Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech
Encyclopedia
" Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech" is the fight song
of the Georgia Institute of Technology
, better known as Georgia Tech. The composition is based on "Son of a Gambolier", composed by Charles Ives
in 1895, the lyrics of which are based on an old English and Scottish drinking song
of the same name. It first appeared in print in the 1908 Blueprint
, Georgia Tech's yearbook. The song was later sung by the Georgia Tech Glee Club
on The Ed Sullivan Show
in 1953, and by Richard Nixon
and Nikita Khrushchev
during the 1959 Kitchen Debate
.
"Ramblin' Wreck" is played after every Georgia Tech score (directly after a field goal
/safety) and preceded by "Up With the White and Gold" after a touchdown
in an American football
game, and frequently during timeouts at basketball
games.
The term "Ramblin' Wreck" has been used to refer to students and alumni of Georgia Tech much longer than the Model A now known as the Ramblin' Wreck has been in existence. The expression has its origins in the late 19th century and was used originally to refer to the makeshift motorized vehicles constructed by Georgia Tech engineers employed in projects in the jungles of South America. Other workers in the area began to refer to these vehicles and the men who drove them as "Rambling Wrecks from Georgia Tech."
The tune was first adapted as a school song by Dickinson College
in southern Pennsylvania
in the 1850s. Students at the college modified it to include a reference to their college bell by adding the following lyrics:
In 1857, the Delta Kappa Epsilon
Fraternity published a songbook that contained a heavily modified version of the song. The adapted chorus used the following lyrics:
The song was subsequently adapted by the Colorado School of Mines
in the late 1870s and entitled "The Mining Engineer." This version is the closest adaptation to "Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech."
The Mines version also includes:
The song is also used by the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
, entitled "Ramblin' Wreck" although on campus it is referred to simply as the "School Song." This version is almost identical to the first four lines of "Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech."
In the early 1890s, Ohio State University
adapted it and called it "If I had a Daughter". At the time Ohio Wesleyan University
was their arch rival, hence the references to Delaware, Ohio
and Methodists. One verse follows:
In 1895, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
adapted it and called it "A Son of Old R.P.I." This version includes the lyrics:
Two different sources are claimed to have been the origin for the song's music. The first is the marching tune "The Bonnie Blue Flag
", published in 1861 by Harry McCarthy
. The second, and more widely cited, is Charles Ives
' composition of "Son of a Gambolier" in 1895.
Georgia Tech's use of the song is said to have come from an early baseball game against rival Georgia
. Some sources credit Billy Walthall, a member of the school's first four-year graduating class, with the lyrics. According to a 1954 article in Sports Illustrated
, "Ramblin' Wreck" was written around 1893 by a Tech football player on his way to an Auburn game.
In 1905, Georgia Tech adopted the tune as its official fight song, though it had already been the unofficial fight song for several years. It was published for the first time in the school's first yearbook, the 1908 Blueprint
. Entitled "What causes Whitlock to Blush", words such as "hell" and "helluva" were censored as "certain words [are] too hot to print".
After Michael A. Greenblatt, Tech's first bandmaster
, heard the Georgia Tech band
playing the song to the tune of Charles Ives's "A Son of a Gambolier", he wrote a modern musical version. In 1911, Frank Roman succeeded Greenblatt as bandmaster; Roman embellished the song with trumpet flourishes and publicized it. Roman copyrighted the song in 1919.
In 1920, dance instructor Arthur Murray
organized the world's first "radio dance" while he attended Tech. A band on campus played "Ramblin' Wreck" and other songs, which were broadcast to a group of about 150 dancers (mostly Tech students) on the roof of the Capital City Club
in downtown Atlanta. Murray also opened the first Arthur Murray Dance Studio while in Atlanta. It was located at the Georgian Terrace Hotel
. In 1925, the Columbia Gramophone Company began selling a recording of Tech songs (including "Ramblin' Wreck"); Tech was one the first colleges in the Southern United States
to have its songs recorded. The song became immensely popular and was known nationally because of its extensive radio play. In 1947, the song was performed by The Gordonaires in a Soundie entitled "Let's Sing A College Song".
