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{{short description|Fight song at the University of South Carolina}}
"'''The Fighting Gamecocks Lead the Way'''" is the [[fight song]] of the [[University of South Carolina]] (USC). It was adapted from the musical number "[[Step to the Rear (1967 song)|Step to the Rear]]" in the [[Broadway theatre|Broadway show]] ''[[How Now, Dow Jones]]'' with new lyrics written by [[South Carolina Gamecocks|Gamecocks]] football coach [[Paul Dietzel]].

==History==
USC band director James Pritchard obtained a band arrangement of the [[Elmer Bernstein]]-penned song "Step to the Rear" from the [[Broadway musical]] ''[[How Now, Dow Jones]]'' in 1968, which the school marching band played at the first game of the 1968 season. It caught the ear of head football coach and athletic director Dietzel, who contacted Pritchard about possibly adapting it as a replacement for USC's original fight song, "Carolina Let Your Voices Ring" (now called the "Old Fight Song"). Dietzel wrote the lyrics for the song, but asked that he remain anonymous because knowledge that the football coach wrote the lyrics might render it unacceptable to the basketball program.

The song was officially introduced on 16 November 1968 prior to the football game against [[Virginia Tech Hokies football|Virginia Tech]] and has been USC's fight song since the fall of 1969.<ref>[http://www.sc.edu/library/music/CBC_contents.html The Carolina Bands Collection: Series I: Sheet Music (1914–2000s): 1/12 "Step to the Rear."] The Music Library at the University of South Carolina website. Retrieved 1 December 2009.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://gamecocksonline.com/sports/2018/6/21/trads-scar-trads-html.aspx University of South Carolina fight song lyrics]

{{University of South Carolina}}
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{{SEC fight songs}}

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[[Category:University of South Carolina]]
[[Category:South Carolina Gamecocks]]
[[Category:Southeastern Conference fight songs]]
[[Category:Songs with music by Elmer Bernstein]]