Song Info:[]
"Fight Fiercely, Harvard" Was Released In 1953 And Was Featured On The Album "Songs By Tom Lehrer" And "Songs And More Songs By Tom Lehrer". This Songs Was Featured On A Few More Albums, Including "The Tom Lehrer Collection".
Fight, Fiercely Harvard! Is the oldest song on any of Tom Lehrer’s albums, and was written in 1945 while still an undergraduate at Harvard. The release date listed is from his debut album “Songs by Tom Lehrer” which included this song along with 11 others. As with many of Tom’s songs, the beginning is an introduction he said at concerts where he played. The sophistication of Harvard students is a running theme throughout the song.
Lyrics:[]
SPOKEN INTRODUCTION:
Now we come to that peculiar bit of Americana known as the football fight song.
(Sport fight songs are an old tradition of creating songs to accompany teams or schools and are intended to encourage the team to do better. Tom is saying (in a very fancy way) that he is switching to the subject of fight songs.)
I was reminded not too long ago, upon returning from my lesson with the Scrabble pro at the Harvard club in Boston.
No one has lessons with Scrabble pros. He is saying this as a humorous way of showing how sophisticated he, and Harvard graduates in general, are intellectual (Scrabble being an example of their sophisticated pursuits).
The days of my undergraduacy long ago when there used to be these very long Saturday afternoons in the fall with nothing to do -- the library was closed --
The library being implied as the main point of gathering and general activity, because libraries are considered places where smart people usually hang out.
just waiting around for the cocktail parties to begin.
Cocktail parties are places for conversation and fit with the “Harvard is fancy" theme.
And on occasions like that, some of us used to wander over to the... I believe it was called the stadium, to see if anything might be going on over there.
His lack of understanding of a stadium is another reference to Harvard students following intellectual pursuits over “violent things” like sports, which Harvard is not famous for.
And one did come to realize the football fight songs that one hears in comparable stadia have a tendency to be somewhat uncouth, and even violent, and that it would be refreshing, to say the least, to find one that was a bite more genteel. And here it is, dedicated to my own alma mater, and called "Fight Fiercely, Harvard"
Here he is saying that fight songs are generally violent and vulgar, which is a positive attribute of fight songs to most. However, he is saying that this is a bad thing and that it would be nice to hear a polite song, then presents his own.
His use of the Latin plural of stadium – “stadia” rather than the more common modern English plural form “stadiums” continues the theme of being more sophisticated because of his Harvard background. He carefully enunciates this word in particular as part of the joke.
SUNG:
Fight fiercely, Harvard
Fight, fight, fight!
Most fight songs tend to use words like “We will crush them!” and similar, and it is funny that he is not saying anything negative or violent to the opposing team, just “fight fiercely”.
Demonstrate to them our skill
Albeit they possess the might
Nonetheless we have the will
How we will celebrate our victory
We shall invite the whole team up for tea
Normally football victories are celebrated by parties with alcohol and chaos, but not Harvard men.
(how jolly!)
Hurl that spheroid down the field, and
Spheroid is the mathematical term for an imperfect sphere. In particular, an American rules football would classify as a prolate spheroid.
Fight, fight, fight!
Fight fiercely, Harvard
Fight, fight, fight!
Impress them with our prowess, do!
Oh, fellows, do not let the crimson down
Crimson is the shade of red also known as “blood red.” It is the name Harvard’s sport teams and present in Harvard’s logo. Losing would be “letting the crimson down”
Be of stout heart and true
Come on, chaps, fight for Harvard's glorious name
Won't it be peachy if we win the game?
(oh, goody!)
Let's try not to injure them, but
Fight, fight, fight!
Lets not be rough though!
Fight, fight, fight!
And do fight fiercely!
Fight, fight, fight!
Most fight songs include, as he said in the description, lots of violence, so here he is saying to be gentle while winning