How to Sing UCLA Fight Songs

The UCLA Bruins have a pair of fight songs that fans commonly sing during the football team's home games. The school adopted the Kelley James football song "Big C" as their own "Sons of Westwood," and also added "Mighty Bruins" to their roster of official fight songs in 1984.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Sing "Sons of Westwood": We are Sons of Westwood, and we hail the Blue and Gold. True to thee our hearts will be, our love will not grow old. Bruins roam the hills of Westwood, by the blue Pacific shore. And when they chance to see a man from USC, ev'ry Bruin starts to roar! U! C! L! A! U-C-L-A! Fight! Fight! Fight!"
2. Learn the "Mighty Bruins" song: "We are the Mighty Bruins, the best team in the West. We're marching on to victory to conquer all the rest. We are the Mighty Bruins, triumphant evermore. You can hear from far and near the Mighty Bruin roar! U! C! L! A! U-C-L-A! Fight! Fight! Fight!"
3. Know that "Sons of Westwood" is typically played when the UCLA Bruins have just made a spectacular play that did not result in a touchdown. "Mighty Bruins," the school's specially commissioned fight song, is reserved for post-score celebrations.
4. Be aware that a special so-called "Eight-Clap Yell" usually accompanies the singing of "Sons of Westwood." The yell was first introduced around 1948. The best way to understand how the yell is integrated into a performance of "Sons of Westwood" is to listen to a version of the song that includes the eight-clap intro. You can find one at UCLA's "History Project" website (see Resources below).
5. Print the lyrics out and keep them handy while you hunt down clear performances of the songs, preferably played by the UCLA band in a recording studio.
6. Listen to actual performances of the songs you want to sing, following along using the lyrics sheets you printed out. Continue until you know the song's verse progression by heart and know where every lyric falls.
7. Practice singing along, trying to minimize your use of the accompanying sheet of lyrics, with which you should be familiar by now. Continue until you have mastered singing along with the songs without having to cheat off your lyrics pages.
8. Try to sing the fight songs on your own. Instead of taking your cues from the music or singing off the sheet, try to do it from memory alone with no accompaniment of any kind. After a while, you'll be able to sing along as though you were a born and bred Bruin!

Tips & Warnings

• Stick to official school sources in your search for lyrics and music. They're the best and most definitive places to find information.