View source for The Victors

{{Short description|Fight song of the University of Michigan}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2021}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Infobox anthem
| title            = The Victors
| transcription    = 
| english_title    = 
| alt_title        = 
| en_alt_title     = 
| alt_title_2      = 
| en_alt_title_2   = 
| image            = The Victors (sheet music).jpg
| image_size       = 
| caption          = Sheet music cover
| prefix           = Fight
| type             = song
| country          = the {{Flagicon image|Flag of the University of Michigan.gif}} [[University of Michigan]]
| lyrics_date      = 1898
| author           = Louis Elbel
| composer         = Louis Elbel
| music_date       = 1898
| adopted          = 
| until            = 
| sound            = The Victors March (1914) - Victor 17672-A.ogg
| sound_title      = 
}}
"'''The Victors'''" is the [[fight song]] of the [[University of Michigan]].<ref name="brpt" />  Michigan student Louis Elbel wrote the song in 1898 after the [[Michigan Wolverines football|football team's]] victory over the [[Chicago Maroons football|University of Chicago]], which clinched an undefeated season and the [[Big Ten Conference|Western Conference]] championship. 

An abbreviated version of the song, based on its final [[refrain]], is played at University of Michigan sporting events and functions. "The Victors" is considered one of the greatest college fight songs ever written.<ref name="brpt">{{cite news |last1=Daughters |first1=Amy |title=Ranking the Top 50 College Football Fight Songs |url=http://bleacherreport.com/articles/891006-power-ranking-the-top-50-college-football-fight-songs/page/51 |access-date=October 1, 2016 |work=Bleacher Report |publisher=Turner Sports |date=October 12, 2011}}</ref><ref name="fi" /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Siegel |first1=Alan |title=The top 10 fight songs in college football |url=http://fanindex.usatoday.com/2015/10/24/the-top-10-fight-songs-in-college-football/ |access-date=September 30, 2016 |department=Fan Index |work=USA Today |date=October 24, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Huguenin |first1=Mike |title=15 for '15: College football's best fight songs |url=http://www.nfl.com/photoessays/0ap3000000498240/15-for-15-college-footballs-best-fight-songs |access-date=October 1, 2016 |publisher=National Football League |date=June 23, 2015}}</ref>

== History ==
"The Victors" was written by University of Michigan student Louis Elbel in 1898 following the 12&ndash;11 football victory over the [[University of Chicago]] that clinched the [[Big Ten Conference|Western Conference]] championship on Thanksgiving at Chicago's [[Stagg Field]].<ref name="fi">{{cite news |last1=Siegel |first1=Alan |title=The 10 best fight songs in college football of 2014 |url=https://sports.usatoday.com/2014/09/01/the-10-best-fight-songs-in-college-football/ |access-date=October 8, 2019 |department=Sports |work=USA Today |date=September 1, 2014 |archive-date=2015-06-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623143237/https://sports.usatoday.com/2014/09/01/the-10-best-fight-songs-in-college-football/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Shaker |first=Clay |date=September 21, 1998 |url=http://www.pub.umich.edu/daily/1998/sep/09-21-98/news/news10.html |title='The Victors!' turns 100 years old |work=The Michigan Daily |access-date=March 6, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070213074801/http://www.pub.umich.edu/daily/1998/sep/09-21-98/news/news10.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=February 13, 2007}}</ref> Singing "[[There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight]]" after the game—then considered school's unofficial fight song<ref name="aan0">{{cite news |last1=Dickson |first1=James |title=Talk of the Town: Hail to the Victors – a borrowed song? |url=http://www.annarbor.com/entertainment/the-deuce/talk-of-the-town-classic-u-m-songs-in-retrospect/ |access-date=September 5, 2017 |work=AnnArbor.com |publisher=Mlive Media Group |date=November 4, 2009}}</ref>—Elbel felt the event should be "dignified by something more elevating for this was no ordinary victory."<ref name="fi" /> With that in mind, Elbel wrote "The Victors" in the style of a [[March (music)|military march]] on the train ride back to [[Ann Arbor]].<ref name="ne">[https://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/umosu/images/krykchi1898.pdf "Who's No. 1? Fight Songs"]. Excerpt from {{cite book |first=John |last=Kryk |title=Natural Enemies: Major College Football's Oldest, Fiercest Rivalry—Michigan vs. Notre Dame |location=Lanham, MD |publisher=Taylor Trade Pub |year=2004 |pages=242–245}}</ref>

Elbel and a student orchestra made the first public performance of "The Victors" on April 5, 1899, during ''A Night Off'', an on-campus undergraduate musical. It was received well, with the audience requesting an encore.<ref name="ne" /> Three days later in Ann Arbor, the song was performed during a concert by [[United States Marine Band]] leader and "March King" [[John Philip Sousa]]. Sousa held the song in high regard: "No one but a master of counterpoint could have conceived the splendid harmony that marks the composition throughout," the bandleader said.<ref>{{cite news |title="The Victors" Hailed Michigan Victory |work=The Detroit Free Press |date=1930-11-09 |page=78}}</ref>

