Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech

Infobox song
Name = Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech

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Cover size = 300
Caption = Mike Greenblatt's 1911 arrangement
Type = Fight song
Artist = Georgia Tech students
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Published = 1908
Released = 1919
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Writer = Billy Walthallcite web|url=http://www.library.gatech.edu/archives/finding-aids/display/xsl/UA318|title=Inventory of the Georgia Tech Songs Collection, 1900-1953|publisher=Georgia Tech Archives and Records Management|accessdate=2007-05-20] cite web|url=http://www.coa.gatech.edu/music/about_us/history.htm|title=Department History|title=Department History|work=Music Department|publisher=Georgia Tech College of Architecture|accessdate=2007-06-05]
Composer = Frank Roman, Michael A. Greenblatt, Charles Ives
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"I'm a Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech" is the fight song of the Georgia Institute of Technology, better known as Georgia Tech. The composition is based on "Son of a Gambolier" by Charles Ives (1895), and the lyrics are based on an old English and Scottish drinking song of the same name. [cite web|url=http://sniff.numachi.com/pages/tiSONGAMB;ttSONGAMB.html|title=The Son of a Gambolier|publisher=Digital Tradition Mirror|accessdate=2007-05-29] cite web|title=Georgia Tech Traditions|work=RamblinWreck.com|publisher=Georgia Tech Athletic Association|accessdate=2007-02-12|url=http://ramblinwreck.cstv.com/trads/geot-trads.html] "Ramblin' Wreck" is played after every Georgia Tech score (directly after a field goal/safety and preceded by "Up With the White and Gold" after a touchdown) in a football game, and frequently during timeouts at basketball games. [cite news|first=Pat|last=Edwards|url=http://technique.library.gatech.edu/issues/fall1995/oct20/campus5-s.html|title=Ramlin's|work=The Technique|date=1995-10-02|accessdate=2007-06-27] cite news|first=Pat|last=Edwards|url=http://www.nique.net/issues/2000-08-25/online%20exclusives/11|title=Fight Songs|work=The Technique|date=2000-08-25|accessdate=2007-04-10] [cite news|first=David|last=Rottmann|url=http://www.nique.net/issues/2002-09-06/entertainment/3|title=New NCAA Football raises bar|work=The Technique|date=2002-09-06|accessdate=2007-06-14] The title refers to the Ramblin' Wreck, one of Tech's mascots and a nickname for Tech students.

Lyrics

I'm a Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech, and a hell of an Engineer A Helluva, Helluva, Helluva, Helluva, Helluva Engineer Like all the jolly good fellows, I drink my whiskey clear. I'm a Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech and a hell of an Engineer

Oh, if I had a daughter, sir, I'd dress her in white and gold, And put her on the campus To cheer the brave and bold. But if I had a son, sir, I'll tell you what he'd do-- He'd yell: 'TO HELL WITH GEORGIA!' Like his daddy used to do.

Oh, I wish I had a barrel of rum, and Sugar three thousand pounds A college bell to put it in, And a clapper to stir it round. I'd drink to all the good fellows, who come from far and near. I'm a Ramblin', Gamblin', HELL OF AN ENGINEER!

Previous adaptations

"Son of a Gambolier" (also known as "A Son of a Gambolier" and "The Son of a Gambolier") was a lament to one's own poverty; a gambolier is "a worthless individual given to carousing, gambling, and general moral depravity."cite web|title = Coast Survey Song|accessdate = 2007-02-06|url = http://www.history.noaa.gov/art/cssong.html|work=NOAA History|publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] The song became reasonably popular in the 1800s. The chorus goes: [cite web|url=http://sniff.numachi.com/pages/tiSONGAMB;ttSONGAMB.html|title=The Son of a Gambolier|publisher=Digital Tradition Mirror|accessdate=2007-06-11]

Like every jolly fellow I takes my whiskey clear, For I'm a rambling rake of poverty And the son of a gambolier.

The song was first adapted by Dickinson College in southern Pennsylvania in the 1850's. They modified it to include a reference to their college bell by adding the following lyrics:

I wish I had a barrel of rum, And sugar three hundred pounds, The college bell to mix it in, The clapper to stir it round

The song was subsequently adapted by the Colorado School of Mines in the late 1870s, entitled "The Mining Engineer." [cite web|url=http://www.alumnifriends.mines.edu/fun_stuff/mining_engineer/default.htm|title=The Mining Engineer|publisher=Colorado School of Mines Alumni and Friends|accessdate=2007-05-20] This version is the closest adaptation to "Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech."cite news|first=Andrew|last=Guyton|authorlink=User:Disavian|url=http://nique.net/issues/2007-06-08/focus/3|title=Ramblin' Wreck proves helluva song|work=The Technique|date=2007-06-08|accessdate=2007-06-08]

Like every honest fellow, I take my whisky clear, I'm a rambling wreck from Golden Tech, a helluva engineer.

