Breaking Out in Song | History of Michigan Football fans singing

Good question via Twitter:

Perhaps this has been explored, but the tradition of college football fans belting it out goes way back. We know, for instance, that The Victors was written by Louis Elbel in 1898 after U-M’s 12-11 victory over Stagg in Chicago. The main reason? He wanted to come up with a better song to sing – one that would be Michigan’s own.

It was in the immediate aftermath of the 1898 win which claimed Michigan’s first B1G title. Years later Elbel described the scene and the genesis:

When the fierce contest was finished we were literally crazed over the result. We formed a procession and, yelling and shouting and dancing the serpentine, we paraded around the old Chicago university behind the little U. of M. band to the tune of ‘There’ll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight,’ which had been the great song of our soliders during the Spanish-American war, fought and won that same year.

The Michigan Alumnus, Volume 37

But you probably know this.

Songs and chants used to be a huge part of gameday. Heck, the Michigan Daily would print instructions on the preferred lyrics and rhythm prior to games. On ebay you’ll find old U-M books filled with songs about football, Yost, drinking, and Saturday-shenanigans in general just like this one:

Today at Michigan Stadium our traditional songs and chants are typically led by the band or something else (e.g., cowbell). And the new songs like Mr. Brightside, Sweet Caroline [ugh], and Saturday’s Have You Ever Seen the Rain are of course led in by piped-in music.

What really appeals to everyone is when the students take over when the piped-in music drops completely or dampens. This is when you start to sound much like an English soccer crowd, prompting the question above.

I’ll point out that the existence of U-M varsity football and its fans predates almost every major English soccer club. Nonetheless, to get on the same page and generate songs takes effort & coordination. The English soccer mobs clearly excel in this department and Michigan (football) fans are traditionally lacking here. Not so, for what it’s worth, for the Yost crowd.