After Michigan temporarily withdrew from the Western Conference in 1907, a new Michigan fight song, "[[Varsity (fight song)|Varsity]]," was written in 1911 because the line "champions of the West" was no longer applicable.<ref name="aan0" /><ref>{{cite web |title=The Eugene Fischer Years: 1906–1914 |url=http://mmb.music.umich.edu/node/43351 |author=Michigan Marching Band |publisher=Regents of the University of Michigan |access-date=April 9, 2012 |archive-date=March 31, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331162125/http://mmb.music.umich.edu/node/43351 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Both songs were popular, but with Michigan's reentry to the Western Conference in 1917, followed by an undefeated football season in 1918, "The Victors" was readopted permanently.<ref>[https://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/fbteam/1918fbt.htm Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan Athletics History 1918 Football Team]</ref>

During [[World War I]], both German and French military bands played the song. The [[125th Infantry Regiment (United States)|U.S. 125th Infantry Band]] played the song in 1918 as Michigan soldiers entered defeated Germany.<ref name="ne" /> In the 1920s, an alternate set of lyrics were penned by an unknown author.<ref name="ne" />

Elbel returned for Michigan's homecoming yearly to lead the band in playing "The Victors" until his death in 1959. In 1961, the Michigan Band went on a world tour in 31 countries with "The Victors" as a selection played.<ref name="ne" />

==Authorship==
Elbel copyrighted "The Victors" in early 1899.<ref name="aan">{{cite news |last=Leslie |first=Dale |url=http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews_opinion/2008/08/whose_victors_did_louis_elbel.html |title=Whose Victors? Did Louis Elbel Copy Part of Another March? |work=Ann Arbor News |date=August 31, 2008}}</ref> In 1983, Michigan marching band alumnus George Anderson found that the song's [[Trio (musical form)|trio]] bore a strong resemblance to George Rosenberg's "The Spirit of Liberty March," which was [[copyright]]ed in 1898. Jim Henriksen, another band alumnus, wrote "The Authorship of 'The Victors March'" paper covering the various theories about the similarities indicating that none would be proved to be true. Former U-M Band Alumni president Joseph Dobos considered Elbel the only author, which received support from Bill Studwell, author of ''College Fight Songs: An Annotated Anthology'', as many composers borrowed from each other. Dobos also wrote the "Did Louis Elbel Write 'The Victors'?" essay for the band alumni publication ''M-Fanfare'' fall 2007 issue indicating that Victors was more "tightly composed" than "Spirit" and was a "circus" march while "Spirit" was a "two-step."<ref name="aan" />

== Uses and performances ==
[[File:Louis Elbel.png|180px|thumb|Louis Elbel conducting the Michigan Marching Band in "The Victors," 1958]]
Various versions of the song are used at U-M functions, including three versions the marching band often plays at football games, a calypso version named "Calyptors," a [[Dixieland]] version titled the "Hoover Street Rag," named after the band's home, Revelli Hall on E. Hoover Ave., and "El Victors Caliente," a Latin arrangement by previous director [[Scott Boerma]]. Additional arrangements in blues and waltz styles have also historically been played.

The chorus of the song ("Hail! to the victors valiant," etc.) is played at all University of Michigan sports competitions, as well as many U-M band events, first-year student orientation and welcoming events, and graduation commencement ceremonies. Many attendees will stand when it is played, sing along and clap in rhythm until the chorus when, at each repetition of the word "Hail!," they thrust their fists in the air. This fist-raising has become well-accepted as an indication of school spirit. Since the late 1990s, attendees at sports events have started to yell the phrase "Go Blue!" at the conclusion of the chorus. Attendees at [[ice hockey|hockey]] games have commonly inserted "[[Let's Go Blue]]!" between the two stanzas of the chorus after "leaders and best" and then conclude with "Go Blue!" When hockey games started play at [[Yost Ice Arena]] attendees have begun adopting the abbreviated football game version but continue to include "Let's Go Blue!" and conclude with "Go Blue!"{{Citation needed|date=January 2019}}

The popularity of U-M athletics and "The Victors" has prompted the song being used by the University of Michigan in its advertising. Commercials for the [[University of Michigan Health System]]'s "The Michigan Difference" campaign have featured the words to the chorus of "The Victors" over pictures of children in hospital beds, amputees and post-surgical patients living active lives, and doctors performing surgery. The musical accompaniment to these commercials is a light chamber orchestra/pop rendition of the fight song.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.med.umich.edu/michigandifference/ |title=The Michigan Difference |publisher=University of Michigan Health System |access-date=June 18, 2009}}</ref> The University started using a softer version in its TV commercials for U-M Health System starting in 2008.<ref name="aan" /> 