The Mines version also has:

Oh, if I had a daughter I'd dress her up in green, And send her up to Boulder To coach the football team But if I had a son, sir, I'll tell you what he'd do-- He'd yell: 'TO HELL WITH BOULDER!' Like his daddy used to do.

In 1895, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute adapted it and called it "A Son of Old R.P.I." This version includes the lyrics: [cite web|title=Rensselaer Songs|accessdate=2007-02-12|url=http://www.lib.rpi.edu/Archives/traditions/songs/songs.html|work=Institute Archives and Special Collections|publisher=Rensselaer Research Libraries]

Like every honest fellow, I drink my whiskey clear, I'm a moral wreck from the Polytech And a hell of an engineer.

Also in 1895, Charles Ives composed a melody for the song. [cite web|url=http://webtext.library.yale.edu/xml2html/music/ci-s4c.htm|title=The Music of Charles Ives: IV. Works for Piano|work=A Descriptive Catalogue of The Music of Charles Ives|publisher=Irving S. Gilmore Music Library of Yale University|accessdate=2007-06-05]

Creation at Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech's use of the song is said to have come from an early baseball game against rival Georgia.cite news|first=H. D.|last=Cutter|url=http://gtalumni.org/Publications/magazine/spr98/history.html|title=An Early History of Georgia Tech|work=Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Online|publisher=Georgia Tech Alumni Association|accessdate=2007-06-13] cite news|first=Preston|last=Stevens|url=http://gtalumni.org/Publications/magazine/win92/wreck.html|title=The Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech|work=Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Online|publisher=Georgia Tech Alumni Association|date=Winter 1992|accessdate=2007-06-05] Some sources credit Billy Walthall, a member of the first four-year graduating class, with the lyrics. According to a 1954 article in Sports Illustrated, "Ramblin' Wreck" was written around 1893 by a Tech football player on his way to an Auburn game.cquote|The "Rambling Wreck" had its beginning during the first year or two after Tech opened. Some of the frills were afterward added. We had no football team during the early days, but football was played on the campus. A round rubber ball was used and it was strictly football-no holding the ball and running with it.

We had a good baseball team and I remember on one occasion almost the whole school went over to Athens to play Georgia. Duke Black of Rome pitched and we brought home the bacon. This was the beginning of the Rambling Wreck. —H. D. Cutter, ME 1892

In 1905, Georgia Tech adopted it as its official fight song, in roughly the current form, although it had apparently been the unofficial fight song for several years. It was published for the first time in the school's first yearbook, 1908 Blueprint. Entitled "What causes Whitlock to Blush,"cite news|first=Scott|last=Lange|url=http://technique.library.gatech.edu/issues/winter1998/feb6/news1.html|title='To hell' with it: Diversity movement talks of change in Georgia Tech song|work=The Technique|date=1998-02-06|accessdate=2007-05-20] words such as "hell" and "helluva" were censored as "certain words [are] too hot to print."

After Michael A. Greenblatt, Tech's first bandmaster, heard the band playing the song to the tune of Charles Ives's "A Son of a Gambolier", he wrote a modern musical version. In 1911, Frank Roman succeeded Greenblatt as bandmaster; Roman embellished the song with trumpet flourishes and publicized it. Roman copyrighted the song in 1919. [cite book|first=James J|last=Fuld|title=The Book of World-Famous Music: Classical, Popular and Folk|accessdate=2007-05-30
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=EVninY59ul0C&pg=PA516&lpg=PA516&dq=frank+roman+ramblin+wreck&source=web&ots=XCkSoutzqK&sig=KVM8F1vWAED1SdtB-jZHYe_NdP4#PPA516,M1]

Rise to fame

While a student in 1920, Arthur Murray organized the world's first "radio dance." A band located on campus played "Ramblin' Wreck" and other songs, which were broadcast to a group of about 150 dancers (mostly Tech students) situated atop the roof of the Capital City Club in downtown Atlanta. Murray also opened the first Arthur Murray Dance Studio while in Atlanta, at the Georgia Terrace Hotel. [cite news|url=http://gtalumni.org/StayInformed/techtopics/sum91/deaths.html|title=Arthur Murray Taught the World to Dance|work=Tech Topics|publisher=Georgia Tech Alumni Association|date=Summer 1991|accessdate=2007-06-11] In 1925, the Columbia Gramophone Company began selling a recording of Tech songs (including "Ramblin' Wreck"); Tech was one the first colleges in the Southern United States to have its songs recorded. The song became immensely popular, and was known nationally because of its extensive radio play.

