Fight Songs Want to feel like you're here in Norman cheering on the Sooners? Click the links above to listen to the famous fight songs and sounds associated with the University of Oklahoma. Lyrics and background information are provided below. Follow the step-by-step instructions below to download the files. The songs are provided as digital MP3 files and are accessible with any media player. Disclaimer: These recordings are copyrighted by the University of Oklahoma. Any use of these recordings without permission from the University of Oklahoma is strictly prohibited. PC Users: 1. Right-click the link below and a window appears. 2. Click "Save Target As..." 3. Save the boomer_sooner.wav file to a folder on your computer. 4. Now, go to that folder and double-click the file to automatically open it and hear the fight song. Repeat for other files. 5. Repeat for each of the songs you wish to download. Mac Users: 1. Click on the link above and hold on the mouse button until you get a popup window with a listing of options. 2. Release the mouse when you have the "Save this Link as" option highlighted. 3. Save the boomer_sooner.wav file to a folder on your computer. 4. Now, go to that folder and double-click the file to automatically open it and hear the fight song. Repeat for other files.
 In 1905, Arthur M. Alden, a student in history and physiology whose father was a Norman jeweler, wrote the lyrics to the fight song, borrowing the tune from Yale University's 'Boola Boola' but improvising the words. A year later, an addition was made to it from North Carolina's 'I'm a Tarheel Born' and the two combined to form the university's fight song today. One of the most recognizable college fight songs in the country, 'Boomer Sooner' immediately evokes enthusiasm from OU fans and sends chills down the spines of those who dare to oppose them. Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner Boomer Sooner, OK U! Oklahoma, Oklahoma Oklahoma, Oklahoma Oklahoma, Oklahoma Oklahoma, OK U! I'm a Sooner born and Sooner bred and when I die, I'll be Sooner dead Rah Oklahoma, Rah Oklahoma Rah Oklahoma, OK U!
The Pride of Oklahoma proudly plays perhaps the most popular and recognizable state song in history. Oklahoma! is the final rousing chorus of Rodgers and Hammerstein's epic musical. Breaking all Broadway box office records when it opened in 1943, Oklahoma! was the first collaboration between the legendary pair who were awarded a Pulitzer Prize for their seminal work. Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain And the wavin' wheat can sure smell sweet When the wind comes right behind the rain. Oklahoma, Ev'ry night my honey lamb and I Sit alone and talk and watch a hawk Makin' lazy circles in the sky. We know we belong to the land And the land we belong to is grand! And when we say: Ee-ee-ow! A-yip-i-o-ee-ay! We're only sayin', You're doin' fine, Oklahoma! Oklahoma, O-K! O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A!
We'll march down the field with our heads held high, Determined to win any battle we're in, We'll fight with all our might for the Red and White. March on, march on down the field for a victory is nigh. You know we came to win the game for Oklahoma, And so we will or know the reason why! We'll march down the field with our heads held high, Although heard at every Sooner football game, O.K. Oklahoma is perhaps the least familiar of all OU fight songs. Unlike Oklahoma, it didn't come from a popular song, and unlike Boomer Sooner itself, it wasn't created from existing songs. Fred Waring (the same man who financed and promoted the blender named after him) was one of the most popular bandleaders of the early 20th century. His group, known as "Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians" (or "Fred Waring and the Singing Pennsylvanians") had best-selling records and top-rated radio programs of the day for various sponsors, including Ford, General Electric, and a few cigarette companies. In 1939, Waring's show was on the NBC Red Radio Network, one of two owned by NBC's parent company, RCA. (In 1943, under FCC orders to break up a broadcasting monopoly, NBC sold its other network, the "Blue" network, to Edward J. Noble. It eventually became ABC.) As was the habit in those days, the program was named after its sponsor, so it wasn't the "Fred Waring" show, it was the "Chesterfield Hour." As part of a promotion, Waring would compose a new fight song for any college or university whose students or faculty submitted enough signatures on a petition. The University of Oklahoma students rose to the challenge in 1939, and in response, Waring composed the music and lyrics to a new song, O.K. Oklahoma. "O.K. Oklahoma" premiered in a live broadcast on December 1, 1939. Since then it has continued to be a part of Oklahoma football games. Today, it is played as the football team scores extra points after a touchdown and the Sooner Schooner rolls onto the field. The following is the original first verse of the song: O.K. Oklahoma, K.O. the foe today. Somewhere through the years, this verse that begins
with the song's name was dropped from the Pride of
Oklahoma's playlist. The current arrangement, made
by world-renowned composer and arranger John Higgins
at the request of then-new band director Gene Thrailkill
in the early 1970s, does not even contain music for
the verse. (Pride Alumni who remember starting at rehearsal
letter "A" are only skipping a Higgins-composed
introduction.)
Every fan who wears the official colors, each current student and student-athlete and all OU alumni are encouraged to stand and raise one finger in the air during the playing of the Chant -- a symbolic gesture that shows the greatness of the university and the unity between all Sooners. The Chant was written in 1936 by Jessie Lone Clarkson Gilkey, who directed the OU girl's glee club from 1936 to 1938 and was voted Outstanding Faculty Woman in 1937. O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A Our chant rolls on and on! Thousands strong Join heart and song In alma mater's praise Of campus beautiful by day and night Of colors proudly gleaming Red and White 'Neath a western sky OU's chant will never die. Live on University!
In the fall of 1895, the first football game and first oratorical contest were held. It became necessary to formulate a yell. A number of University students formerly from Southwest Kansas College at Winfield, and members of the Sigma Nu fraternity suggested the original yell. Because it was hard to yell continuously and some felt it should be patterned after the Kansas yell, which would be short, appropriate and easy to give, a different version was presented and adopted. Hi rickety whoop-te-do Boomer Sooner, Okla-U!, Hi rickety whoop-te-do Boomer Sooner, Okla-U!,
  
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