Sons of Westwood

Sons of Westwood is the official fight song of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The tune comes from "Big C", a school fight song for the University of California, Berkeley and UC Davis.

Unlike most primary fight songs, Sons of Westwood isn't played after a Bruin touchdown; that distinction goes to The Mighty Bruins.

History

"Big C"

"Big C" was composed in 1913 by Harold P. Williams, with lyrics by Norman Loyall McLaren. It was written to commemorate the construction of the large concrete "C" in 1905 on the "rugged Eastern foothills" of the Berkeley campus. The song was the winning entry in the Daily Californian school song competition in 1913.

Adoption by UCLA

From the late 1940s until the 1960s UCLA and Cal alternatively hosted a college football doubleheader game as part of the "All University Weekend". The first game featured UC Davis vs. UCSB. In one of the last "All U Weekends", Kelley James, then Associate Director of the UCLA Marching Band and alumnus of the Cal Band wrote an arrangement of "Big C" for a halftime show performed by the combined marching bands from UCLA, UC Davis, and Cal. Afterwards, UCLA continued using James' arrangement of "Big C" as its fight song, adding their own lyrics and renaming it "Sons of Westwood". It was soon adopted as UCLA's fight song.

Controversy

Many Cal fans, most notably Cal Band director James Berdahl, were enraged over what they saw as James' theft of their song. A bitter exchange ensued between Berdahl and James for the next several years concerning the legal and ethical grounds for James' adaptation of the song. Finally, on February 18, 1969, UCLA lawyers were told by the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress that "Big C" had never been copyrighted, and therefore was in the public domain. However, whenever Cal plays UCLA and "Sons of Westwood" is played, Cal fans sing a parody ending, "but damn you, it's 'Big C.'" Likewise, whenever Cal plays "Big C" UCLA plays their signature "tag" at the end, which is a part of "Sons of Westwood" but not "Big C".

Residents of Cal's Bowles Hall dormitory have co-opted one of UCLA's fight songs, By The Old Pacific's Rolling Waters, and titled it Bowles Hall Drinking Song. The Cal band plays this song in front of Bowles Hall during the parade from Memorial Stadium after the game. [1]

Lyrics to "Sons of Westwood"

We are Bruins, Sons of Westwood

And we hail the Blue and Gold

True to thee our hearts will be

Our love will not grow old,

FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!

Bruins roam the hills of Westwood

and by the blue Pacific shore(s)

And when they chance to see

Their team near victory

Every Bruin starts to roar

Chant:

U...C...L...A...UCLA, fight, fight, fight!

(return to song)

Since the early 1970's, it has been common to change the last lines to:

And when they chance to see

someone from USC

Every Bruin starts to roar.

References

UCLA History Project, lyrics