Another Aggie joke

I swear, Aggies have more solutions in search of problems than any other people I know. And I say that as an Aggie. The latest? Apparently there is a great deal of hand-wringing over the lyrics to the Aggie War Hymn, which explicitly references our former conference rival, t.u.:

It begins "Good bye to texas university/So long to the orange and the white," and then takes a few swipes at the University of Texas. The stanza is then repeated. The song ends with repetitions of "Saw varsity's horns off" and "Varsity's horns are sawed off. Short! A!" So that's a little problematic.

Apparently, there's a number of students on campus who want to change the lyrics. Let me say right here, stop. Just stop it. All this energy and angst being expended should be put to better use elsewhere, because the War Hymn ain't never going to change. Want to know why? Because Aggies won't allow it.

As is reported in the linked article above, the War Hymn was written in during World War I, and the single verse of "Goodbye to texas university..." repeated twice before going into "Saw varsity's horns off." Well, an additional verse not making mention of t.u. was introduced in 1928. It didn't take, although it's still officially the first verse. I've never heard anyone willingly sing it, other than the Singing Cadets on an A&M CD I own.

Let me clarify: If it exists at A&M, it exists as a time capsule, unchangeable. After A&M changed its name from the Agricultural & Mechanical College of Texas to Texas A&M University in the 60s, the alma mater, The Spirit of Aggieland, had its lyrics changed from "We are the Aggies/The Aggies are we/We're from Texas A.M.C." to "We are the Aggies/The Aggies so true/We're from Texas A.M.U." Guess which version I have never heard sung by anyone other than the Singing Cadets?

If they do continue with this harebrained scheme to change the War Hymn lyrics, it will never take. Mainly because Aggies resist change with every fiber of their being, but also because t.u. will always and forever be our main rival, no matter how vicious the LSU rivalry becomes. Anyone who believes the annual football rivalry (and other sports) won't resume between the state's two flagship institutions as soon as Deloss Dodds A) retires or 2) gets over his hissy-fit about A&M scuttling his Pac-16 dream, simply hasn't been paying attention.

Changing the War Hymn lyrics is a useless waste of time. Aggies will never sing new lyrics, and will continue to "Saw Varsity's Horns Off" until kingdom come.

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