes a bit too much time, and there really is not fan participation in it.  A fight song should start with a "wham" and keep going from there whilst exciting/encouraging the fans to participate.  It gives me great pain to admit this, but "Texas Fight" does just that.  UTA's has great fan participation in their intro, and it has a good pace as well.........Listen to Texas Arlington - UTA Fight Song Fight Song (footballfightmusic.com)

 

Edited October 13, 2022 by SilverEagle

[Dannymacfan]

15 minutes ago, SilverEagle said:

My main objection to our fight song (musically) is that the intro takes a bit too much time, and there really is not fan participation in it.  A fight song should start with a "wham" and keep going from there exciting the fans to participate.  It gives me great pain to admit this, but "Texas Fight" does just that.  UTA's has great fan participation in their intro, and it has a good pace as well.........Listen to Texas Arlington - UTA Fight Song Fight Song (footballfightmusic.com)

 

Agree and would just add as an example that Aggie battle hymn is pretty special as well.

[SilverEagle]

22 minutes ago, Dannymacfan said:

Agree and would just add as an example that Aggie battle hymn is pretty special as well.

"War Hymn". 

I have always called it the Aggie "penis envy" fight song.

[MeanGreenTexan]

13 minutes ago, SilverEagle said:

My main objection to our fight song (musically) is that the intro takes a bit too much time, and there really is not fan participation in it.  A fight song should start with a "wham" and keep going from there exciting the fans to participate.  It gives me great pain to admit this, but "Texas Fight" does just that.  UTA's has great fan participation in their intro, and it has a good pace as well.........Listen to Texas Arlington - UTA Fight Song Fight Song (footballfightmusic.com)

 

4 bars at 140bpm is too long?   I disagree.   It gives the crowd time to stand up and start clapping on beat, which is interaction, before starting to sing.    And the WHAM! happens on beat 1!  Then another on and-1!

UT's fight song is legendary.  Maybe one day NT's fight song will be so recognizable that a 2 bar lead-in would be plenty.

A&M's fight song also is a 4 bar lead-in (same as us), as it repeats before the crowd joins in a bridge before the start.

And UTA's fight song would sound pretty crappy for the first bar (at least, most likely through the 2nd bar), unless the entire crowd can anticipate when it begins, is musically coherent, and is intently watching the drum major, as the "crowd" is chanting on beat 1 in the recording you posted.  That actually sounds more like a bridge, like our "U-N-T- Eagles!  UNT Eagles. Fight! Fight! Fight!"

All that said, I love our fight song!

[SilverEagle]

23 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

4 bars at 140bpm is too long?   I disagree.   It gives the crowd time to stand up and start clapping on beat, which is interaction, before starting to sing.    And the WHAM! happens on beat 1!  Then another on and-1!

UT's fight song is legendary.  Maybe one day NT's fight song will be so recognizable that a 2 bar lead-in would be plenty.

A&M's fight song also is a 4 bar lead-in (same as us), as it repeats before the crowd joins in a bridge before the start.

And UTA's fight song would sound pretty crappy for the first bar (at least, most likely through the 2nd bar), unless the entire crowd can anticipate when it begins, is musically coherent, and is intently watching the drum major, as the "crowd" is chanting on beat 1 in the recording you posted.  That actually sounds more like a bridge, like our "U-N-T- Eagles!  UNT Eagles. Fight! Fight! Fight!"

All that said, I love our fight song!

You are being generous. Maybe in the days of Maurice McAdow (and Letsgiveacheer) the 120- member-all-music major-NT band did it @ 140 BPM. But many times, in recent history, the GB plays the fight song like they were having sex with their girlfriend/boyfriend that they will soon be breaking up with.  I've referred to it as the "perfunctory playing of the NT fight song". Too many times I have been clapping along with the playing of the fight song and saying, "come on guys......TEMPO-TEMPO".  You never have to do that with the UT Band when they are launching/playing "Texas Fight". And that may be the main reason why their fight song is legendary.

Our fight song gives you a second or so to put your drink down and stand up to start participating/clapping. "Texas Fight" doesn't. Got a drink your hand? You are SOL. Put it down and try to catch up.

Having said all that, I too love our fight song.

[MeanGreenHoops]

1 hour ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

4 bars at 140bpm is too long? 

 

[kj86]

Doesn't the basketball band do a version that skips the intro?  I think it's appropriate in some instances.

[greenjoe]

My son was in the Corps of Cadets and I have for at least 20 years now, I have chided him that the Aggie War Hymn (the second verse is used as the ONLY verse) mentions UT more frequently than A&M.  
 

Silver Eagle mentioned that 4 bars is too long an intro.  At College Station, they whoop at the beginning of a 6 bar intro.  Of course at Texas A&M they do a lot of things different than the rest.  100,000 fans at Kyle Field each game day can attest to that.

GO MEAN GREEN

 

[MeanGreenTexan]

3 hours ago, SilverEagle said:

You are being generous. Maybe in the days of Maurice McAdow (and Letsgiveacheer) the 120- member-all-music major-NT band did it @ 140 BPM. But many times, in recent history, the GB plays the fight song like they were having sex with their girlfriend/boyfriend that they will soon be breaking up with.  I've referred to it as the "perfunctory playing of the NT fight song". Too many times I have been clapping along with the playing of the fight song and saying, "come on guys......TEMPO-TEMPO".  You never have to do that with the UT Band when they are launching/playing "Texas Fight". And that may be the main reason why their fight song is legendary.

Our fight song gives you a second or so to put your drink down and stand up to start participating/clapping. "Texas Fight" doesn't. Got a drink your hand? You are SOL. Put it down and try to catch up.

Having said all that, I too love our fight song.

[97and03]

On 10/13/2022 at 10:51 AM, SilverEagle said:

"War Hymn". 

I have always called it the Aggie "penis envy" fight song.

Perfect description.