On October 11, 1953, the Georgia Tech Glee Club
sang "Ramblin' Wreck" on Ed Sullivan
's "Toast of the Town" program (later known as The Ed Sullivan Show
) on CBS
. The performance reached a television audience of approximately 30 million viewers. Because only 28 seats were available on the train to the show, Glee Club members auditioned for the available spots. The group prepared three songs—"Ramblin' Wreck," There's Nothin' Like a Dame
, and the alma mater. Sullivan made them sing "heck" and "heckuva" instead of "hell" and "helluva," and would not let them sing "dames." According to The Technique
, "The club sang 'Dames' at rehearsal and brought down the house, only to have Sullivan give it the axe."
Then-Vice President
Richard Nixon
and Soviet premier
Nikita Khrushchev
sang the song together when they met in Moscow
in 1959 to reduce the tension between them during the Kitchen Debate
. As the story goes, Nixon did not know any Russian songs, but Khrushchev knew that one American song as it had been sung on the Ed Sullivan show.
"Ramblin' Wreck" has had many other notable moments in history, including being the first school song played in space
. Gregory Peck
sang the song while strumming a mandolin
in the movie The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
. John Wayne
whistled it in The High and the Mighty
. Tim Holt's character sings a few bars of it in the movie His Kind of Woman
. Gordon Jones sings a few stanzas several times in the movie My Sister Eileen. There are numerous stories of commanding officers in Higgins boats crossing the English Channel
on the morning of D-Day
leading their men in the song to calm their nerves.
The Edwin H. Morris & Company obtained a copyright
to Roman's version in 1931; that company was later acquired by Paul McCartney
's holding company
, MPL Communications
in 1976. The copyright to that version expired in 1952, so Greenblatt wrote a new arrangement and applied for a new copyright. In 1953, Greenblatt sold the copyright for the new version to Georgia Tech for one dollar
. There was some controversy when MPL Communications acquired the old copyright; a law firm commissioned by Georgia Tech in 1984, Newton, Hopkins & Ormsby, concluded that while there were copyrighted versions of the song, the version used by the school was not copyrighted and falls in the public domain
.
Over the years, a few variations of the song have been created at Georgia Tech. In 1998, a 19-member "Diversity Task Force" proposed that changes be made to the fight song because it discriminated against women. The proposal was widely and strongly opposed by students and alumni, and it was dropped. At the conclusion of the song there is a call of "Go Jackets!" responded to with "Bust their ass!" Following three of these calls and responses, the song was ended with a call of "Go Jackets! Fight! Win!" Recently, however, the student body has yelled "Fight! Win! Drink! Get Naked!"
Fight song
A fight song is primarily an American and Canadian sports term, referring to a song associated with a team. In both professional and amateur sports, fight songs are a popular way for fans to cheer for their team...
of the Georgia Institute of Technology
Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...
, better known as Georgia Tech. The composition is based on "Son of a Gambolier", composed by Charles Ives
Charles Ives
Charles Edward Ives was an American modernist composer. He is one of the first American composers of international renown, though Ives' music was largely ignored during his life, and many of his works went unperformed for many years. Over time, Ives came to be regarded as an "American Original"...
in 1895, the lyrics of which are based on an old English and Scottish drinking song
Drinking song
A drinking song is a song sung while drinking alcohol. Most drinking songs are folk songs, and may be varied from person to person and region to region, in both the lyrics and in the music...
of the same name. It first appeared in print in the 1908 Blueprint
Blueprint (yearbook)
Blueprint is Georgia Tech's official student yearbook. It was established in 1908 and is the second oldest student organization on campus. Their staff meets Thursday nights at 7 pm in Room 137 of the Student Services Building.-History:...
