Give My Regards to Davy
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"Give My Regards to Davy" is Cornell University's primary fight song. The song's lyrics were written in 1905 by Charles E. Tourison 1905, W. L. Umstad 1906, and Bill Forbes 1906, a trio of roommates at Beta Theta Pi, and set to the tune of George M. Cohan's "Give My Regards to Broadway".[1] The song refers to a fictional encounter between an anonymous student and David Fletcher "Davy" Hoy (for whom Hoy Field is named), the registrar and secretary for the committee on student conduct, and Thomas Frederick "Tee Fee" Crane, the Professor of Languages and the first Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences revolving around the student's expulsion on account of binge drinking. David Hoy was known for his ferocity as a strict disciplinarian. Professor Crane, on the other hand, was generally well-liked among students. "Theodore Zinck's" was a bar in downtown Ithaca that has since closed. Its legend still lives on in the weekly event for seniors "Zinck's Night", which is celebrated worldwide by Cornellians.[2]
[edit] Lyrics
The original and best known lyrics:
- Give my regards to Davy,
- Remember me to Tee Fee Crane.
- Tell all the pikers on the Hill
- That I'll be back again.
- Tell them just how I busted
- Lapping up the high highball.
- We'll all have drinks at Theodore Zinck's
- When I get back next fall!
To reflect the changing diversions of students, in 1920, the Cornell Daily Sun published a new version of the song under pen name of "Lord Helpus."
- Give my regards to Gladys
- Remember me to Maud and Jane
- Tell all the tea-hounds on the Hill
- That I'll be back again
- Tell them just how I busted
- Listening to the jazz band's call --
- Oh! we'll all write a berry in the old Wisterie
- When I get back next fall!
Sometime in the 1950's, another unofficial version appeared[3], referring to President Deane Malott's "Social Events Standards"[4] that attempted to ban fraternity parties, to ban women from visiting men's off-campus apartments, and to maintain the strict curfews and sign-in/out times for women. This verse is only a modest form of outrage as compared to the protests that were staged (at one, students burned an effigy of Malott) and the mobs that formed (one marched to President Malott's house demanding his resignation and throwing eggs, rocks, and smoke bombs).[5]
- Give my regards to Ezra
- Remember me to Andy White.
- Tell all the virgins on the Hill
- That I'll be back some night.
- Tell them just how I licked it,
- Lappin' up the brew at Jim's.
- We'll all take shots at Deane Malott's
- When I get back again!
On May 5, 2006, another parody of the lyrics appeared in conservative columnist Jamie Weinstein's farewell article in the Cornell Daily Sun. [1]. It mocks Ithaca's strong left wing tendencies. "Ruloff's" is a popular bar and restaurant in Collegetown.
- Give my regards to Ezra
- Remember me to A.D. White.
- Tell all the hippies on the Hill
- That I'll be back some night.
- Tell them just how I did it,
- Lampooning them in The Sun
- We'll all take shots at Dean Ruloff's
- When I get back again!
[edit] References
- ^ Songs of Cornell, complied and edited by Thomas A. Sokol; Cornell University Glee Club, Ithaca, New York, 1988
- ^ The Cornell Fight Song. Cornell University. Retrieved on 2006-09-06.
- ^ Omicron Zeta Songs. Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. Retrieved on 2006-09-06.
- ^ Guide to the Deane W. Malott Papers, 1951-1964 (Correspondence, office files.). Collection Number: 3-9-651. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library (1951-1964). Retrieved on 2006-09-06.
- ^ Rossiter, Caleb. The Chimes of Freedom Flashing. TCA Press, 1996
