Roar, Lion, Roar

Roar, Lion, Roar is the fight song for the Columbia Lions. It was originally titled "Bold Buccaneers" and written with different lyrics for the 1923 Varsity Show Half Moon Inn by Columbia undergraduates Corey Ford and Roy Webb.

Lyrics

When the bold teams of old wore the blue and white,
Deeds of fame made their name here at old Columbia,
Nowadays, we can praise fighting teams again,
Hear the Lion roar his pride,
While the men of Morningside,
Follow the blue and white to victory!

Roar, Lion, Roar
And wake the echoes of the Hudson Valley
Fight on to victory evermore
While the sons of Knickerbocker
Rally 'round Columbia, Columbia!
Shouting her name forever
Roar, Lion, Roar
For Alma Mater on the Hudson shore!

Legacy

The song is said have inspired Howard Dietz of the Columbia College Class of 1917, who was MGM's director of publicity, to persuade the film company to adopt a lion as its mascot.

Controversy

It is unknown whether the term knickerbocker was meant as a blatant elitist reference to the aristocracy or a more general reference to New York residents.

References

Lyrics to song

Columbia Lions football

Venues	Wien Stadium (1984–present)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games The Liberty Cup (Fordham)

Culture & lore	Roaree the Lion "Roar, Lion, Roar"

People	Head coaches

Seasons	1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

National championship seasons in bold

Columbia Lions men's basketball

Venues	University Heights Gymnasium Levien Gymnasium (1974–present)

Culture & lore	Roar, Lion, Roar

People	Head coaches

Seasons	1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15

Helms national championships in bold

Fight songs of the Ivy League

"Ever True To Brown" (Brown) "Roar, Lion, Roar" (Columbia) "Give My Regards to Davy" (Cornell) "Dartmouth's in Town Again" (Dartmouth) "Ten Thousand Men of Harvard" (Harvard) "Fight on, Pennsylvania!" (Penn) "Princeton Cannon Song" (Princeton) "Boola Boola" (Yale)

See also Ivy League alma maters