THE AGGIE WAR HYMN  (listen and learn the lyrics – you may sing them at Aggie Mom meetings, at football games and anytime you feel the urge….)

It was written by J.V. “Pinky” Wilson, one of many Aggies who fought in World War I. Wilson combined several Aggie yells then in use at the time into a song called “Good-bye to Texas University.” It was sung frequently by a quartet Wilson organized after returning to Texas A&M after the war.

One night in 1920, several of the Aggie Yell Leaders heard Wilson’s quartet singing the song, and asked him to let them submit it in a contest for a new fight song to be held that fall (after Wilson graduated). Wilson agreed, and the song, considerably jazzed up, was officially adopted that fall under its current title.

In 1997, the song was rated as the No. 1 college fight song by USA Today. It was also used by NASA Flight Director Terry Griffin to wake up astronauts in space from 1983 to 1995.[1]

The song is noted for beginning with Recall, an old bugle call, in two different keys. These are the keys of the bugles in use by the US Army during WWI, the M1894 Field Trumpet in B-flat (aka, the “Trench Bugle”) and the M1896 Field Trumpet in G, which is the “bugle” still in use today. This is a nod to Texas A&M’s past as a military school. Indeed, for many years, the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band’s halftime show has begun with the drum major shouting “Recall! Step off on ‘Hullabaloo!'”

After the second verse, everyone links arms and legs and sways left and right to replicate the motion of a saw blade. This is called “sawing Varsity’s horns off.” When this happens during football games at Kyle Field, this causes the entire west upper deck, including the press box, to sway. This often unnerves sportswriters who haven’t covered an Aggie game before. [2][3]

The song was also used as a wakeup call on Day 11 of space mission STS-121 for Texas A&M former student and mission specialist Mike Fossum.