In 1953, Tech's Glee Club sang "Ramblin' Wreck" on the Ed Sullivan show to approximately 30 million viewers.cite news|url=http://gtalumni.org/news/ttopics/spr06/article1.html|title=Century of Singing|work=Tech Topics|publisher=Georgia Tech Alumni Association|date=Spring 2006|accessdate=2007-06-07] Because there were only 28 seats available on the train there and back, Glee Club members auditioned for the available spots. The group prepared three songs-"Ramblin' Wreck," There's Nothin' Like a Dame, and the alma mater. Sullivan made them sing "heck" and "heckuva" instead of "hell" and "helluva," and wouldn't let them sing "Dames." According to "The Technique", "The club sang 'Dames' at rehearsal and brought down the house, only to have Sullivan give it the axe." Then-Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev sang the song together when they met in Moscow in 1958 to reduce the tension between them. [cite news|url=http://gtalumni.org/Publications/techtopics/sum91/fighting.html|title=Who's No. 1? Fighting Words About Battle Hymns|work=Tech Topics|publisher=Georgia Tech Alumni Association|date=Summer 1991|accessdate=2007-05-20] [cite book|title=The Insider's Guide to the Colleges, 2005|publisher=Yale Daily News|accessdate=2007-06-13|pages=268
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=HiS0BrWXz9QC&pg=PA268&lpg=PA268&dq=ramblin+wreck+from+georgia+tech+richard+nixon&source=web&ots=oS7NwetVwY&sig=eJM2_Xvd8ncIpsWf_HOfazJbnSw] As the story goes, Nixon didn't know any Russian songs, but Khrushchev knew that one American one as it had been sung on the Ed Sullivan show.

"Ramblin' Wreck" has had many other notable moments in its history, including being the first school song played in space. Gregory Peck sang the song while strumming a ukulele in the movie "The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit". John Wayne whistled it in "The High and the Mighty". Tim Holt's character sings a few bars of it in the movie "His Kind of Woman". Gordon Jones sings a few stanzas several times in the movie "My Sister Eileen". There are numerous stories of commanding officers in Higgins boats crossing the English Channel on the morning of D-Day leading their men in the song to calm their nerves.

Modern history

The Edwin H. Morris & Company, which was later acquired by Paul McCartney's company, MPL Communications, [cite web|url=http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/award_recipient_detail.asp?awardRecipientId=52&ceremonyId=6|title=Abe Olman Publisher Award: Buddy Morris|publisher=Songwriters Hall of Fame|accessdate=2007-06-10] obtained a copyright to Roman's version in 1931. The copyright to that version expired in 1952, so Greenblatt wrote a new arrangement and applied for a new copyright. In 1953, Greenblatt sold the copyright for the new version to Georgia Tech for one dollar. There was some controversy when MPL Communications acquired the old copyright; a law firm commissioned by Georgia Tech in 1984, Newton, Hopkins & Ormsby, concluded that while there were copyrighted versions of the song, the version used by the school was not copyrighted and falls in the public domain.

In 1998, a 19-member "Diversity Task Force" proposed that changes be made to the fight song because it discriminated against women. The proposal was widely and strongly opposed by students and alumni, [cite news|first=Steve|last=Faris|url=http://technique.library.gatech.edu/issues/winter1998/feb13/eds3.html|title=Alum pronounces verdict on fight song changes|work=The Technique|date=1998-02-13|accessdate=2007-05-20] [cite news|first=Josh|last=Daws|url=http://technique.library.gatech.edu/issues/winter1998/feb27/eds5.html|title=Apology to the Diversity Task Force|work=The Technique|date=1998-02-27|accessdate=2007-05-20] [cite news|first=Anthony|last=Godfrey|url=http://technique.library.gatech.edu/issues/winter1998/feb27/eds7.html|title=Does Task Force represent students?|work=The Technique|date=1998-02-27|accessdate=2007-05-20] [cite news|first=Arthur|last=Ebbs|url=http://technique.library.gatech.edu/issues/winter1998/feb13/eds4.html|title=Revised "Ramblin' Wreck" versions|work=The Technique|date=1998-02-13|accessdate=2007-06-05] and subsequently dropped. [cite news|first=Mindy|last=Wiggins|url=http://technique.library.gatech.edu/issues/winter1998/feb13/news2.html|title=Ray: changing song low on list of priorities|work=The Technique|date=1998-02-13|accessdate=2007-05-20]

Over the years, a few variations of this song have been created at Georgia Tech; "To cheer the brave and bold." is often substituted with "To increase the ratio," "To raise the ratio," "To help the ratio," or "To boost the ratio" as a reference to the large ratio of undergraduate men to women. Women, especially alumni, often substitute "Like his daddy used to do." with "Like his mommy used to do." At the conclusion of the song there is a call of "Go Jackets!" responded to with "Bust their ass!" Following three of these calls and responses, the song was ended with a call of "Go Jackets! Fight! Win!" Recently, however, the student body has yelled "Fight! Win! Drink! Get Naked!"

References

External links

* [http://fightmusic.com/acc.html ACC College Football Fight Songs] with audio file of complete song