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"Go U Northwestern" sucks

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NUCat320

Well-Known Member
Dec 4, 2005
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I've felt this way for two-plus decades. It feels good to admit it.

Plodding pacing for a fight song. Improperly ordered words (we're not the University of Northwestern, are we?) "U Rah Rah", really?

Mostly, it's the pacing. And "actually, it's 'hit 'em *hard*, hit 'em low', if you really paid attention." Even "Go Northwestern Go" feels arrhythmic.

Seriously, a song with two distinct areas for 'shouting unaccompanied lyrics' should have better unaccompanied lyrics.

Meanwhile, "Push On, Northwestern", or whatever it's called, is catchy and ends with a great, natural crescendo. It's not a great fight song, but it'd be a better one. (Maybe the dude from Arcade Fire could write a new one. I'm not sure he graduated. I doubt it.)

I'm sure there are worse fight songs - I haven't researched to confirm, but I believe UVa prominently steals from "Auld Lang Syne" - but ours is near the bottom. At least we don't hear it after every play.

(Note: I'll delete repost after signing day if this might affect decisions.)
 
I'm sorry but I can't agree with you - I love Go U. It's been an acquired love, but I get chills when I hear it now. It means we've scored. Or we haven't given up. It represents fight if anything every did for me. I have it as my ringtone for my phone.

Better that then a bunch of fight songs that steal, as you point out. It's original.

And I don't think your post will effect signing day - and second if you cared about affecting decisions, then you should refrain from posting before signing day and post after it. Posting a few days before signing day something you think would negatively impact recruit decisions is a Puffcat move.
 
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Unconventional? Yes. But that's why it's great. It's an original and boisterous ejaculation of school spirit. Don't mess with the fight song.
 
Cat In The Cradle said:
Unconventional? Yes. But that's why it's great. It's an original and boisterous ejaculation of school spirit. Don't mess with the fight song.
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Nothing wrong with the song. I do wish we had jettisoned the "Wildcats" moniker for something more original at some point. If not "Purple Haze," then something else unique to NU. Every other high school team is the Wildcats. It is one of the most generic mascots in sports.
 
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My high school uses the same tune as Go U and similar lyrics I think it is a pretty good fight song.
 
I guess we are in the middle of the winter doldrums when someone has to start ripping the fight song. As for the pacing, it's no more plodding than a lot of other fight songs I've heard. They'll be playing "Go U Northwestern" long after most of us are gone.
 
This is why we have no traditions. As soon as we make one (see Air Willie, Hands Up in the Air... ) someone is whining and complaining. We lost a game, it's Air Wilie's fault. Hands Up in the Air is forced. Go U Northwestern is arrhythmic and contains a grammatical error in the opening line!

It's ours. We own it. Embrace it.
 
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One of the ESPN or XM sports shows use "Go U" as its theme music-I actually like it a lot. I just wish we got to hear it more often
 
NUCat320 said:
I've felt this way for two-plus decades. It feels good to admit it.

Plodding pacing for a fight song. Improperly ordered words (we're not the University of Northwestern, are we?) "U Rah Rah", really?

Mostly, it's the pacing. And "actually, it's 'hit 'em *hard*, hit 'em low', if you really paid attention." Even "Go Northwestern Go" feels arrhythmic.

Seriously, a song with two distinct areas for 'shouting unaccompanied lyrics' should have better unaccompanied lyrics.

Meanwhile, "Push On, Northwestern", or whatever it's called, is catchy and ends with a great, natural crescendo. It's not a great fight song, but it'd be a better one. (Maybe the dude from Arcade Fire could write a new one. I'm not sure he graduated. I doubt it.)

I'm sure there are worse fight songs - I haven't researched to confirm, but I believe UVa prominently steals from "Auld Lang Syne" - but ours is near the bottom. At least we don't hear it after every play.

(Note: I'll delete repost after signing day if this might affect decisions.)
Click to expand...
 
NUCat320 said:
I've felt this way for two-plus decades. It feels good to admit it.

Plodding pacing for a fight song. Improperly ordered words (we're not the University of Northwestern, are we?) "U Rah Rah", really?

Mostly, it's the pacing. And "actually, it's 'hit 'em *hard*, hit 'em low', if you really paid attention." Even "Go Northwestern Go" feels arrhythmic.

Seriously, a song with two distinct areas for 'shouting unaccompanied lyrics' should have better unaccompanied lyrics.

