I'm having a little argument with a t-sip buddy of mine that I need a little help with. (the timeless--you guys are so jealous of us...your songs are all about us...) Does anyone know of any good resources for information about the origination of various traditions and more specifically, the words to the Aggie War Hymn.

Aggie War Hymn:

The Aggie War Hymn

Listen (1.66 MB, .wav)

The Aggie War Hymn was written by J.V. "Pinky" Wilson, former student, while standing guard on the Rhine with the AEF, after World War I.

Hullabaloo, Caneck! Caneck!
Hullabaloo, Caneck! Caneck!

First Verse

All hail to dear old Texas A&M,
Rally around Maroon and White,
Good luck to the dear old Texas Aggies,
They are the boys who show the fight.
That good old Aggie spirit thrills us.
And makes us yell and yell and yell; --
So let's fight for dear old Texas A&M,
We're goin' to beat you all to --
Chig-gar-roo-gar-rem!
Chig-gar-roo-gar-rem!
Rough! Tough!
Real stuff! Texas A&M!

Second Verse

Good-bye to Texas University.
So long to the Orange and White.
Good luck to the dear old Texas Aggies,
They are the boys who show
the real old fight.
The eyes of Texas are upon you.
That is the song they sing so well,
So, good-bye to Texas University,
We're goin' to beat you all to --
Chig-gar-roo-gar-rem!
Chig-gar-roo-gar-rem!
Rough! Tough!
Real stuff! Texas A&M!

Saw Varsity's Horns Off (normally follows War Hymn)

Saw Varsity's Horns Off!
Saw Varsity's Horns Off!
Saw Varsity's Horns Off!
Short!

Varsity's Horns are Sawed Off!
Varsity's Horns are Sawed Off!
Varsity's Horns are Sawed Off!
Short!


Good reference sites:

http://sports.tamu.edu/index_full.php?pageID=66&CAT=TRD

http://aggietraditions.tamu.edu/

Actually, and I could be wrong about this, I think the words to their pukey song "Texas Fight" has some phrase in there about beating the Ags.

[This message has been edited by MemAg92 (edited 8/12/2002 6:59p).]

hi MemAg.

From the university of texas archive...
http://www.cah.utexas.edu/exhibits/TraditionsExhibit/large/large2.html

Hey hamster, how ya doin'?

I think it does. Isn't it like "TX fight, TX fight and its good bye to A&M"? And doesn't it finish with "Give em hell, Give em hell Aggies **** sheep"? I could be wrong. Where are all the sips to help us out?

And if you think about it, what other rivalry would A&M have. TX has OU but that really hasn't been until the 60's right? All our yells and songs came from the teens, 20's, and 30's.

Tech (before you start) is a rival as much as everyone else we play is. I want to beat them as bad as I want to beat everyone else in conference. I think in a good conference everybody is a rival because the competetion is close and the passions are high.

it's give'em hell, give'em hell...(insert school Texas is playing) sucks or give'em hell, give'em hell...make them eat sh*t.


ryan

Thanks for the site references. Actually, I know the words to the song..... I need some history on the origination of the song. ie: where did "Hullabaloo Canek Canek" come from and what is the meaning? I know t.u. had something (see loaded's post) that mentioned Hullabaloo, but what came first? And did they necessarily refer to one another or was that just a popular term back then?

Hullabaloo was one of the early "chant" yells which the students used to do in the stands when the opponent had the ball. They would repeat the phrase over and over (rattle-de-thrat and chigaroogarem were also used). Such yells, which were probably our earliest, were a memory when Wilson was in school, and his inclusion of them was a bow to Old Army.
By the way, the "first verse" listed was not the one he wrote while on guard duty on the Rhine. The original verse was the one about t.u. He had a job at the Palace Theater in Bryan after he returned, and his quartet sang the song during intermission. The War Hymn was sung for several encores and was eventually arranged for the Aggie Band by the then-bandmaster George Fairleigh. Col. Dunn arranged the version used today shortly thereafter. The "first verse" was eventually written by Wilson after pressure from school officials, who worried about a song specifically about our rival, but he always maintained that the "Goodbye to texas university" verse was THE War Hymn.
Texas Fight (which was called Texas Taps until the end of the '50s) goes:
Texas Fight! Texas Fight!
And it's goodbye to A&M.
Texas Fight! Texas Fight!
And we'll put over one more win.
Texas Fight! Texas Fight!
For it's Texas that we love best.
Hail! Hail! The gang's all here!
And it's goodbye to all the rest.

...but, as you know, we're obsessed with them because we mention them in our song.

