Bright College Years
"Bright College Years" is one of the traditional songs of
In some old songbooks and publications, the song can be found under the name "Dear Old Yale", possibly a reference to the closing words of another popular Yale song, Neath the Elms: "Jolly, jolly are the days neath the elms of dear old Yale!"[citation needed]
During World War I and shortly afterward, "Bright College Years" was nearly banned for its German origins. Yale men stationed in Paris sang it to the tune of "La Marseillaise".[1]
Lyrics
Written by H.S. Durand 1881
Music composed by Karl Wilhelm; (SATB) arr. Robert Bonds ‘71
Bright College years, with pleasure rife,
The shortest, gladdest years of life;
How swiftly are ye gliding by!
Oh, why doth time so quickly fly?
The seasons come, the seasons go,
The earth is green or white with snow,
But time and change shall naught avail
To break the friendships formed at Yale.
In after years, should troubles rise
To cloud the blue of sunny skies,
How bright will seem, through mem’ry’s haze
Those happy, golden, bygone days!
Oh, let us strive that ever we
May let these words our watch-cry be,
Where’er upon life’s sea we sail:
Performance
The
Traditionally, only the first and third verses are sung. The latest publication of Songs of Yale includes the lyrics of the second verse only in the appendix.[3]
In popular culture
- The 1946-49 radio adaptation of Frank Merriwell used "Bright College Years" as its theme tune.
- Bright College Years: Inside the American Campus Today is a book by Anne Matthews published in 1997 describing modern day academia.
- Bright College Years is a 1971 documentary filmed by Peter Rosen describing the reactions of people at Yale to New Haven.
- "Bright College Days" is the name of a satirical alma mater written by Harvard's Tom Lehrer. It contains several Yale references.
Notes and references
- ^ a b "Old Yale: The Birth, Near-Demise, and Comeback of "Bright College Years"". Retrieved 2018-10-21.
- ^ "Traditional Yale Songs". Yale University. Archived from the original on 2016-02-21. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
- ^ Songs of Yale. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale Glee Club, 2006.
External links
- Traditional Yale Songs lyrics at Yale Glee Club's website