"Victory March" is the fight song for the University of Notre Dame. The Rev. Michael J. Shea, a 1905 Notre Dame graduate, wrote the music, and his brother, John F. Shea, who earned degrees from Notre Dame in 1906 and 1908, wrote the original lyrics. The lyrics were revised in the 1920s; Victory March first appeared under the copyright of the University of Notre Dame in 1928.
The chorus of the song is one of the most recognizable collegiate fight songs in the United States, and was ranked first among fight songs by Northern Illinois University Professor William Studwell, who remarked it was "more borrowed, more famous and, frankly, you just hear it more."[1] The eminent college football analyst and historian Beano Cook ranked the Victory March "the fourth most well-known song in the country, behind only 'The Star-Spangled Banner,' 'Happy Birthday' and 'White Christmas'."[2]
In media
Knute Rockne, All American, Knute Rockne (played by Pat O'Brien) delivers the emotional "Win one for the Gipper" speech, at which point the background music swells with the Victory March. Drawing from this reference, the song has been used in mass media in situations that seemed to compel an inspirational "halftime speech". The "Win one for the Gipper" speech was parodied in the 1980 movie Airplane! when, with the Victory March rising to a crescendo in the background, Dr. Rumak, played by Leslie Nielsen, urged reluctant pilot Ted Striker, played by Robert Hays, to "win just one for the Zipper", Striker's war buddy, George Zipp. The Victory March also plays during the film's credits. The song also was prominent in the movie Rudy, an account of the life of Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger who harbored dreams of playing football at the University of Notre Dame despite significant obstacles. The Dropkick Murphys released an instrumental version of the Victory March, called "Victory" with the single Walk Away and subsequently with their collection, Singles Collection, Volume 2. The song was used in the 20th season of The Simpsons in an episode called Double, Double, Boy in Trouble, as a reference to Joe Montana, an alum of Notre Dame, who made a brief cameo in that episode. On the television series Scrubs, the character Dr. Perry Cox sarcastically sings the Victory March melody to rally Elliot and Turk to action in Season 2, Episode 11.[3]
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