Fight for California

"Fight for California" is the official fight song of the University of California, Berkeley. The tune is a march and is from the "trio" or final strain of the "Lights Out March" written by Earl Elleson McCoy in 1906. The lyrics were written by Robert N. Fitch of the class of 1909.

Usage

The song is played whenever a California athlete enters the playing field at the beginning (or after halftime) of an athletic competition, or after a touchdown is scored in football. In football games, it is the final song played during the band's pre-game show, at which time the Cal Band marches from a concentric square formation into the script Cal.

The Cal Band typically plays the complete "Lights Out March" at the ending of a post-game concert for Cal sporting events that they attend.

History

Students at Stanford University, Cal's traditional rival, sing a parody version called "The Dirty Golden Bear". The parody was reported as early as 1946 by The Stanford Daily.[1][2] By the turn of the 1980s, the Daily was printing a more explicative-filled set of lyrics in use at the time by the Stanford Band. It was intended the column be clipped out of the paper by fans and taken to the football game, to sing along.[3][4] The parody was recorded in 1985 by Stanford a cappella group the Stanford Fleet Street Singers.[5]

In 1984, during STS-41-C, NASA mission control woke up the shuttle crew with "Fight for California" in honor of Ox van Hoften, who graduated from Berkeley in 1966.[6]

References

"Cal to Hear 'Dirty' Waltz". The Stanford Daily. 110 (42). November 20, 1946. p. 4. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
"Will Cal Dance to Waltz?". The Stanford Daily. 110 (43). November 21, 1946. p. 2. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
Rich, Andrew (November 16, 1979). "Bug Me". The Stanford Daily. 176 (40). p. 3. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
"Beat Cal". The Stanford Daily. 182 (40). November 19, 1982. p. 6. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
Wallin, John; Work, Telford (May 2, 1985). "KZSU Picks: The Stanford Fleet Street Singers — Songs of the Stanford Red". The Stanford Daily. 187 (49). p. 9. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
Fries, Colin (June 25, 2007). "Chronology of Wakeup Calls" (PDF). NASA. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 18, 2010. Retrieved January 18, 2014.

External links

California Golden Bears
Teams	Baseball Basketball Men's Women's Football Rugby Soccer (Men's) Softball Volleyball (Women's)
Venues	California Memorial Stadium Haas Pavilion Evans Diamond Levine-Fricke Field Edwards Stadium
Symbols/Lore	The Big "C" Oski The Bench The Stanford Axe Big Game The Play Tightwad Hill
Songs	Fight for California Big C Sons of California All Hail Blue and Gold Hail to California Stanford Jonah California Indian Song California Drinking Song

California Golden Bears football
Venues	California Field (1904–1923) California Memorial Stadium (1923–2010, 2012–present) Oracle Park (2011)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Stanford: Big Game (Stanford Axe) UCLA
Culture & lore	Oski "Fight for California" "Big C" Marching band Tightwad Hill The Play
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National championship seasons in bold

California Golden Bears men's basketball
Venues	Original Harmon Gym (1907–1933) Oakland Civic Auditorium (alternate, 1914–1933) Oakland Coliseum-Arena (1997–1999) Haas Pavilion (1933–1997, 1999–present)
Culture & lore	History The Bench Oski "Fight for California" "Big C"
People	Head coaches Retired numbers
Seasons	1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
Premo-Poretta national championship in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics; NCAA championship in bolded italics

California Golden Bears women's basketball
Venues	Oakland Arena (1997–1999) Haas Pavilion (1973–1997, 1999–present)
Culture & lore	History Oski "Fight for California "Big C"
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics

Official fight songs of the Pac-12 Conference

Bear Down, Arizona and Fight! Wildcats! Fight! (Arizona)
Maroon & Gold (Arizona State)
Fight for California (California)
CU Fight Song (Colorado)
Mighty Oregon (Oregon)
Hail to Old OSU (Oregon State)
Come Join the Band (Stanford)
Sons of Westwood (UCLA)
Fight On (Southern California)
Utah Man (Utah)
Bow Down to Washington (Washington)
WSU Fight Song (Washington State)

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