, Georgia Tech's yearbook. The song was later sung by the Georgia Tech Glee Club
Georgia Tech Glee Club
The Georgia Tech Glee Club is an all-male a capella singing group founded in 1906 at the Georgia Institute of Technology. It is a student-run glee club currently directed by Dr. Jerry Ulrich. The Glee Club sings all original arrangements and compositions arranged by Dr...
on The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
in 1953, and by Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
and Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
during the 1959 Kitchen Debate
Kitchen Debate
The Kitchen Debate was a series of impromptu exchanges between then U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev at the opening of the American National Exhibition at Sokolniki Park in Moscow on July 24, 1959. For the exhibition, an entire house was built that the...
.
"Ramblin' Wreck" is played after every Georgia Tech score (directly after a field goal
Field goal (football)
A field goal in American football and Canadian football is a goal that may be scored during general play . Field goals may be scored by a placekick or the now practically extinct drop kick.The drop kick fell out of favor in 1934 when the shape of the ball was changed...
/safety) and preceded by "Up With the White and Gold" after a touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
in an American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
game, and frequently during timeouts at basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
games.
The term "Ramblin' Wreck" has been used to refer to students and alumni of Georgia Tech much longer than the Model A now known as the Ramblin' Wreck has been in existence. The expression has its origins in the late 19th century and was used originally to refer to the makeshift motorized vehicles constructed by Georgia Tech engineers employed in projects in the jungles of South America. Other workers in the area began to refer to these vehicles and the men who drove them as "Rambling Wrecks from Georgia Tech."
Lyrics
I'm a Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech, and a hell of an engineer—
A helluva, helluva, helluva, helluva, hell of an engineer.
Like all the jolly good fellows, I drink my whiskey clear.
I'm a Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech and a hell of an engineer.
Oh! If I had a daughter, sir, I'd dress her in White and Gold,
And put her on the campus to cheer the brave and bold.
But if I had a son, sir, I'll tell you what he'd do—
He would yell, 'To hell with GeorgiaClean, Old-Fashioned HateClean, Old-Fashioned Hate is the nickname given to an American college football rivalry game played annually by the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team of the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Georgia Bulldogs football team of the University of Georgia. The two Georgia universities are...
!' like his daddy used to do.
Oh, I wish I had a barrel of rum and sugar three thousand pounds,
A college bell to put it in and a clapper to stir it round.
I'd drink to all the good fellows who come from far and near.
I'm a ramblin', gamblin', hell of an engineer!
Previous adaptations
The earliest rendition of the song is "Son of a Gambolier" (also known as "A Son of a Gambolier" and "The Son of a Gambolier"), which is a lament to one's own poverty; a gambolier is "a worthless individual given to carousing, gambling, and general moral depravity." The chorus goes:Like every jolly fellow
I takes my whiskey clear,
For I'm a rambling rake of poverty
And the son of a gambolier.
The tune was first adapted as a school song by Dickinson College
Dickinson College
Dickinson College is a private, residential liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Originally established as a Grammar School in 1773, Dickinson was chartered September 9, 1783, five days after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, making it the first college to be founded in the newly...
in southern Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
in the 1850s. Students at the college modified it to include a reference to their college bell by adding the following lyrics:
I wish I had a barrel of rum,
And sugar three hundred pounds,
The college bell to mix it in,
The clapper to stir it round
In 1857, the Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon is a fraternity founded at Yale College in 1844 by 15 men of the sophomore class who had not been invited to join the two existing societies...
Fraternity published a songbook that contained a heavily modified version of the song. The adapted chorus used the following lyrics:
I'm a son of a, son of a, son of a, son of a, son of a DKE!
I'm a son of a, son of a, son of a, son of a, son of a DKE!
Like every college fellow, I like my whiskey free,
For I'm a rambling rake of a college man,
And the son of a DKE!
