As a Towering Traditions leader herding freshmen around Belmont’s campus, attending the Welcome Week events for the third year, I feel more than qualified in considering myself an expert on Belmont tradition.
I know that the bell tower has stood the test of time. It was a source of irrigation for our beloved Adelicia Acklen’s mansion. It became a watchtower and a place for a weary Union soldier to rest upon during the Civil War. Now, students are encouraged to place a hand upon the old brick allowing their stories to merge with those of countless generations before them.
Those traditions can also bleed into athletics. Like when all of Pembroke Hall attends volleyball games religiously. And when I say religiously, they even go as far as having a dress up theme for every game. Sure, they look crazy. But at least they know what they’re doing.
Come basketball season, men’s head coach Rick Byrd dons his sweater vest, and so do several members of the Belmont student section, leading the student section with a rather fervent rendition of “Belmont Til I Die” after games.
Belmont also has a longstanding tradition of being a renowned school for both music and Music Business, producing successful songwriters such as Brad Paisley, Trisha Yearwood and Steven Curtis Chapman.
Keeping all of these customary practices in mind, I had a rude shock coming my way during Bruin Blitz, an orientation event where incoming freshmen and transfers become acquainted with Belmont’s sports teams and our brand new fight song.
That’s right, Belmont fans. We have a fight song.
Actually, it’s an old fight song. You know, the really peppy brassy one they play before the game. They just happened to add lyrics this year.
It’s called “Go Belmont Bruins” and is a result of the 2012 Bruin Fight Song Lyric Contest.
The winners of the contest include an entertainment industry studies major, a professor in the Department of Political Science, a junior marketing major, and a student in the Belmont College of Law.
Let that soak in for a minute.
With lyrics such as, “Raise our paws and bare our claws for dear old red and blue!” editorial debates have erupted within the Belmont Vision office regarding the proper usage of the word “bare.”
The fact of the matter is, I’m not entirely sure this new fight song would catch on, even if Brad Paisley performed it and gave every audience member a free semester’s tuition.
Can I also mention how embarrassing it was when I didn’t know the actual lyrics during Bruin Blitz? I just started doing an interpretive dance with fellow TT leaders in an effort to prove that Belmont really does have school spirit, even if we won’t ever be able to sing our own fight song.
Nevertheless, we’re all Belmont ‘til we die.
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