10 more things to know about Bears fight song

December 01, 2006|By Maria Mooshil

- Ed McCaskey, the Bears' late chairman emeritus who once lost out on a singing gig with the Harry James band to a guy named Frank Sinatra, recorded the fight song about a half-dozen years ago, his son, Brian McCaskey says. "It's a great version. He coupled it with a song from the Broadway play `Pal Joey' called `It's a Great Big Town.' He recorded it for fun and gave it to family and friends."

- When McCaskey died in April 2003 at age 83, "a plaintive piano rendition" "Bear Down, Chicago Bears" was played at his funeral.

- Other NFL teams with fight songs include the Green Bay Packers ("Go! You Packers Go!"-- which concludes with the line: "Fight, and bring the bacon home to Old Green Bay."), the Washington Redskins ("Hail to the Redskins"), the Minnesota Vikings ("Skol, Vikings") and the Philadelphia Eagles ("Fly Eagles Fly"). The Packers fight song, written in 1931, is considered to be pro football's first, says Ryan Rebholz, research assistant at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

- The Redskins fight song was commissioned by owner George Preston Marshall in 1937. His wife, actress Corinne Griffith, wrote the lyrics and bandleader Barnee Breeskin wrote the music.

- Some teams have songs that modify lyrics to popular tunes. The Buffalo Bills, for instance, use the song "Shout!" with lines such as "The Bills make me wanna Shout!" and "Shout! The Bills are happenin' now."

- The copyright date for "Bear Down, Chicago Bears" is Sept. 22, 1941.

- The Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Sir Georg Solti recorded "Bear Down, Chicago Bears" in the mid-1980s. You can hear a snippet of that recording, which also features the Big Bear Band, when you use the Musical Bottle Opener ($7.99, Bed, Bath & Beyond). The Bears portion of the royalty proceeds are donated to Bears Care, the team's philanthropic arm.

- The T formation immortalized in the Bears fight song is no longer used in the NFL, a victim of the passing game, says Tribune pro football writer Don Pierson. Colleges no longer use it either, as they continue to copy the offensive style of the pros. Some high schools still use the T or split-T formation because it's a simpler and more run-oriented offense, Pierson says.

- The Bears fight song is available as a ring tone download. Mark Spier, president of Larry Spier Inc., the New York music publisher that owns the "Bear Down" copyrights, says there have been about 10,000 downloads in the last few years. He gets 9 cents a download.

- Spier, who also owns the copyrights to the Eagles' fight song, is a New York Giants fan. "If the Giants can't win," he says, "I always root for the Eagles and the Bears."

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Marv Levy's fight songs

Chicago native Marv Levy knows fight songs.

As a child growing up near 71st Street and Stony Island Avenue, Levy would listen to a Saturday night radio show that broadcast college football scores. After giving a score, the show played each victor's fight song.

"It was very dramatic," says Levy, the Buffalo Bills general manager and vice president of football operations. "I learned them all."

A 1943 graduate of South Shore High School, Levy recalls when "Bear Down, Chicago Bears" was introduced in 1941.

"The music teachers were teaching it to all the kids in the class," he says. "It just captured the city."

The former coach of the Kansas City Chiefs and the Bills has written fight songs for both teams. No, Levy didn't write the lyrics to the Bills' "Shout!" anthem; but he did write the lyrics for "Go Bills," which borrows the music from Lane Tech High School's fight song.

"They haven't caught on like the Bears song," Levy deadpans about his Bills and Chiefs compositions.

Levy, a Pro Football Hall of Fame member, says the Bills' song, which he wrote more than a decade ago after telling his players he would if they won a particular game, is played on "rare occasions" at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Here is the opening stanza to "Go Bills":

"Go Bills! For we are here to cheer for you;

Go Bills! We are your fans so true.

With victory in sight,

We'll yell with all our might

So, Go Bills! Fight Bills! Go!

C'mon, let's win for Buffalo"

-- Maria Mooshil