The traditional and historic BYU fight song aka “The Cougar Song,” that has been sung by millions of faithful fans for over 8 decades will have a new arrangement this fall. An email that was sent through the BYU Marching Band department to returning band members contained the following text:
"“The fight song has undergone MAJOR harmonic/part changes this year. If you are returning to band you must learn the new fight song part – the old one will no longer work.”"
Although the melody and words are not changing, it appears that the fight song we hear the band play this year will sound different than what we are used to hearing. It is possible that the arrangement may sound the same to us fans who are musically challenged, but to those who have a fine-tuned ear for picking out instrumental harmonies, the song could sound very different.
More from BYU Football
- BYU Football: Comparing the new and old schedules
- BYU Football: Have the Cougars hit an all time low?
- BYU Football needs to fix issues before Notre Dame
- BYU Football: Why fans shouldn’t be so worried about USF
- BYU Sports: Is a Big 12 announcement finally coming?
At first, many traditional BYU fans may seem upset at the news, but quite frankly, I’m looking forward to the new arrangement. Making a change to one of the most iconic traditions such as the fight song is very odd for a school like BYU. Perhaps a change in the fight song will ignite a series of other things that need to be changed at BYU, for example, updating the 1980’s style loges in LaVell Edwards Stadium.
How does cougar nation feel about changes to the BYU fight song? Let us know your thoughts.