Writing A New Verse For The Lyrics To ‘The Nittany Lion’

Before every Penn State home football game, the Blue Band takes to the field to perform their signature “Floating LIONS” drill. This impressive performance is accompanied by the playing of one of the school’s original songs, “ The Nittany Lion .”

Last week, I wrote a column arguing that more people should be singing along to the Penn State fight song, “Fight On, State,” following a touchdown. I think I’d be pushing my luck if I asked people to sing this song too, which many people may not know has lyrics.

Yep, you heard that right. “The Nittany Lion” has lyrics of its own, and to put it nicely, the lyrics are quite antiquated. Take a look at the current lyrics below:

[Verse 1]
Every college has a legend
Passed on from year to year
To which they pledge allegiance
And always cherish dear
But of all the honored idols
There’s but one that stands the test
It’s the stately Nittany Lion
The symbol of our best

[Chorus]
Hail to the Lion
Loyal and true
Hail, Alma Mater
With your White and Blue
Penn State forever
Molder of men (and women)
Fight for her honor
And victory again

[Verse 2]
Indiana has its Hoosiers
Purdue, its gold and black
The Wildcats from Northwestern
And Spartans on attack
Ohio State has its Buckeyes
Up north, the Wolverines
But the mighty Nittany Lions
The best they’ve ever seen

[Chorus]
Hail to the Lion
Loyal and true
Hail, Alma Mater
With your White and Blue
Penn State forever
Molder of men (and women)
Fight for her honor
And victory again

[Verse 3]
There’s Pittsburgh with its Panther
And Penn her Red and Blue
Dartmouth with its Indian
And Yale her Bulldog, too
There’s Princeton with its Tiger
And Cornell with its Bear
But speaking now of victory
We’ll get the Lion’s share

[Chorus]
Hail to the Lion
Loyal and true
Hail, Alma Mater
With your White and Blue
Penn State forever
Molder of men (and women)
Fight for her honor
And victory again

These original lyrics were written by Penn Stater James Leyden between 1922 and 1924. After fine-tuning help from Blue Band Bandmaster Tommy Thompson and Professor Hummel Fishburn, the song debuted and became instantly popular.

The second verse of the song was used primarily before 1993 when Penn State was still an independent school, but when the school joined the Big Ten, it was updated with a new verse of Big Ten schools.

Looking through the lyrics, you may notice that some lines of the song are greatly outdated. As Penn State and the Big Ten enter a new era, we figured it was time to take a look at these lyrics and give them another update.

Because most of the song is pretty good, Onward State’s version is pretty similar. However, we did make some important changes. Here’s what we came up with:

[Verse 1]
Every college has a legend
Passed on from year to year
To which they pledge allegiance
And always cherish dear
But of all the honored idols
There’s but one that stands the test
It’s the stately Nittany Lion
The symbol of our best

[Chorus]
Hail to the Lion
Loyal and true
Hail, Alma Mater
With your White and Blue
Penn State forever
Her glory we’ll defend
Fight for her honor
And victory again

[Verse 2]
Indiana has its Hoosiers
Purdue, its gold and black
The Wildcats from Northwestern
And Spartans on attack
Ohio State has its Buckeyes
Up north, the Wolverines
But the mighty Nittany Lions
The best they’ve ever seen

[Chorus]
Hail to the Lion
Loyal and true
Hail, Alma Mater
With your White and Blue
Penn State forever
Her glory we’ll defend
Fight for her honor
And victory again

[Verse 3]
There’s Washington’s ol’ Huskies
And Rutger’s Scarlet Knights
Los Angeles has its Bruins
And Trojans to the Right
Just south there is a Turtle
Northwest, the Ducks wear Green
From Atlantic to Pacific
The Lion will Succeed!

[Chorus]
Hail to the Lion
Loyal and true
Hail, Alma Mater
With your White and Blue
Penn State forever
Her glory we’ll defend
Fight for her honor
And victory again