"Big C" is a fight song of the University of California, Berkeley. It 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. Arrangements of the tune are used by other schools in the University of California system.

Controversy

California's version of "Big C"

UC Davis' version of "Big C"

UCLA's version of "Big C"

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.^[when?] 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.

Many Cal fans, most notably Cal Band director James Berdahl, were enraged over what they saw as Kelly 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 was therefore in the public domain. 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".

Other schools in the University of California system that play the song as one of their official fight songs include University of California, Riverside, University of California, Santa Barbara, University of California, Irvine, and UC Davis. UC Santa Barbara's song mentions that "Cal Poly's men will soon be routed, and their green will turn to red", UC Davis plays a version of the song that mentions Sacramento State, its own rival, saying, "Sac State Sucks! and will be routed." and "We'll stomp them in the mud and their green will turn to blood." Many high schools in California also use one of the arrangements of the tune, including Vacaville High School, Concord High School, Napa High School, Independence High School, Pittsburg High School in Pittsburg, San Ramon Valley High School in Danville, De La Salle High School in Concord, Poway High School in Poway, River City High School in West Sacramento, Moorpark High School in Moorpark, Benicia High School in Benicia, Gonzales High School in Gonzales, California and Orange High School.

Lyrics

On the rugged eastern foothills
Stands our symbol clear and bold
Big C means to fight and strive
And win for Blue and Gold
Golden Bear is ever watching
Day by day he prowls
And when he hears the tread
Of lowly Stanford red
From his lair he fiercely growls

Grr-ah! Grr-ah! Grr-rr-rr-ah!

We are sons of California
Fighting for the Gold and Blue
Palms of glory we will win
For Alma Mater true
Stanford's men will soon be routed
By our dazzling "C"
And when we serpentine
Their red will turn to green
In our hour of victory!

Recordings

The song has been recorded by the Loftner-Harris St. Francis Hotel Orchestra in October 1931 and also recorded on several albums by the Cal Band, including Big C (1976), California, Here's to Thee (1991), and University of California Band (2003).

External links

California Golden Bears

California Golden Bears
Teams	Baseball Basketball Men's Women's Football Rugby Soccer (Men's) Softball Volleyball (Women's)
Venues	California Memorial Stadium Haas Pavilion Evans Diamond Levine-Fricke Field Edwards Stadium
Symbols/Lore	The Big "C" Oski The Bench The Stanford Axe Big Game The Play Tightwad Hill
Songs	Fight for California Big C Sons of California All Hail Blue and Gold Hail to California Stanford Jonah California Indian Song California Drinking Song

California Golden Bears football

California Golden Bears football
Venues	California Field (1904–1923) California Memorial Stadium (1923–2010, 2012–present) Oracle Park (2011)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Stanford: Big Game (Stanford Axe) UCLA
Culture & lore	Oski "Fight for California" "Big C" History Marching band Tightwad Hill The Play
People	Head coaches Starting quarterbacks NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906–1914 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
National championship seasons in bold

California Golden Bears men's basketball

California Golden Bears men's basketball
Venues	Original Harmon Gym (1907–1933) Oakland Civic Auditorium (alternate, 1914–1933) Oakland Coliseum-Arena (1997–1999) Haas Pavilion (1933–1997, 1999–present)
Culture & lore	The Bench Oski "Fight for California" "Big C"
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1907–08 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
Premo-Poretta national championship in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics; NCAA championship in bolded italics

California Golden Bears women's basketball

California Golden Bears women's basketball
Venues	Oakland Arena (1997–1999) Haas Pavilion (1973–1997, 1999–present)
Culture & lore	History Oski "Fight for California "Big C"
People	Head coaches
Seasons	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 appearance in italics

Official fight songs of the Pac-12 Conference

Bear Down, Arizona and Fight! Wildcats! Fight! (Arizona)
Maroon & Gold (Arizona State)
Fight for California (California)
CU Fight Song (Colorado)
Mighty Oregon (Oregon)
Hail to Old OSU (Oregon State)
Come Join the Band (Stanford)
Sons of Westwood (UCLA)
Fight On (Southern California)
Utah Man (Utah)
Bow Down to Washington (Washington)
WSU Fight Song (Washington State)

Controversy

Lyrics

Recordings

See also

External links