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Nov 20, 2008
5:51:59pm
The changes to the fight song lyrics
For the past few years, I have posted every rivalry week about the change made to the fight song lyrics back in the early 90's. Two phrases were changed: "Rise ye men in blue" was replaced by "Rise all loyal Cougars", which does not even match the rythmn of the melody, and "Stalwart men and true" was replaced by "Loyal strong and true".
What seems puzzling to me, aside from the fact that BYU would seem to be the last institution around to go all PC, is that no one seems to know the story of why and how the lyrics were changed. It just happened. Was there no resistance, no protests by womens groups on campus that precipitated the changes?
I asked this question on the BYU 100 hour board, and recieved a semi-hostile answer from a female student who seemed to feel that I was denigrating females by even asking, and she did not have any new information other than that there was an associate AD who was female, and that she may or may not have had something to do with it. That was not my intention. I just sang the song one way when I was in school, moved away to take a job, and when I moved back to Utah, the song was changed, and IMHO, not for the better.
Just because the old lyrics don't mention women did not mean they could not rise or be stalwart or true. Heck, even the Yewts don't sing "I am a Utah student, sir", and we all know how PC that school to the north can be.
Does ANYONE out there know the story behind the emasculation of the BYU fight song?

Signed,
A stalwart man and true.
buzzard
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buzzard
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