[This message has been edited by BQ Mole Man (edited 8/12/2002 9:01p).]

According to Dictionary.com

Hullabaloo - Great noise or excitement; uproar.

I am still working on Caneck.

"Mention" means a casual reference to something such as the single reference to tamc in "Texas Fight." Obsession is a compelling motivation such as that feeling which drives the entire Aggie faithful to sing about their most hated rival in spite of the fact that said rival is only faced once a year.

BTW...please add to the facts you collect that the music and inspiration for the War Hymn came from the barbershop quartet song "Coney Island Baby."

You guys have it all wrong, the tu song goes like this:

texas bite, texas bite, texas jump up and bite my @$$.

texas bite, texas bite, texas jump up and bite myyyy @$$.

texas biiiite, texaas biiiiite, texas jump up and bit my @@@$$$$$.

bite, bite, bite bite bite, texas jump up and bite my @$$

I was always under the impression that "Hullabaloo, Caneck! Caneck!, Hullabaloo, Caneck! Caneck!" was the sound a train made on train tracks since College Station is named after a train stop.

CollegeFootballFan,
I'm referring to flak we get from the folks in Austin (not Huston-Tillotson) about the words to the War Hymn focusing on them. My point is that it can't be that bad, because they seem to have a reciprocal tradition.

Apart from that, the "Hullabaloo Caneck Caneck" story about the train noise is popular legend. It sounds nice, but it is untrue.

AgCPA,
I thought the last verse was
B-I-T-E-A-$-$, Texas jump up and bite my a$$!

Note to jbavo; it is not possible to completely shut up a tsip. I have lived in Austin for the last 2 years and have learned this lesson the hard way. In fact, I never had much of a dislike for tsips until I moved to Austin and now I can't stand their kind.

Get me outta here as soon as possible is now my new motto.

jbavo, if your trying to find out which was written first, according to their school paper their song was written in 1923 (http://www.dailytexan.utexas.edu/webarchive/07-09-01/PF2001070909_s07_fight.html). All I've been able to come up with on the War Hymn is what the original reply above says. Since WWI ended near the end of 1918, I'm guessing the War Hymn was written around 1919 or 1920.

"Hullabaloo" is the sound of the cannon blast, and "Caneck Caneck" is the sound of reloading the gun.

And you call yourselves Aggies...

Everybody know where they got the tune for "The Eyes Of Texas Are Upon You."

"Texas Fight" is just a sped up version of "Taps."

Hum it for yourself.

Our "Aggie War Hymn" and "The Spirit Of Aggieland" are original songs written by and for Aggies, their songs are recycled from the public domain.

That's the best they could come up with and they have a School of Music.

Our FTAB's signature song, "Noble Men Of Kyle," was written for it by one of our band directors.

I've heard that theirs, "March Grandioso," was ripped off from the Goin' Band from Raiderland.

That's the tune their band plays when they march into their stadium and around the track, while their cheerleaders hold up signs reminding their fans how to spell T-E-X-A-S.

Gig 'em, FAST FRED '65.

Before the world wide web, village idiots usually stayed in their own village.

http://www.12thfan.com/warhymn.htm

Found this.

"Hello, My Coney Island Baby" vs.
"Goodbye to texas university" ?

Fast Fred: The rip off went the other way. The University of Texas added March Grandioso to our set of standards before TT did.

quote:

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Our "Aggie War Hymn" and "The Spirit Of Aggieland" are original songs written by and for Aggies, their songs are recycled from the public domain.

---

Nice try. Contradicted by the very next poster.

"I've been working on the railroad, all the live long day."

-The I's of t.u.

[This message has been edited by WillD (edited 8/13/2002 12:24a).]

Hullabaloo may have been used for any reason you prefer, but the fact remains that Wilson used it because it was one of the old chants that the students did in the stands.
As far as the music in the War Hymn is concerned, the arrangement is original; the music is not.
"Coney Island Baby"
"Go Tell Aunt Rhody"
"Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight"

Not to be an apologist for the LHB, but Seitz's "March Grandioso" is an old, old standard which has been played by many bands, including the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band, long before it was associated with any particular college

Check out the treatis on the War Hymn written by the late Pat Harris '69. It's displayed in the Adams Band Hall. Pat wrote this just before our 30th reunion in '99. He was killed in a small plane crash less than a year later near Houston.
Our classmates flew me in from Florida in order to play TAPS at his funeral.

And I've been threatened with bodily harm by the rest of the BQ '69s if I'm not around to do theirs.