The song was subsequently adapted by the Colorado School of Mines
Colorado School of Mines
The Colorado School of Mines is a small public teaching and research university devoted to engineering and applied science, with special expertise in the development and stewardship of the Earth's natural resources. Located in Golden, Colorado, CSM was ranked 29th, in America among national...
in the late 1870s and entitled "The Mining Engineer." This version is the closest adaptation to "Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech."
Like every honest fellow,
I take my whisky clear,
I'm a rambling wreck from GoldenGolden, ColoradoThe City of Golden is a home rule municipality that is the county seat of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. Golden lies along Clear Creek at the edge of the foothills of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Founded during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush on 16 June 1859, the mining camp was...
Tech,
a helluva engineer.
The Mines version also includes:
Oh, if I had a daughter
I'd dress her up in green,
And send her up to Boulder
To coach the football team
But if I had a son, sir,
I'll tell you what he'd do—
He'd yell: 'TO HELL WITH BOULDERUniversity of Colorado at BoulderThe University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
!'
Like his daddy used to do.
The song is also used by the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
The South Dakota School of Mines and Technology is a public institution of higher learning in Rapid City, South Dakota governed by the South Dakota Board of Regents. Founded in 1885 as the Dakota School of Mines, Tech offers degree programs in engineering and science fields. 2,354 students were...
, entitled "Ramblin' Wreck" although on campus it is referred to simply as the "School Song." This version is almost identical to the first four lines of "Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech."
I'm a rambling wreck from RapidRapid City, South DakotaRapid City is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of South Dakota, and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek on which the city is established, it is set against the eastern slope of the Black Hills mountain range. The population was 67,956 as of the 2010 Census. Rapid...
Tech, and a helluva engineer.
a helluva, helluva, helluva, helluva, hell of an engineer.
Like all my jolly good fellows, I drink my whiskey clear,
I'm a rambling wreck from RapidRapid City, South DakotaRapid City is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of South Dakota, and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek on which the city is established, it is set against the eastern slope of the Black Hills mountain range. The population was 67,956 as of the 2010 Census. Rapid...
Tech, and a helluva engineer. Hey!
In the early 1890s, Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
adapted it and called it "If I had a Daughter". At the time Ohio Wesleyan University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ohio Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1842 by Methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five — a consortium of Ohio liberal arts colleges...
was their arch rival, hence the references to Delaware, Ohio
Delaware, Ohio
The City of Delaware is a city in and the county seat of Delaware County in the United States state of Ohio. Delaware was founded in 1808 and was incorporated in 1816. It is located near the center of Ohio, is about north of Columbus, and is part of the Columbus, Ohio Metropolitan Area...
and Methodists. One verse follows:
If I had a daughter, I'd dress her up in green,
I'd send her on the campus to coach the Freshman team;
And if I had a son, I tell you what he'd do
He would yell "To Hell" with Delaware"
And yell for O. S. U.
In 1895, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Stephen Van Rensselaer established the Rensselaer School on November 5, 1824 with a letter to the Rev. Dr. Samuel Blatchford, in which van Rensselaer asked Blatchford to serve as the first president. Within the letter he set down several orders of business. He appointed Amos Eaton as the school's...
adapted it and called it "A Son of Old R.P.I." This version includes the lyrics:
Like every honest fellow,
I drink my whiskey clear,
I'm a moral wreck from the Polytech
And a hell of an engineer.
Two different sources are claimed to have been the origin for the song's music. The first is the marching tune "The Bonnie Blue Flag
The Bonnie Blue Flag
"The Bonnie Blue Flag", also known as "We Are a Band of Brothers", is an 1861 marching song associated with the Confederate States of America. The words were written by Irish born entertainer Harry McCarthy, with the melody taken from the song "The Irish Jaunting Car"...
", published in 1861 by Harry McCarthy
Harry McCarthy
Harry McCarthy was a songwriter from Ulster, where he became a variety entertainer and comedian in the mid 19th century. In 1861 he wrote the song "The Bonnie Blue Flag," about the unofficial first Confederate flag, using the tune from "The Irish Jaunting Car." The song was extremely popular,...
