The Fighting Gamecocks Lead the Way

Fight song at the University of South Carolina

"The Fighting Gamecocks Lead the Way" is the fight song of the University of South Carolina (USC). It was adapted from the musical number "Step to the Rear" in the Broadway show How Now, Dow Jones with new lyrics written by Gamecocks football coach Paul Dietzel.

History

USC band director James Pritchard obtained a band arrangement of the Elmer Bernstein-penned song "Step to the Rear" from the Broadway musical How Now, Dow Jones in 1968, which the school marching band played at the first game of the 1968 season. It caught the ear of head football coach and athletic director Dietzel, who contacted Pritchard about possibly adapting it as a replacement for USC's original fight song, "Carolina Let Your Voices Ring" (now called the "Old Fight Song"). Dietzel wrote the lyrics for the song, but asked that he remain anonymous because knowledge that the football coach wrote the lyrics might render it unacceptable to the basketball program.

The song was officially introduced on 16 November 1968 prior to the football game against Virginia Tech and has been USC's fight song since the fall of 1969.^[1]

References

^ The Carolina Bands Collection: Series I: Sheet Music (1914–2000s): 1/12 "Step to the Rear." The Music Library at the University of South Carolina website. Retrieved 1 December 2009.

External links

University of South Carolina fight song lyrics

University of South Carolina

Located in: Columbia, South Carolina

Academics

Athletics

Teams	South Carolina Gamecocks
Men's sports	Baseball Basketball Football Golf Soccer Swimming and Diving Tennis Track and field
Women's sports	Basketball Beach Volleyball Golf Soccer Softball Tennis Track and field Volleyball
Facilities	Carolina Coliseum Colonial Life Arena Eugene E. Stone III Stadium Founders Park Williams–Brice Stadium Sarge Frye Field (former)

Campus

Student life

Carolina Band
Clemson–South Carolina rivalry
Cocky
Congaree Vista
The Daily Gamecock
"The Fighting Gamecocks Lead the Way"
Five Points
Lake Murray
Riverbanks Zoo
"We Hail Thee Carolina"
WUSC-FM
Sign Guy

Miscellaneous

Founded: 1801
Students: 34,099
Endowment: $809.9 million

v t e South Carolina Gamecocks football
Venues	Old State Fairgrounds (1894, 1896–1898) Shandon Park (1895) College Park/Davis Field (1899–1925) Melton Field (1926–1934) Williams–Brice Stadium (1934–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Clemson Georgia North Carolina Tennessee
Culture & lore	Spurrier Cocky "The Fighting Gamecocks Lead the Way" Mighty Sound of the Southeast "Sandstorm" The Brawl University of South Carolina steroid scandal
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders NFL draftees
Seasons	1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

v t e South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball
Venues	College Hall (1908-1912) Carolina Gymnasium (1912-1927) Carolina Fieldhouse (1927–1968) Carolina Coliseum (1968–2002) Colonial Life Arena (2002–present)
Rivalries	Clemson
Culture & lore	Cocky "The Fighting Gamecocks Lead the Way" Garnet Army 2017–18 corruption scandal
People	Head coaches NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

v t e South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball
Venues	Carolina Coliseum (1974–2002) Colonial Life Arena (2002–present)
Rivalries	Clemson
Culture & lore	History Cocky "The Fighting Gamecocks Lead the Way" The Freshies Garnet Army Full Court Press
People	Head coaches Retired jerseys
Seasons	1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

v t e South Carolina Gamecocks men's soccer
Venues	Eugene E. Stone III Stadium
Rivalries	Clemson Kentucky Coastal Carolina
Culture & lore	Mark Berson Cocky Mighty Sound of the Southeast "The Fighting Gamecocks Lead the Way"
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1979 2001 2004 2005
National championship seasons in bold; College Cup seasons in italics

v t e Fight songs of the Southeastern Conference
Yea Alabama (Alabama) Arkansas Fight (Arkansas) War Eagle (Auburn) The Orange and Blue (Florida) Glory, Glory (Georgia) On, On, U of K, Kentucky Fight (Kentucky) Fight for LSU (LSU) Hail State (Mississippi State) Fight Tiger (Missouri) Forward Rebels (Ole Miss) The Fighting Gamecocks Lead the Way (South Carolina) Down the Field (Tennessee) Aggie War Hymn (Texas A&M) Dynamite (Vanderbilt)

Fight songs of the Southeastern Conference