Alma Mater

In another thread CMCoog 17 commented on our alma mater and asked a question:
“Our alma mater is better than most other “big schools” melodically and lyrically. This coming from a young alumni. Name one that you might think is better.”

CoogsofCV3 replied, “The service academies have great ones.”

I always liked Navy Blue and Gold of the U. S. Naval Academy and here it is:

Maybe my affection for Navy Blue and Gold is influenced by my years in the navy and watching “Victory at Sea” when I was a child. Anyway, the words have great meaning to all who have gone in harms way on the seas.

I don’t know any other alma mater besides ours, Navy’s, and LSU’s. LSU’s is also pretty, but the sentiment is the pretty much the same as UH’s. (I’ve heard that railroad song they sing at UT and it doesn’t cut it.)

BTW, I always wondered why our alma mater refers to “our Houston University” when we are the University of Houston. Poetic license I guess.

So, do any of you have any others you think may merit consideratrion?

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I think that UTA song was originally “John Brown’s body” and then was the railroad song.

I believe when the Alma Mater was written UH was Houston University. It was still a private school. A lot of school alma maters were written to the tune of German drinking songs (ergo the Aggieland thing they sing). I like UH’s because it’s an original song. I also think that my alma mater’s (Abilene Christian) song is one of the beautiful one’s that I’ve heard.

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I tell you what, Pilgrim, you ain’t heard an Alma Mater until you heard this version of UNT’s.:roll_eyes:
We were going to bring this group to our game against the Coogs as our good luck charm & then y’all know what happened.
•••UNT alum Julia Smith composed the music & another alum the words. Ms. Smith was later a famous concert pianist & the State of Texas even commissioned her to compose an opera about Cynthia Ann Parker for the 1936 Texas Centennial.
•••In Bill O’Reilly’s book “Killing Crazy Horse” he writes about Cynthia but moreso, he wrote about my Great-Great Grandpappy’s wife (& cousin to Cynthia Ann) one Rachel Parker Plummer. (Thanks Bill for not putting the letter “b” in, uh, Plummer).:nerd_face:

:heart::white_heart:Go Coogs (except when y’all play :green_heart::white_heart::black_heart:)

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What is the hand sign? What does a “mean green” look like?

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It is the claw of an eagle, their mascot

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I’ve never heard an alma mater that was worth remembering.

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Although I hate the school and ever alum I ever met, I always thought that this was a great song. Copied by many other organizations.

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Best one ever…
Minnesota State Screaming Eagles.

Hey, it was in the movie Dirty Dancing near the end, as a sort of reunion song of sorts, with different words…

Air Force 3rd verse is USAFA’s alma mater, very somber. No Beat Army/Navy at the end, but the MWC actually wrote a rule that every school that plays Air Force in conference has to sing it with the Falcons after the game. Best if it is sung second!

As much as I dislike the land of the sheep shaggers, Spirit of Aggieland is great. And everyone sings it!

Ohio State has Carmen Ohio, but another entertaining sons from there is ‘I wanna go back to Ohio State’. It’s drinking song based but shows love towards the Buckeyes.

It has also been used by my old scout camp with different words. After Cornell but many decades before the movie. As soon as I saw the movie back in the day I knew where they got it from.

It is an often copied tune.

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