. The second, and more widely cited, is Charles Ives
Charles Ives
Charles Edward Ives was an American modernist composer. He is one of the first American composers of international renown, though Ives' music was largely ignored during his life, and many of his works went unperformed for many years. Over time, Ives came to be regarded as an "American Original"...
' composition of "Son of a Gambolier" in 1895.
Creation at Georgia Tech
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
. Some sources credit Billy Walthall, a member of the school's first four-year graduating class, with the lyrics. According to a 1954 article in Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
, "Ramblin' Wreck" was written around 1893 by a Tech football player on his way to an Auburn game.
In 1905, Georgia Tech adopted the tune as its official fight song, though it had already been the unofficial fight song for several years. It was published for the first time in the school's first yearbook, the 1908 Blueprint
Blueprint (yearbook)
Blueprint is Georgia Tech's official student yearbook. It was established in 1908 and is the second oldest student organization on campus. Their staff meets Thursday nights at 7 pm in Room 137 of the Student Services Building.-History:...
. Entitled "What causes Whitlock to Blush", words such as "hell" and "helluva" were censored as "certain words [are] too hot to print".
After Michael A. Greenblatt, Tech's first bandmaster
Bandmaster
A bandmaster is the leader and conductor of a band, usually a military band, brass band or a marching band.-British Armed Forces:In the British Armed Forces, a Bandmaster is always a Warrant Officer Class 1 . A commissioned officer who leads a band is known as the Director of Music...
, heard the Georgia Tech band
Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket Marching Band
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket Marching Band is the official marching band of the Georgia Institute of Technology...
playing the song to the tune of Charles Ives's "A Son of a Gambolier", he wrote a modern musical version. In 1911, Frank Roman succeeded Greenblatt as bandmaster; Roman embellished the song with trumpet flourishes and publicized it. Roman copyrighted the song in 1919.
Rise to fame
Arthur Murray
Arthur Murray was a dance instructor and businessman, whose name is most often associated with the dance studio chain that bears his name....
organized the world's first "radio dance" while he attended Tech. A band on campus played "Ramblin' Wreck" and other songs, which were broadcast to a group of about 150 dancers (mostly Tech students) on the roof of the Capital City Club
Capital City Club
The Capital City Club is a private social club located in Atlanta, Georgia. Chartered on May 21, 1883, it is one of the oldest private clubs in the South.-History:...
in downtown Atlanta. Murray also opened the first Arthur Murray Dance Studio while in Atlanta. It was located at the Georgian Terrace Hotel
Georgian Terrace Hotel
The Georgian Terrace Hotel in Midtown Atlanta, part of the Fox Theatre Historic District, was designed by architect William Lee Stoddart in a Beaux-Arts style that was intended to evoke the architecture of Paris. Construction commenced on July 21, 1910, and ended on September 8, 1911, and the hotel...
. In 1925, the Columbia Gramophone Company began selling a recording of Tech songs (including "Ramblin' Wreck"); Tech was one the first colleges in the Southern United States
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
to have its songs recorded. The song became immensely popular and was known nationally because of its extensive radio play. In 1947, the song was performed by The Gordonaires in a Soundie entitled "Let's Sing A College Song".
On October 11, 1953, the Georgia Tech Glee Club
Georgia Tech Glee Club
The Georgia Tech Glee Club is an all-male a capella singing group founded in 1906 at the Georgia Institute of Technology. It is a student-run glee club currently directed by Dr. Jerry Ulrich. The Glee Club sings all original arrangements and compositions arranged by Dr...
sang "Ramblin' Wreck" on Ed Sullivan
Ed Sullivan
Edward Vincent "Ed" Sullivan was an American entertainment writer and television host, best known as the presenter of the TV variety show The Ed Sullivan Show. The show was broadcast from 1948 to 1971 , which made it one of the longest-running variety shows in U.S...
