The "Iowa Fight Song" is one of three

fight songs 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 ...

currently used by the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

Hawkeye Marching Band The Hawkeye Marching Band (or HMB) is the marching band for the University of Iowa. The band performs at all home Hawkeye football games at Kinnick Stadium in addition to other events. It is the largest and most visible musical ensemble at t ...

along with " On Iowa" and " Roll Along Iowa". The music and lyrics were written by Iowa native

Meredith Willson Robert Reiniger Meredith Willson (May 18, 1902 – June 15, 1984) was an American flautist, composer, conductor, musical arranger, bandleader, playwright, and writer. He is perhaps best known for writing the book, music, and lyrics for the 1 ...

, also author of ''

The Music Man ''The Music Man'' is a musical theatre, musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns a confidence trick, con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and ...

'', in 1950. The song is mostly a contrafact to his hit, "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas," much in the same way that "76 Trombones" and "Goodnight, My Someone" from ''The Music Man'' are based on the same harmonic structure. The song was used in a 2007 commercial for the

Iowa Lottery The Iowa Lottery Authority is run by the state of Iowa. It is a member of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), which administers games on behalf of the member lotteries. The Iowa Lottery portfolio includes Powerball, Mega Millions, Lotto Ame ...

, where a Hawkeye fan sings different words to it for an instant ticket game. Meredith Willson's widow, Rosemary, protested the song's use in a lottery commercial, while university faculty members urged the athletic department to distance itself from the state lottery, fearing it would promote gambling. The advertisement was pulled soon after.Associated Press, "Composer's widow worried over use of 'Iowa Fight Song'"
Archive.today, February 11, 2007 Lyrics The word is “Fight! Fight! Fight! for IOWA,” Let every loyal Iowan sing; The word is “Fight! Fight! Fight! for IOWA,” Until the walls and rafters ring (Go Hawks!) Come on and cheer, cheer, cheer for IOWA, Come on and cheer until you hear the final gun. The word is “Fight! Fight! Fight! for IOWA,” Until the game is won.

References

External links

Iowa Fight Song
on YouTube

Big Ten Conference fight songs Iowa Hawkeyes 1951 songs Songs about Iowa Songs written by Meredith Willson {{anthem-stub

See also

References

External links