Meanwhile, "Push On, Northwestern", or whatever it's called, is catchy and ends with a great, natural crescendo. It's not a great fight song, but it'd be a better one. (Maybe the dude from Arcade Fire could write a new one. I'm not sure he graduated. I doubt it.)

I'm sure there are worse fight songs - I haven't researched to confirm, but I believe UVa prominently steals from "Auld Lang Syne" - but ours is near the bottom. At least we don't hear it after every play.

(Note: I'll delete repost after signing day if this might affect decisions.)
Click to expand...

As a life long fan, I am accustomed to the song and think it is a fine traditional fight song but it is very "Old Timey". I grew up on the southside and my HS had a majority black population, our cheers and songs had an awesome funk and soul that was a result of the best kind of embracing diversity, before it was even PC to do so. I wonder if the music dept. and band could come up with some really great new traditional music to add to the old stuff that would reflect some of the diversity currently at NU.
 
For those of you who think the pace is slow, note:

"Go Cats!" was one of the first songs Little Hungry learned. I'd walk around the mean streets of Lincoln Park with him up on my shoulders singing that tune. He'd pump his little arms and yell "Go Cats!" at the end. Now that he's 5, he has this obnoxious pen that plays the song.
 
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HawkCat said:
Nothing wrong with the song. I do wish we had jettisoned the "Wildcats" moniker for something more original at some point. If not "Purple Haze," then something else unique to NU. Every other high school team is the Wildcats. It is one of the most generic mascots in sports.
Click to expand...

That's just it. We have easily the B1G's worst moniker. Imagine the Wildcats of Notre Dame or the Michigan Wildcats or Ohio State Wildcats. Everything from team merchandise marketing to recruiting appeal suffers.
 
Cat In The Cradle said:
That's just it. We have easily the B1G's worst moniker. Imagine the Wildcats of Notre Dame or the Michigan Wildcats or Ohio State Wildcats. Everything from team merchandise marketing to recruiting appeal suffers.
Click to expand...

What the hell is going on here. Now Wildcats sucks as a mascot/moniker? And it's worse than being a Nut, or a Gopher, a turtle, or a person who makes boils?

You are all the worst.
 
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Cat In The Cradle said:
That's just it. We have easily the B1G's worst moniker. Imagine the Wildcats of Notre Dame or the Michigan Wildcats or Ohio State Wildcats. Everything from team merchandise marketing to recruiting appeal suffers.
Click to expand...

I disagree with that too. Wildcats aren't exactly what I would have chosen if I could do it over again.

But, surely, it is better than the Buckeye, which is just a worthless nut.

Or the Gopher - what the hell kind of mascot is that? If someone called you a gopher, you would not take it as a compliment in any scenario.

And WTF is a boilermaker or a hoosier anyway? Not saying those are bad names, but it just don't make no sense. And now that Maryland is in the fold, you realize their mascot is an effing turtle. Wildcats may not be like Wolverines or Nittany Lions or Huskers or even Badgers, much less Spartan, but I'll bet on a Wildcat in a streetfight with a turtle or gopher or 10 of them at once any day of the week.
 
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Cat In The Cradle said:
That's just it. We have easily the B1G's worst moniker. Imagine the Wildcats of Notre Dame or the Michigan Wildcats or Ohio State Wildcats. Everything from team merchandise marketing to recruiting appeal suffers.
Click to expand...
That's why it's been shortened to 'CATS. Imagine the Notre Dame CATS, now there would be a team to be reckoned with!
 
stpaulcat said:
That's why it's been shortened to 'CATS. Imagine the Notre Dame CATS, now there would be a team to be reckoned with!
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I like the idea. But then we'd have to change the fight song to this:

You see the border of her coat is torn and stained with sand
And you see the corner of her eye twist like a crooked pin

Midnight
Not a sound from the pavement
Has the moon lost her memory?
She is smiling alone
In the lamplight, the withered leaves collect at my feet
And the wind begins to moan

. . . full version.

And I hated that musical. But let's add an adjective to CATs like alley or purple or something original. It's better to be called Jango Glackin than John Q. Public.
 
My favorite part is "Hit 'em High, Hit 'em Low, Go Northwestern, Go!" and my kids love it too.
 
EvanstonCat said:
I disagree with that too. Wildcats aren't exactly what I would have chosen if I could do it over again.

But, surely, it is better than the Buckeye, which is just a worthless nut.

Or the Gopher - what the hell kind of mascot is that? If someone called you a gopher, you would not take it as a compliment in any scenario.

