Autumn Spectacle: Colorado runout

On Wisconsin
by AutumnSpectacle.com staff

If you’re a college football fan, you’ve heard it. Heck, even if you’re not a huge fan of the college version of the sport, you’ve still probably heard it.

“On Wisconsin, On Wisconsin…”

Really, all you have to be is a fan of high school and college athletics to have heard the song “On Wisconsin,” which is the fight song for the University of Wisconsin. More than 2,000 schools and colleges have adopted the music of the song, changing only the words to suit their particular needs. Chances are, if you witness just a few high school football games during a season, you’ll run across one team whose trumpets begin blaring that easily-recognizable refrain:

“On Wisconsin, On Wisconsin…”

The music of the song was originally written nearly 100 years ago by William Purdy, a resident of Chicago, while the words were penned by his roommate, Carl Beck. The pair were students at Hamilton College in New York and Purdy originally wrote the tune as part of a contest where the University of Minnesota was offering $100 for a fight song.

Once Beck heard the tune, however, he offered to write words to it and suggested that Purdy send it to Wisconsin, where Beck used to attend. The tune and words were such a perfect fit for the school that they were immediately adopted as the Badgers’ fight song.

And the rest, as many attendees at high school and college football games can attest, is ear-pleasingly history.

On Wisconsin
On Wisconsin, On Wisconsin
Plunge right through that line,
Run the ball clear down the field, boys
Touchdown sure this time
On Wisconsin, On Wisconsin
Fight on for her fame,
Fight, Fellows, Fight, Fight, Fight
We'll win this game!

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“Deep inside, we're still the boys of autumn, that magic time of year that once swept us on to America's fields."
- Archie Manning, in "A Tailgater's Guide to the SEC"