One Southwest Conference band director of the (Adams) era reportedly said "I dread going against the Aggie Band...It takes two weeks to recover from the trauma."

Essayons,

Flaggie
FTAB '69

[This message has been edited by flaggie (edited 8/13/2002 8:10a).]

I posted this elsewhere...

The "fanfare" at the beginning of the War Hymn is actually the Bugle Call "Recall". The first two bars are played with the 1st and 3rd valves (for trumpets and cornets) down, changing the key to F. This is the key of the Model 1896 Trumpet, the ubiquitus "Regulation Bugle" of today. The next two bars are played open, so the call is in B-flat. This is the same as the model 1894, or "trench bugle". Both were used in WWI, so no doubt Pinky Wilson heard them both when compiling the music to the War Hymn.
THere are only two parts of the War Hymn that are, to my knowledge, original music. "Recall" has been a Cavalry/Artillery bugle call since before the Civil War. "Hullabaloo..." is original. "All Hail to dear ol' Texas A & M" takes it's melody from a popular tune of the day, "Good bye my Coney Island Baby". "Saw varsity's horns off" is "Go Tell Aunt Rhody". "Wildcat" is original. The end of the War Hymn is "There'll be a Hot time in the old town tonight", another popular tune.

The "Spirit" on the other hand, was written new by Col. Dunn.

As someone said, "March Grandioso" has been around for a long, long time. It just seems to be one of the three tunes the tu band knows how to play. At least, i's all I've ever heard them play...





One Southwest Conference band director of the (Adams) era reportedly said "I dread going against the Aggie Band...It takes two weeks to recover from the trauma."

Essayons,

Flaggie
FTAB '69

the only thing known to shut up a t-sip is super glue

What are the words to "It'll be a hot time in Austin Town tonight?"

Late one night...
when the t-sips were in bed
Ol' Sul Ross...
lit a lantern in the shed,
... and when the Aggie kicked it over,
He winked his eye and said
There'll be a hot time in Austin tonight.


Or something like that...

[This message has been edited by RogueAg (edited 8/13/2002 9:31a).]

quote:

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Help me shut up a t-sip

---

I've got a .357 & a place to hide the body, does that help?

Zone Section 423: Rowdiest in the zone, damnit!

flaggie: You obviously haven't been to many Texas-Texas A&M games or listened to the Texas Band when you were there. At almost every game LHB will play (in no particular order)
The Eyes of Texas
Texas Fight
Grandioso
March of the Longhorns
Calypso
The Yellow Rose of Texas
Wabash Cannonball

In addition, LHB will play three additional songs during the halfime performance.

That's ten songs, not including Texas, Our Texas and the Star Spangled Banner which the LHB will play at Memorial Stadium. Maybe you can pay attention and hear some of these while watching A&M lose in Austin again this year.

CollegeFootballFan
Don't foget about "YMCA" & any song by Melissa Etheridge.

Zone Section 423: Rowdiest in the zone, damnit!

I love "March of the Longhorn" and "Calypso". And the Longhorn band always plays "Wabash Cannonball" between the third and fourth quarters...added because it was DKR's favorite.

Another fave played regularly by the LHB is "San Antonio Rose":

"Deep within my heart lies a melody, a song of 'ol San Antone..."

[This message has been edited by 6th Street (edited 8/13/2002 10:22a).]

Just tell him that they could not even make up a school song. They had to use the music from "I've been working on the Railroad." When I say that they get really defensive and say that theirs was written first. Guess what they are wrong.

August 31st can't get here soon enough!

"Will Mack Brown finally put his critics to rest and win a few national championships on top of multiple conference championships? 'Sorry, Mack. Not this year, and maybe not ever.'"-John Ross Clark

"Other than my family and America, I love Texas A&M more than anything else in the world.”-Phil Gramm

sawemshort@lycos.com

quote:

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I'll been working on the railroad
All the live long day
I'll been working on the railroad
Just to pass the time away

Can you hear the wistle blowing?
Something, something early in the morn
I'll be working on the railroad
Cuz I'm a dumb longhorn?

---

Isn't that the way it goes? If not, please tell me because that is how my 3 year old son sings it and I need to correct him. Once he gets that one down, I'll teach him this version:

quote:

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I'll be working for an Aggie
All the live long day
I'll be working for an Aggie
Just earn my minimum wage

Please Mr. Aggie help me
Sir, I need a job
I'll be working for an Aggie
Cuz I'm a t-sip snob.

---

I know that last line is redundant, but I can't help that.

"Your function is to send money to the government, not to understand what the government does with it."

- Dave Barry