's "Toast of the Town" program (later known as The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
) on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
. The performance reached a television audience of approximately 30 million viewers. Because only 28 seats were available on the train to the show, Glee Club members auditioned for the available spots. The group prepared three songs—"Ramblin' Wreck," There's Nothin' Like a Dame
There Is Nothing Like a Dame
"There is Nothing Like a Dame" is one of the songs from the musical South Pacific. The song was written by Richard Rodgers with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is widely popular in the musical arts, often sung by men's choirs....
, and the alma mater. Sullivan made them sing "heck" and "heckuva" instead of "hell" and "helluva," and would not let them sing "dames." According to The Technique
The Technique
The Technique, also known as the "Nique," is the official student newspaper of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia and has referred to itself as "the South's liveliest college newspaper" since 1945...
, "The club sang 'Dames' at rehearsal and brought down the house, only to have Sullivan give it the axe."
Then-Vice President
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
and Soviet premier
Premier of the Soviet Union
The office of Premier of the Soviet Union was synonymous with head of government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics . Twelve individuals have been premier...
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
sang the song together when they met in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
in 1959 to reduce the tension between them during the Kitchen Debate
Kitchen Debate
The Kitchen Debate was a series of impromptu exchanges between then U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev at the opening of the American National Exhibition at Sokolniki Park in Moscow on July 24, 1959. For the exhibition, an entire house was built that the...
. As the story goes, Nixon did not know any Russian songs, but Khrushchev knew that one American song as it had been sung on the Ed Sullivan show.
"Ramblin' Wreck" has had many other notable moments in history, including being the first school song played in space
Space
Space is the boundless, three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction. Physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless four-dimensional continuum...
. Gregory Peck
Gregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
sang the song while strumming a mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
in the movie The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, by Sloan Wilson, is a 1955 novel about the American search for purpose in a world dominated by business. Tom and Betsy Rath share a struggle to find contentment in their hectic and material culture while several other characters fight essentially the same battle,...
. John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
whistled it in The High and the Mighty
The High and the Mighty (film)
The High and the Mighty is a 1954 American "disaster" film directed by William A. Wellman and written by Ernest K. Gann who also wrote the novel on which his screenplay was based. The film's cast was headlined by John Wayne, who was also the project's co-producer...
. Tim Holt's character sings a few bars of it in the movie His Kind of Woman
His Kind of Woman
His Kind of Woman is a black-and-white 1951 film noir starring Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell. The film features supporting roles by Vincent Price, Raymond Burr, and Charles McGraw...
. Gordon Jones sings a few stanzas several times in the movie My Sister Eileen. There are numerous stories of commanding officers in Higgins boats crossing the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
on the morning of D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
leading their men in the song to calm their nerves.
Modern history
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
to Roman's version in 1931; that company was later acquired by Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
's holding company
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
, MPL Communications
MPL Communications
MPL Communications is the holding company for the business interests of Sir Paul McCartney. In addition to handling McCartney's post-Beatles work, MPL is also one of the world's largest privately owned music publishers through its acquisition of numerous other publishing companies...
in 1976. The copyright to that version expired in 1952, so Greenblatt wrote a new arrangement and applied for a new copyright. In 1953, Greenblatt sold the copyright for the new version to Georgia Tech for one dollar
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
. There was some controversy when MPL Communications acquired the old copyright; a law firm commissioned by Georgia Tech in 1984, Newton, Hopkins & Ormsby, concluded that while there were copyrighted versions of the song, the version used by the school was not copyrighted and falls in the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
.
Over the years, a few variations of the song have been created at Georgia Tech. In 1998, a 19-member "Diversity Task Force" proposed that changes be made to the fight song because it discriminated against women. The proposal was widely and strongly opposed by students and alumni, and it was dropped. At the conclusion of the song there is a call of "Go Jackets!" responded to with "Bust their ass!" Following three of these calls and responses, the song was ended with a call of "Go Jackets! Fight! Win!" Recently, however, the student body has yelled "Fight! Win! Drink! Get Naked!"