Iowa Fight Song

The "Iowa Fight Song" is one of three fight songs currently used by the University of Iowa Hawkeye Marching Band along with "On Iowa" and "Roll Along Iowa". The music and lyrics were written by Iowa native Meredith Willson, also author of The Music Man, in 1950.^[1]^[2] The song is mostly a contrafact to his hit, "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas," much in the same way that "76 Trombones" and "Goodnight, My Someone" from The Music Man are based on the same harmonic structure.^{[citation needed]}

The song was used in a 2007 commercial for the Iowa Lottery, where a Hawkeye fan sings different words to it for an instant ticket game. Meredith Willson's widow, Rosemary, protested the song's use in a lottery commercial, while university faculty members urged the athletic department to distance itself from the state lottery, fearing it would promote gambling. The advertisement was pulled soon after.^[3]

Lyrics

The word is “Fight! Fight! Fight! for IOWA,”

Let every loyal Iowan sing;

The word is “Fight! Fight! Fight! for IOWA,”

Until the walls and rafters ring (Go Hawks!)

Come on and cheer, cheer, cheer for IOWA,

Come on and cheer until you hear the final gun.

The word is “Fight! Fight! Fight! for IOWA,”

Until the game is won.

References

^ "University Libraries | The University of Iowa". Lib.uiowa.edu. Retrieved 2021-02-02.
^ Spurgeon, Gary (October 27, 1962). "Sing Along with SUI's 'Parade of Music'..." (PDF). The Daily Iowan. p. 7. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
^ Associated Press, "Composer's widow worried over use of 'Iowa Fight Song'", Archive.today, February 11, 2007

External links

Iowa Fight Song on YouTube
Full lyrics

University of Iowa

Academics

Colleges	College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (School of Music · School of Art) College of Business College of Dentistry College of Education College of Engineering College of Law College of Medicine College of Pharmacy College of Public Health
Affiliations	Association of American Universities Big Ten Conference Big Ten Academic Alliance CIMBA Iowa Board of Regents Universities Research Association
Programs/research	Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development Injun Satellite Program International Writing Program Iowa Electronic Markets Iowa Law Review Iowa Assessments The Iowa Review Iowa Women's Archives ISCABBS The Journal of Corporation Law Philological Quarterly University of Iowa Press UMPERLC Writers' Workshop

Athletics

Teams	Baseball Men's Basketball Women's Basketball Field hockey Football Men's soccer Softball Swimming and diving Wrestling
Rivalries	Iowa State (Cy-Hawk Series) Minnesota Nebraska Wisconsin "Big Four" men's basketball

Campus

Student life

v t e Iowa Hawkeyes football
Venues	Iowa Field (1890–1929) Kinnick Stadium (1929–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Iowa State Minnesota Nebraska Wisconsin
Culture & lore	History Herky the Hawk "Iowa Fight Song" Marching band Kinnick Wave
People	Head coaches Honorees NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

v t e Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball
Venues	Close Hall (1901–1904) First Iowa Armory (1905–1922) Second Iowa Armory (1922–1926) Iowa Field House (1927–1983) Carver–Hawkeye Arena (1983–present)
Rivalries	Iowa "Big Four" Iowa State (Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series) Illinois
Culture & lore	History Herky the Hawk "Iowa Fight Song" First 5-on-5 college basketball game
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1892–93 1893–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–1901 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

v t e Official fight songs of the Big Ten Conference
Illinois Loyalty and Oskee Wow-Wow (Illinois) Indiana, Our Indiana (Indiana) Iowa Fight Song (Iowa) Maryland Fight Song and Maryland Victory (Maryland) The Victors (Michigan) Victory for MSU (Michigan State) Minnesota Rouser (Minnesota) Hail Varsity and Dear Old Nebraska U (There Is No Place Like Nebraska) (Nebraska) Go U Northwestern (Northwestern) Across the Field and Buckeye Battle Cry (Ohio State) Mighty Oregon (Oregon) Fight On, State (Penn State) Hail Purdue! (Purdue) The Bells Must Ring (Rutgers) Sons of Westwood (UCLA) Fight On (USC) Bow Down to Washington (Washington) On, Wisconsin! (Wisconsin)

Official fight songs of the Big Ten Conference

Illinois Loyalty and Oskee Wow-Wow (Illinois)
Indiana, Our Indiana (Indiana)
Iowa Fight Song (Iowa)
Maryland Fight Song and Maryland Victory (Maryland)
The Victors (Michigan)
Victory for MSU (Michigan State)
Minnesota Rouser (Minnesota)
Hail Varsity and Dear Old Nebraska U (There Is No Place Like Nebraska) (Nebraska)
Go U Northwestern (Northwestern)
Across the Field and Buckeye Battle Cry (Ohio State)
Mighty Oregon (Oregon)
Fight On, State (Penn State)
Hail Purdue! (Purdue)
The Bells Must Ring (Rutgers)
Sons of Westwood (UCLA)
Fight On (USC)
Bow Down to Washington (Washington)
On, Wisconsin! (Wisconsin)

Meredith Willson

Musicals

The Music Man (1957)
The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1960)
Here's Love (1963)
1491 (1969)

Film scores

The Great Dictator (1940)
The Little Foxes (1941)

Compositions

Music Man	"Iowa Stubborn" "(Ya Got) Trouble" "Seventy-Six Trombones" "Goodnight, Ladies" "Shipoopi" "Till There Was You"
Other	"May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You" "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" "I See the Moon" "Iowa Fight Song" "Chicken Fat"