Title: Hail Purdue

General Information About Item:

• Verbal Lore, Fight Song
• Language: English
• Origin: Purdue University
• Informant: C.W.
• Date Collected: 11-1-21

Informant Data:

• C.W. is a 31-year-old male. He was born in Arlington, Texas and raised in Grand Prairie, Texas. He currently lives Flower Mound, Texas and works in real estate development. He attended Purdue University and was a kicker on the football team for four years. After his time at Purdue, he had a three-year stint in the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks and Indianapolis Colts.  

Contextual Data:

• C.W. attended Purdue University which was established in 1869 and has a rich tradition especially surrounding football. Their fight song was written in 1912 by a student by the name of James R. Morrison. The song represents school pride and is a tradition on the football team that has lasted for a while.

Item:

• After every win, the football team enters the locker room and sings the Purdue fight song titled “Hail Purdue!” and is seen below. The song is sung differently in the locker room compared to when it is sung elsewhere. When the football team sings it in the locker room, it is done so more quickly and with a clapping cadence which differs from other times it is sung. At the end of the song, the team then gives a shout saying: “Boiler Up!”.

To your call once more we rally;

Alma mater hear our praise;

Where the Wabash spreads it valley,

Filled with joy our voices raise.

From the skies of swelling echoes

Come the cheers that tell the tale

Of your vict’ries and your heroes,

Hail Purdue! We sing all hail!

Hail, hail to old Purdue!

All hail to our old gold and black!

Hail, hail to old Purdue!

Our friendship may she never lack.

Every grateful, ever true,

Thus we raise our song anew

Of the days we’ve spent with you,

All hail our own Purdue!

When in after years we’re turning,

Alma mater, back to you,

May our hearts with love be yearning

For the scenes of old Purdue.

Back among your pathways winding

Let us seek what lies before,

Fondest hopes and aims e’er finding,

While we sing of day of yore.

Hail, hail to old Purdue!

All hail to our old gold and black!

Hail, hail to old Purdue!

Our friendship may she never lack.

Every grateful, ever true,

Thus we raise our song anew

Of the days we’ve spent with you,

All hail our own Purdue!

Transcript:

• “After the victories, which there weren’t many, we would sing the fight song. And this might be a little bit different than somewhere else because for whatever reason we sang it much faster and with a clapping cadence. So you sing the fight song our in the studnet section or during it game it would be slower but in the locker room it would be really fast with a hand clap throughout the entire process and then a big “Boiler Up!” at the end.”

Informant’s Comments:

• “The fight song itself probably has to do with school pride because it is literally the fight song to fight and win against the opponent. Not too sure why its faster. Maybe that’s just the way that the football team has always done it.”

Collector’s Comments:

• I found this fight song to be particularly interesting because of its length. Most fight songs that I have seen are not this long but a committed student at Purdue Univesity would happily know the whole song word for word.

Collector’s Name: Cameron Baller

Tags/Keywords:

• Verbal Lore
• Purdue University
• Locker Room Traditions
• Song
• Football