"Boomer Sooner" is the fight song for the University of Oklahoma. The lyrics were written in 1905 by Arthur M. Alden, an OU student and son of a local jeweler in Norman. The tune is taken from "Boola Boola", the fight song of Yale University. A year later, an additional section was appended, borrowed from the University of North Carolina's "I'm a Tar Heel Born".
Origin of the lyrics
The phrase "Boomer Sooner" refers to the Land Run of 1889, in which the land around the modern university was settled. Boomers were people who campaigned for the lands to be opened before passage of the Indian Appropriations Act of 1889. Sooners were land thieves who settled before the lands were officially opened, giving them an unfair advantage on finding, fencing, and claiming farm land. If the charge of early entry was proven, they would lose their claimed land. Though it could also be argued that because Indian lands were taken without permission from the natives on those lands, both boomers and sooners were technically land thieves.
Uses
The OU marching band plays the fight song when the team takes the field and when the team scores a touchdown, a field goal, makes a big play, or makes a play in general. They also play it along with other fight songs while the Oklahoma defense is on the field to encourage the crowd to get loud. Some fans have informally counted it being played between 70 and 90 times a game. ESPN writer Doug Ward has called the combined effect of "Boomer Sooner" and OU's horse-drawn Sooner Schooner wagon "as potent a one-two fight song/mascot punch as you'll find in college football."
On October 15, 1983 the University of Oklahoma football team visited Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The Sooner squad played poorly at first, and within 10 minutes Oklahoma State was winning by a score of 20-3. A policeman escorted Gene Thrailkill, the Oklahoma band director, off the field for not having a sideline pass. Before he was forced to leave, Thrailkill shouted to the band members, "I want you to start playing and don't stop 'til the team's ahead!" The band complied, and played "Boomer Sooner" non-stop roughly 300 times. The team responded by scoring 15 unanswered points against Oklahoma State. After an OSU fumble with 1:17 left in the game, Oklahoma scored a field goal to win 21-20. OU coach Barry Switzer awarded the game ball to the band for the non-stop effort and labeled it "The Day The Pride Won".
Professional wrestling announcer and Oklahoma native Jim Ross uses the fight song as his entrance theme. He also often uses the phrase "Boomer Sooner" to signify a good moment. In recent years, "Boomer Sooner" has been adopted as a chant at Sooner football and basketball games. One side of Owen Field or the Lloyd Noble Center chants "Boomer!" with the other side chanting "Sooner!" The chant has frequently been heard at recent Heisman Trophy presentations, led by 1978 Heisman winnerBilly Sims. The tune of the song is also used for Albania's popular national song, "Shqipëri, atdhe i dashur!", also known as the Alphabet Hymn. The tune was borrowed by Parashqevi Qiriazi, who penned patriotic lyrics to fit it, after the historic Congress of Manastir which decided the Albanian alphabet.