And WTF is a boilermaker or a hoosier anyway? Not saying those are bad names, but it just don't make no sense. And now that Maryland is in the fold, you realize their mascot is an effing turtle. Wildcats may not be like Wolverines or Nittany Lions or Huskers or even Badgers, much less Spartan, but I'll bet on a Wildcat in a streetfight with a turtle or gopher or 10 of them at once any day of the week.
Click to expand...

Putting nuts and berries aside, if some micro organism found in our intestinal tracts had a cool sounding name, then sign me up. Not defending the indefensible, but you got admit that buckeye has a nice off-label verb/noun combo for football. Kind of like smash-mouth. Or take the Badgers; that captures the very essence of Wisconsin: a land in short supply of orthodontists where obese animals take part of the winter off. It fits. Or the Golden Gophers and Minnesota. A lot of blonde haired Scandanavian heritage up there. And so on.
 
villox said:
What the hell is going on here. Now Wildcats sucks as a mascot/moniker? And it's worse than being a Nut, or a Gopher, a turtle, or a person who makes boils?

You are all the worst.
Click to expand...

I like the boilermaker and the fact that they blow a steam horn whenever Purdue scores a touchdown. That's emblematic of Midwestern industry and grit at its finest.

And to think, if only NU was able to certify a union, we would have had so much material to work with in coming up with a new name.
 
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I have a CD titled, "41 Great College Victory Songs" as played by the University of Michigan Band under William D. Revelli which includes at #7 Go, U Northwestern. Somehow it just does not sound as inspiring as when our band plays it at Ryan Field with the team on the field.

However, nothing tops hearing the band play with the Wildcat victors gathered at the edge of the field singing:

Hail to Alma Mater
We will sing thy praise forever
All thy sons and daughters
Pledge thee victory and honor
Alma Mater Praise be thine
May thy name forever shine
Hail to purple
Hail to white
Hail to thee Northwestern
Thomas Tyra (class of 1954)
 
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To these tired ears, "Rise Northwestern" always sounds like the better of our two fight songs.

Could we get Mo Greene to write a timeless version of his go_u_nu anthem? I'm sure it would be easy to sing along with.
 
EvanstonCat said:
I disagree with that too. Wildcats aren't exactly what I would have chosen if I could do it over again.

But, surely, it is better than the Buckeye, which is just a worthless nut.

Or the Gopher - what the hell kind of mascot is that? If someone called you a gopher, you would not take it as a compliment in any scenario.

And WTF is a boilermaker or a hoosier anyway? Not saying those are bad names, but it just don't make no sense. And now that Maryland is in the fold, you realize their mascot is an effing turtle. Wildcats may not be like Wolverines or Nittany Lions or Huskers or even Badgers, much less Spartan, but I'll bet on a Wildcat in a streetfight with a turtle or gopher or 10 of them at once any day of the week.
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Could not agree more! Yes and a Wildcat most assuredly has bigger nuts than a Buckeye!
 
I always liked "Rise Northwestern" more than "Go U NU", though I like both. Is that a part of "Push On, Northwestern"? I notice that they play my fave at the start and just before the National anthem. I have to admit that that was the only comforting thing about giving up a TD, i.e., that you could hear "Rise Up, NU" before kickoff.
 
EvanstonCat said:
I disagree with that too. Wildcats aren't exactly what I would have chosen if I could do it over again.

But, surely, it is better than the Buckeye, which is just a worthless nut.

Or the Gopher - what the hell kind of mascot is that? If someone called you a gopher, you would not take it as a compliment in any scenario.

And WTF is a boilermaker or a hoosier anyway? Not saying those are bad names, but it just don't make no sense. And now that Maryland is in the fold, you realize their mascot is an effing turtle. Wildcats may not be like Wolverines or Nittany Lions or Huskers or even Badgers, much less Spartan, but I'll bet on a Wildcat in a streetfight with a turtle or gopher or 10 of them at once any day of the week.
Click to expand...
It's not about whether a Wildcat would win in a streetfight with a turtle. It's about having a unique brand. When you hear someone talk about the Terrapins or the Buckeyes or the Hawkeyes or the Hoosiers, you know exactly which school they are talking about. When you hear someone mention "Wildcats," you can't tell whether they are talking about NU, Arizona, Kansas State, Kentucky, Villanova, your local high school, etc. It's bad branding. I will take an oddball, unique mascot/moniker any day.

But, as noted previously, I like "Go U Northwestern." I have been known to break into it spontaneously, even when not drunk.
 
