Ramblin' Wreck
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The Ramblin' Wreck is a famous tradition and fight song of Georgia Tech.
[edit] Lyrics
I'm a Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech and a hell of an engineer,
A helluva, helluva, helluva, helluva, hell of an engineer,
Like all the jolly good fellows, I drink my whiskey clear,
I'm a Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech and a hell of an engineer.
Oh, if I had a daughter, sir, I'd dress her in White and Gold,
And put her on the campus, to cheer the brave and bold.
But if I had a son, sir, I'll tell you what he'd do.
He would yell, "To Hell with Georgia," like his daddy used to do.
Oh, I wish I had a barrel of rum and sugar three thousand pounds,
A college bell to put it in and a clapper to stir it around.
I'd drink to all good fellows who come from far and near.
I'm a ramblin', gamblin', hell of an engineer.
[edit] Behind the Fight Song
I'm a Ramblin' Wreck was adapted from an old drinking song called Sons of the Gamboliers and first appeared in print in the 1908 edition of the Blueprint, Georgia Tech's yearbook. The song was subsequently scored by Frank Roman. Roman's version, marked by its trumpet flourishes, has arguably become one of the most recognizable school songs in the world.
Then-Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev sang the song together when they met in Moscow in 1958 to reduce the tension between them. As the story goes, Nixon didn't know any Russian songs, but Khrushchev knew that one American one as it had been sung on the Ed Sullivan show.
I'm a Ramblin' Wreck has had many other notable moments in its history, including being the third school song played in space. Gregory Peck sang the song while strumming a ukulele in the movie The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit. John Wayne whistled it in The High and the Mighty. There are numerous stories of commanding officers in Higgins boats crossing the English Channel on the morning of D-Day leading their men in the song to calm their nerves.
The Edwin H. Morris & Company, which was later acquired by Paul McCartney's company, MPL Communications, obtained a copyright to Roman's version in 1931. A law firm commissioned by Georgia Tech in 1984 concluded that, while there were copyrighted versions of the song, the version used by the school was not copyrighted. This opinion has not been legally challenged.
