So here we are, on the eve of the last Virginia football game of 2011. At the beginning of the season, I had no hopes for a bowl game, in only the second season of the Mike London era. And yet here we are, in the Peach Bowl (now called the Chik-Fil-A Bowl) against Auburn.
As the historian of the Virginia Glee Club Alumni and Friends Association, I’ve had a special place in my heart for the football songs of the University, and I’ve written many posts about the origins of the songs. In honor of the game tonight, here’s all the posts in one convenient list. Enjoy!
- The Good Old Song: I wrote most of the article on Wikipedia, and have written a bit about the credited author of the song, E. A. Craighill.
- The Cavalier Song: The official fight song of the University, with words by Joe McCarthy sympathizer Fulton Lewis Jr.
- Vir-ir-gini-i-a: A lesser known song with connections to early and modern Glee Club history (words by Arthur Kyle Davis Jr., who sang in the 1916-17 season, harmonization by long time Glee Club conductor Donald Loach)–and indirectly to Bob Dylan!
- Hike, Virginia: written by a man who had a major impact on Cavaliers abroad during World War I, Lewis D. Crenshaw, with Glee Club member Charles S. McVeigh.
- Virginia Yell Song: written by the second ever Jewish professor at the University of Virginia, and the first in the 20th century, Linwood Lehman.
- Oh, Carolina: One of Virginia’s few songs about a specific rival.
- Just Another Touchdown for U-Va: Another Virginia football song sung about many different rivals.
- From Rugby Road to Vinegar Hill: Virginia’s most notorious football song, with words you won’t want to sing along with in front of your family.
- Virginia, Hail, All Hail: Virginia’s official alma mater, written by Glee Club member J.A. Morrow.