To Gladeskat:

"Rise, Northwestern" is officially called "Push On". At least, that is what we call it now and ever since I was in NUMB in the mid/late 80s.
For those interested, there are CDs available, probably on the NUMBALUM website/store. One disc, "Hail to Purple", has many old songs, and interestingly, "Push On" is titled "Rise, Northwestern" on that disc (from 1954).
 
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NUCat320 said:
I've felt this way for two-plus decades. It feels good to admit it.

Plodding pacing for a fight song. Improperly ordered words (we're not the University of Northwestern, are we?) "U Rah Rah", really?

Mostly, it's the pacing. And "actually, it's 'hit 'em *hard*, hit 'em low', if you really paid attention." Even "Go Northwestern Go" feels arrhythmic.

Seriously, a song with two distinct areas for 'shouting unaccompanied lyrics' should have better unaccompanied lyrics.

Meanwhile, "Push On, Northwestern", or whatever it's called, is catchy and ends with a great, natural crescendo. It's not a great fight song, but it'd be a better one. (Maybe the dude from Arcade Fire could write a new one. I'm not sure he graduated. I doubt it.)

I'm sure there are worse fight songs - I haven't researched to confirm, but I believe UVa prominently steals from "Auld Lang Syne" - but ours is near the bottom. At least we don't hear it after every play.

(Note: I'll delete repost after signing day if this might affect decisions.)
Click to expand...

UVA's fight song is a knock off of "Auld Lang Syne" The words include a reference to "gay" that was frowned on by "straights" but that controversy has passed. It is a terrible fight song but UVA students still wear ties to the games and the ladies wear sun dresses-old traditions die slowly

UVA did not have a marching band until 6-7 years ago when Al Groh demanded one. The UVA Pep Band(similar to Stanford) was disenfranchised and a marching band created. The old Pep Band would show up at lacrosse games and other student events
 
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I was always into football when I was learning piano as a kid, so I got to play a lot of these songs. We have a pretty good one, in my view. Good melody, all of the words still make sense, and it can keep the blood flowing after a TD. By comparison
"fighting with a vim" (MSU) what the hell is vim?
"rah, rah rah for sis boom bah" (Minn) Favorite Karnak question: "What is the sound of an exploding sheep?" Also, the first 5 notes are the same note. Booooring before it even starts.
" we know you've got sand Illinois" Get a better vacuum cleaner, change it to "rubber chips," write a new line, or trade the line to Arizona, UNLV, or the University of Saudi Arabia where it's still true.
"Champions of the West" (Mich) Easiest one to learn (any idiot can get it in 5 minutes), catchy in its way, but terribly inaccurate geographically.
 
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spartcat said:
I was always into football when I was learning piano as a kid, so I got to play a lot of these songs. We have a pretty good one, in my view. Good melody, all of the words still make sense, and it can keep the blood flowing after a TD. By comparison
"fighting with a vim" (MSU) what the hell is vim?
"rah, rah rah for sis boom bah" (Minn) Favorite Karnak question: "What is the sound of an exploding sheep?" Also, the first 5 notes are the same note. Booooring before it even starts.
" we know you've got sand Illinois" Get a better vacuum cleaner, change it to "rubber chips," write a new line, or trade the line to Arizona, UNLV, or the University of Saudi Arabia where it's still true.
"Champions of the West" (Mich) Easiest one to learn (any idiot can get it in 5 minutes), catchy in its way, but terribly inaccurate geographically.
Click to expand...

The "champions of the West" line comes from the days when the B1G was known as the Western Conference. Putting things in today's context, Northwestern is a geographic head-scratcher.
 
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NUCat320 said:
I've felt this way for two-plus decades. It feels good to admit it.

Plodding pacing for a fight song. Improperly ordered words (we're not the University of Northwestern, are we?) "U Rah Rah", really?

Mostly, it's the pacing. And "actually, it's 'hit 'em *hard*, hit 'em low', if you really paid attention." Even "Go Northwestern Go" feels arrhythmic.

Seriously, a song with two distinct areas for 'shouting unaccompanied lyrics' should have better unaccompanied lyrics.

Meanwhile, "Push On, Northwestern", or whatever it's called, is catchy and ends with a great, natural crescendo. It's not a great fight song, but it'd be a better one. (Maybe the dude from Arcade Fire could write a new one. I'm not sure he graduated. I doubt it.)

I'm sure there are worse fight songs - I haven't researched to confirm, but I believe UVa prominently steals from "Auld Lang Syne" - but ours is near the bottom. At least we don't hear it after every play.

(Note: I'll delete repost after signing day if this might affect decisions.)
Click to expand...

I like it. Two M grad friends of mine say it's #2. That's high praise.
 
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