Sons of Westwood

Bruin Warriors, also known as "Sons of Westwood" and "Big C", is a fight song of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The tune comes from Big C, a school fight song for the University of California, Berkeley. The UCLA Bruin Marching Band plays the song as part of their football pregame show as they move into the script UCLA formation. The song has been updated since 2016 with the new title "Bruin Warriors", and lyrics that include "daughters" as well as "sons".^[1]

Lyrics

When sung, usually at the end of a game, the UCLA Band plays the song the first time, followed by the UCLA 8-clap. The first two lines are sung in 3/4 time. The singers wrap arms around their neighbors' shoulders and sway in time to the music, somewhat in the manner of a German Schunkeln. After the "FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!", the song concludes in 4/4 time.

History

"Big C"

"Big C" was composed in 1913 by Harold P. Williams, with lyrics by Norman Loyall McLaren. It was written to commemorate the construction of the large concrete "C" in 1905 on the "rugged Eastern foothills" of the Berkeley campus. The song was the winning entry in the Daily Californian school song competition in 1913.

Adoption by UCLA

From the late 1940s until the 1960s UCLA and Cal alternatively hosted a college football doubleheader game as part of the "All University Weekend". The first game featured UC Davis vs. UCSB. In one of the last "All U Weekends", Kelly James, then Associate Director of the UCLA Marching Band and alumnus of the Cal Band, wrote an arrangement of "Big C" for a halftime show performed by the combined marching bands from UCLA, UC Davis, and Cal.^[2] Afterwards, UCLA continued using James' arrangement of "Big C" as its fight song, adding their own lyrics and renaming it "Sons of Westwood". It was soon adopted as UCLA's fight song.

Controversy

Cal fans, most notably Cal Band director James Berdahl, were enraged over James' theft of their song. A bitter exchange ensued between Berdahl and James for the next several years concerning the legal and ethical grounds for James' adaptation of the song. Finally, on February 18, 1969, UCLA lawyers were told by the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress that "Big C" had never been copyrighted, and therefore was in the public domain.^[2] However, whenever Cal plays UCLA and "Sons of Westwood" is played, Cal fans sing a parody ending, "but damn you, it's 'Big C.'" Likewise, whenever Cal plays "Big C" UCLA plays their signature "tag" at the end, which is a part of "Sons of Westwood" but not "Big C".

On the UCLA Band CD True Blue, in 2009, it was named "Big C [UCLA Fight Song]".

It was again renamed to Bruin Warriors and new lyrics were written, as the song did not reflect the demographic makeup of the band, which has included women since Title IX in 1972.

References

^ UCLA History: Songs UCLA Alumni Association (Retrieved June 2017)
^ ^a ^b "FUN FINAL FOUR FACTS: UCLA BRUINS". ESPN The Magazine. Retrieved May 26, 2012. UCLA's fight song, "Sons of Westwood," was organized by Kelley James to be performed by three marching bands at once: UCLA, UC-Davis, and Cal.

External links

[1] UCLA History: Songs UCLA Alumni Association (Retrieved June 2017)

[fun_facts-2] "FUN FINAL FOUR FACTS: UCLA BRUINS". ESPN The Magazine. Retrieved May 26, 2012. UCLA's fight song, "Sons of Westwood," was organized by Kelley James to be performed by three marching bands at once: UCLA, UC-Davis, and Cal.

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v t e UCLA Bruins football
Venues	Moore Field (1919–1928) Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (1926–1981) Rose Bowl (1982–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games California USC: Victory Bell
Culture & lore	Joe Bruin "Sons of Westwood" "Mighty Bruins" Marching band 1967 "Game of the Century" 1998 Miami game
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	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
National championship seasons in bold

v t e UCLA Bruins men's soccer
Venues	Drake Stadium (1969–2017) Wallis Annenberg Stadium (2018–present)
Rivalries	California UC Santa Barbara
Culture & lore	Joe Bruin "Sons of Westwood" "Mighty Bruins" Longest NCAA Soccer Game
Seasons	1970 1972 1973 1974 1984 1985 1990 1994 1997 1999 2002 2006 2011 2012 2014 2015 2022
National championship seasons in bold; College Cup seasons in italics