. . . THANK GOODNESS!

It's amazing how just a few months ago we were all eagerly awaiting the beginning of the football season, and now the season is coming to an end and I don't think that there are too many tears that this 2012 season will be over in just a few hours.

Anyway, here is the Cal song that you should learn, it is the oldest song in Cal Band's booklet and it has a very interesting backstory:

GOLDEN BEAR (music)
Oh, have you seen the heavens blue, heavens blue,
When just sev’n stars are shining through, shining through
Right overhead a jovial crew?
They’re joining hands to make the Bear.
Right overhead a jovial crew?
They’re joining hands to make the Bear!

And oh, that Bear’s a glorious sight, glorious sight,
A-circling ‘round the pole all night, pole all night;
And once you’ve seen him, you’re all right,
You’ve seen our California Bear.
And once you’ve seen him, you’re all right,
You’ve seen our California Bear!

Oh have you seen our banner blue, banner blue?
The Golden Bear is on it too, on it too,
A Californian through and through,
Our totem, He, the Golden Bear.
A Californian through and through,
Our totem, He, the Golden Bear!

FOR THE LYRICS TO THE ENTIRE SONG, CLICK HERE

The oldest song currently in the Cal Band’s repertoire is “The Golden Bear,” with lyrics written in 1895 by Professor Charles Mills Gayley. In order to understand the origins of the song, it is important to consider Gayley’s background and association with the University of California. Gayley was born in Shanghai in 1858, educated in England, and received his A.B. in 1878 at the University of Michigan. He became an assistant professor of Latin, and later Professor of English, at Michigan. While at Michigan, he displayed his flair for school songs by editing the songbook, “Songs of the Yellow and Blue.” In 1889, Gayley moved to California, serving the University of California as a professor of English Language and Literature, research lecturer, and professor emeritus. Like many of his fellow professors at the new university, he encouraged the development of traditions that would foster school spirit and loyalty; his most lasting contributions to his development are his songs.

In 1895, Berkeley was still in its infancy, having only been founded 27 years earlier. The University of California track team, underfunded and without a coach, decided to travel to the East in order to compete in the prestigious Eastern Track Meets, where California ran against Princeton University, Yale University, University of Pennsylvania, and Chicago University. The upstart university from the west coast surprised everyone by winning the meet! At the meet, the team had displayed a blue banner with a golden bear upon it for good luck, and when the local newspapers noticed the totem, they began to claim that it had “jinxed” the Eastern schools. After the track meet, the exhausted team returned to Berkeley in the dead of night and was greeted by the faculty and students at the West Berkeley railroad station. As the team made their way off the train clutching their banner, the words to “The Golden Bear” came to Gayley in a sudden flash of inspiration, and he soon set the words to a popular Air of the time, “The Pope.” Because he was known and loved by the student body for his sincere and genuine concern for their welfare, it is fitting that Gayley’s songs still remain a vital part of the California Spirit.

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE LATEST INSTALLMENT OF THE PAC-12 FAMILY! THIS WEEK, WE EXPLORE THE ORIGINS OF THE OREGON STATE BEAVER.