Fight Sing on, State!

Penn State has one of the best gameday atmospheres in the nation. Regardless of any biases that people may have, most can agree that a game in Beaver Stadium is one of the best “bucket list” experiences for any college football fan.

There are many reasons why the Penn State experience is so great. The obvious initial explanation is the audience. Penn State has the largest alumni association of any school in the country, with the Nittany Lion faithful swarming to Happy Valley each home football weekend.

Additionally, Beaver Stadium holds over 107,000 people, letting the school show off its impressively large fanbase, not to mention the thousands more who don’t even make it into the stadium but come into town just to tailgate.

One of the other reasons that Penn State has such an amazing gameday experience is its history and traditions. Penn State has the eighth-most wins of all time of any college football program in the country and has played since 1887.

With all that history, Penn State has many amazing traditions. From the Blue Band’s Floating Lions Drill to the “We Are” chant, each home game is riddled with relics and callbacks to moments from the program’s storied past. One of those amazing traditions is the singing of the fight song, “Fight On, State.”

The Penn State fight song was originally written by Joseph Sanders in 1933, with a revised and shortened version adopted in 1968. Safe to say, the song has been a storied part of Penn State’s gameday experience for a long time.

The song is traditionally played by the Penn State Blue Band at the beginning of every game and after every Penn State touchdown. It’s short and sweet, with a victorious and distinctly collegiate tone. The lyrics, shown below, echo the history and prestige of the Pennsylvania State University.

We here at Onward State are extremely partial to the song. If you didn’t pick up on it, the second verse of “Fight On, State” is where we got our name.

There’s just one problem with the fight song: No one sings it! As one of Onward State’s football photographers for the last two seasons, I often catch myself turning around to watch the crowd sing and cheer from the field’s point of view.

At this season’s home opener against Bowling Green, I was standing by the south goalpost waiting to shoot the team’s entrance as I watched the Blue Band file onto the field and play “Fight On, State.” I was shocked to look at the crowd silently standing there, with maybe a few students bobbing their heads.

Even the Nittanyville students, who camp outside the stadium to get front-row seats, were mostly silent during the playing of the fight song. I was shocked since I had just heard a majority of them singing the words outside the stadium before they came in Gate A.

Why don’t people sing the fight song? The most obvious answer is that many probably don’t know the words. However, as you can see above, it’s not a long song, and wouldn’t take the average fan too long to learn the lyrics. Most Penn Staters know and sing the longer “Alma Mater,” so why not the fight song?

The singing of the Penn State fight song has the opportunity to unite students and alumni, young and old, with over 107,000 fans singing a song that is older than them all. While the alumni and parents may not know the words to Sheck Wes’ “Mo Bamba,” they might know the fight song.

Perhaps displaying the world on the jumbotron will encourage more singing and help people learn the lyrics. Maybe older students need to take more initiative in proudly singing to set an example for the younger students.

Penn State already has an awesome gameday atmosphere, but I can only imagine how much better it would be if over a hundred thousand people sang in unison after a touchdown, in the same way Eagles fans sing “Fly Eagles Fly” after a touchdown at the Linc.

So folks, this weekend when you take your seat at Beaver Stadium ahead of the Nittany Lion’s matchup with Kent State, maybe give the lyrics of the fight song a look over. Sing it with pride, because, in my opinion, “Fight On, State” is pretty awesome.