“Saying Goodbye to the University of Texas” was the original title of “Aggie War Hymn” and is the first lyric sung in the song’s second verse.
Texas A&M University and the University of Texas haven’t met in football since 2011, but their 96-year-old rivalry will be rekindled this fall.
“It’s unfortunate that we weren’t part of that (rivalry week) conversation when we were playing LSU,” assistant athletic director Brad Marquard said. “We hate LSU. It’s not the same hatred that there is between the University of Texas and Texas A&M.”
“Goodbye orange and white.”
Marquardt is a longtime Aggies fan, having graduated from Texas A&M in 1988 and worked on the university’s sports public relations staff for 35 years, so he remembers what the rivalry was like back in the day.
“Everybody in the state was watching that game,” Marquardt said. “Not always, but usually on Thanksgiving Day, they’d watch that game with their families.”
“Good luck to all my dear Texas Aggies.”
The rivalry runs deep because many people in Texas have friends, coworkers or family members who attend rival schools.
“Everybody knows somebody,” Marquardt said, “and it’s going to be a lot of fun talking about who has the bragging rights leading up to that game.”
“These are boys who show real old-fashioned fighting spirit.”
One rivalry that particularly stood out to Marquardt was during his junior year in 1987, his first year competing in collegiate track and field.
“When Bucky (Richardson) ran for the touchdown, it was so loud at Kyle Field,” Marquardt said. “I think it was the loudest thing I’ve ever heard at Kyle Field. There were only 78,000 people there.”
The stadium has since been expanded and can now accommodate over 100,000 people.
“‘The eyes of Texas are on you…’ That’s a song they sing so well.”
This line is usually followed by “It sounds like…” followed by a word that cannot be revealed.
“So goodbye to the University of Texas.”
A tradition at Aggies rivalry games was the Texas Aggie Bonfire, a huge 60-foot pile of firewood lit before the game. At the top of the bonfire was an outdoor restroom known as the “TU Tea Room” or “TU Fraternity House.”
“We’re all going to defeat Chig-ga-ruh-ga-rem.”
However, the university discontinued the traditional event after a Bonfire collapsed in 1999, killing 12 students and injuring 27.
“Tough! Real! Texas A&M!”
Nowadays, smaller bonfires take place off campus and are not sponsored by the university.
“We cut the corner off the university.”
The line is repeated over and over, with fans throwing their arms around each other and swaying, “cutting off” Bevo’s horns.
“The Varsity corner has been amputated.”
And A&M fans will get a look at what the varsity team will look like after its horns are cut off. The Aggies have never stopped making the horn-down gesture since 2011, when the two teams last played each other.
It’s been more than a decade since the “Aggies Game Anthem” was applied to Aggies games, so the song may be sung a little louder when the Longhorns come to College Station for the first time in more than a decade.
