By Abby Rathburn | Staff Writer
Baylor’s fight song may sound a little different this football season as the university introduces a new arrangement designed to secure ownership of the nearly 80-year-old tradition.
According to an official statement from Baylor, copyright ownership of the university’s fight song has been unclear since the 1940s, with Southern Music Publishing claiming the copyright. In recent years, the university became aware of the legal risk and decided to create its own arrangement.
With the new arrangement, “Baylor Fight: Bear Down, You Bears,” the original melody, lyrics and harmonies remain intact. Isaiah Odajima, associate professor and associate director of bands, said the new rendition carries the same spirit and tradition as the original fight song, but with updated voicings.
“When you do a change in arrangement, you’re not changing the song, but you’re changing some elements of it, and it’s got to be distinctive enough that it sounds somewhat different,” Odajima said.
Updates included correcting existing instrumentation issues, adjusting the tempo of parts of the song and tweaking the introduction and ending, along with other minor stylistic changes. Although the changes may be subtle, Odajima said students may notice differences in where the melody appears.
“It feels different because when the low brass have the melody, or the low, low voices have the melody, it’s very powerful,” Odajima said.
In other words, Odajima and his team followed what he called “the Taylor Swift story.”
“She made her own arrangements, and that’s essentially what’s happened to us,” Odajima said. “We needed to make our own official arrangement of what we’ve got so that we could fully own it.”
Ultimately, these adjustments led to Baylor’s goal: creating an arrangement musically distinct enough for the university to own while preserving the spirit of the 1947 composition by Frank Boggs and Dick Baker.
The new arrangement now belongs to another generation of Golden Wave Band members who will be responsible for bringing the updated composition to Baylor game days.
For Montgomery sophomore and clarinet player Haley Conner, those traditions begin before the first game. Golden Wave Band members spend preseason learning the techniques, traditions and routines they will carry onto the field throughout the season.
“Preseason week is getting you into the routine of how to march,” Conner said. “Not every school, not every high school or college does it the same way. Everyone has to be watching techniques with your feet, how you march, the way you stand, your posture angles because everyone does it differently.”
Comprised of more than 300 members, 80% of whom are non-music majors, the Golden Wave Band brings together students from across Baylor.
McKinney senior and tenor saxophone player Nathan Hunter said that as an engineering major, he wasn’t sure he could balance band with his course load. However, he said the band’s manageable rehearsal schedule let him stay involved without compromising his academics.
“It’s something that I can go to where I don’t have to think about the other troubles that I have, whether it’s school or anything outside — like family,” Hunter said. “Even though it might take some of my time away from other things or it’s exhausting on Saturdays, it makes everything worth it.”
Hunter and Conner both attribute that feeling of escape to the community the band offers.
“It ended up being the best decision I’ve ever made,” Conner said. “Everyone’s just so wholesome, and there for each other. Even if I’m not close to everyone, I know that if I call someone, they’d be there for me in a heartbeat.”
For more than a century, the Golden Wave Band has fostered community among its members while serving as a symbol of Baylor tradition. Now, its members are carrying a newly arranged version of one of those traditions onto the field.
“Between the spirit squads and the marching band, I don’t think there’s any student group who gives more to the university with regard to spirit and loyalty and their love for the university,” Odajima said.
