Birth of the Songs
College students and faculty used to make up school songs — and sing them. Many have faded away. Two at KU struck a responsive chord and still are sung enthusiastically.
In 1891, professor George Barlow Penny searched for a school song for the Glee and Mandolin Club to sing on a tour. Just before departure, he thought of Cornell's "Far Above Cayuga's Waters." Changing a few words, Penny taught it to the glee club. The campus has been singing "Crimson and the Blue" ever since.
George "Dumpy" Bowles. class of 1912, longed to make a big contribution to KU spirit. He wasn't football-sized, but he could write music. One of his musical shows had a song called "I'm a Jayhawk." Written in 1912, it became a hit with students in 1920. The 1926 glee club performed it nationally.
I'm a Jayhawk
1 minute (976K) | Download
(with clap sequence)
1 minute (1.3MB) | Download
(Revised, October 1958, to conform with
Big Eight Conference Team names.)
Talk about the Sooners
The Cowboys and the Buffs,
Talk about the Tiger and his tail,
Talk about the Wildcats,
and those Cornhuskin' boys, But I'm
the bird to make 'em weep and wail.
CHORUS:
'Cause I'm a Jay, Jay,
Jay, Jay, Jayhawk,
Up at Lawrence on the Kaw
'Cause I'm a Jay, Jay,
Jay, Jay, Jayhawk,
With a sis-boom, hip hoorah.
Got a bill that's big enough
To twist the Tiger's tail
Husk some corn and listen
To the Cornhusker's wail-
'Cause I'm a Jay, Jay,
Jay, Jay, Jayhawk,
Riding on a Kansas gale.
"Fighting Jayhawk"
1:30 (1.3MB) | Download
"Home on the Range"
1:45 (1.6MB) | Download
Crimson and the Blue
53 seconds (844K) | Download
Glorious to view,
Stands our noble Alma Mater,
Towering toward the blue.
CHORUS:
Lift the chorus ever onward,
Crimson and the blue
Hail to thee, our Alma Mater
Hail to old KU.
Far above the distant humming
Of the busy town,
Reared against the dome of heaven.
Looks she proudly down.
(REPEAT CHORUS)
Greet we then our foster mother,
Noble friend so true,
We will ever sing her praises,
Hail to old KU.
(REPEAT CHORUS)
(Follow with Rock Chalk Chant)
"Stand up and Cheer"
1:07 (1MB) | Download
"Sunflower Song"
1:11 (1MB) | Download
"Kansas Song "
1:24 (1.3MB) | Download
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