The University of Michigan's [[University of Michigan–Flint|Flint campus]] selected "The Victors" as their sports nickname in an unofficial student vote in 2008.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mlive.com/flintjournal/index.ssf/2008/09/sports_talk_at_university_of_m.html |title=Sports talk at University of Michigan–Flint sparks more mascot consideration |access-date=October 29, 2008 |last=Mostafavi |first=Beata |date=September 22, 2008 |work=[[Flint Journal]] | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090517100159/http://www.mlive.com/flintjournal/index.ssf/2008/09/sports_talk_at_university_of_m.html |archive-date=May 17, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Morland |first=Mike |title=U-M-Flint closer to selecting mascot |url=http://www.ur.umich.edu/0708/Apr28_08/15.php |access-date=April 9, 2012 |newspaper=University Record Online |date=May 28, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Shoup |first=Allison |title='Victors' not yet a sure thing |url=http://www.themichigantimes.com/index.php/article/2008/04/victors_not_yet_a_sure_thing |access-date=April 9, 2012 |newspaper=The Michigan Times |date=April 25, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812205405/http://www.themichigantimes.com/index.php/article/2008/04/victors_not_yet_a_sure_thing |archive-date=August 12, 2014 }}</ref>

Michigan alumnus [[Gerald Ford|Gerald R. Ford]], the 38th [[President of the United States]], often had the White House band play the fight song prior to state events instead of "[[Hail to the Chief]]."<ref>{{cite book |title=The Press and the Ford Presidency |last=Rozell |first=Mark J. |date=October 15, 1992 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=0-472-10350-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/pressfordpreside0000roze/page/38 38] |url=https://archive.org/details/pressfordpreside0000roze/page/38 }}.</ref> He also selected the song to be played during his December 2006 funeral procession at the U.S. Capitol.<ref>{{cite news |first=Anne E. |last=Kornblut |title=Ford Arranged His Funeral to Reflect Himself and Drew in a Former Adversary |work=The New York Times |date=December 29, 2006}}</ref> The [[Michigan Marching Band]] played this march for him one final time when his casket arrived at the [[Gerald R. Ford International Airport]] in [[Grand Rapids, Michigan]].
<!-- No Lyrics should be added as this is NOT within the purpose of WP. [[WP:NOTLYRICS]] -->

==Tune==
<score sound="1">
{ \language "english"
  \new Voice \relative c'' 
  { \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"brass section" 
    \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t 
    \tempo "Marching Tempo" 4 = 144 
    \stemUp 
    \clef treble 
    \key ef 
    \major 
    \time 4/4  
    \autoBeamOff
    g2 ef4 f g ef f g
    af2 f4 g af f g af \bar "" \break
    bf2 c4. g8 g4 af ef f
    g2 f4 ef bf'1 \bar "" \break
    g2 ef4 f g ef f g
    af2 f4 g af f g af \bar "" \break
    bf2 c4. g8 g4 af ef f
    g bf g4. f8 ef1 \bar "" \break

 } 
      \addlyrics {
        Hail! to the vic -- tors va -- liant, 
        Hail! to the con -- quering he -- roes,
        Hail! Hail! to Mi -- chi -- gan, 
        the leaders and the best,
        Hail! to the vic -- tors va -- liant, 
        Hail! to the con -- quering he -- roes,
        Hail! Hail! to Mi -- chi -- gan,
        the cham -- pions of the West!
        
 }

  }
</score>

==Legacy==
The ''Bleacher Report'' named the song the number one college fight song in 2011.<ref name="brpt"/> In 2014, the ''USA Today'' College Football Fan Index named "The Victors" the number one fight song,<ref name="fi" /> but it fell to third place in 2015.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Siegel |first1=Alan |title=The top 10 fight songs in college football |url=http://fanindex.usatoday.com/2015/10/24/the-top-10-fight-songs-in-college-football/ |access-date=September 30, 2016 |department=Fan Index |work=USA Today |date=October 24, 2015}}</ref> While in 2015, NFL.com named it number two on its top 15 of college fight songs.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Huguenin |first1=Mike |title=15 for '15: College football's best fight songs |url=http://www.nfl.com/photoessays/0ap3000000498240/15-for-15-college-footballs-best-fight-songs |access-date=October 1, 2016 |publisher=National Football League |date=June 23, 2015}}</ref>

Michigan alumnus and composer Charles D. Kountz gave an account that in 1905, John Philip Sousa told him that "The Victors" was "one of the nation's finest military marches and the best original college song" he had ever heard.<ref name="ne" />

== References ==
{{Portal|Michigan|Music}}
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130602122905/http://www.admissions.umich.edu/studentlife/victors.wav Listen to "The Victors"]
* [https://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/umosu/umsongs.htm U-M vs OSU Michigan Songs]
* [http://imslp.org/wiki/The_Victors_%28Elbel,_Louis%29 Sheet music for "The Victors" at IMSLP.org]
* {{LocalWiki|ann-arbor|Louis_Elbel|Louis Elbel}}
* [https://archive.org/details/78_the-victors_university-of-michigan-band-louis-elbel-wilfred-wilson_gbia0054131b The University of Michigan Band's 1926 recording of "The Victors-March"].
{{University of Michigan|studentlife}}
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{{Michigan Wolverines men's soccer navbox}}
{{Big Ten fight songs}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Victors, The}}
[[Category:Big Ten Conference fight songs]]
[[Category:University of Michigan]]
[[Category:1898 songs]]