Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech

This article is about the song. For the automobile and mascot, see Ramblin' Reck.

"Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech"
Mike Greenblatt's 1911 arrangement
Song by Georgia Tech students
Published1908, 1919 (copyrighted)
GenreFight song
Composer(s)Frank Roman, Michael A. Greenblatt, Charles Ives
Lyricist(s)Billy Walthall[1][2]

"(I'm a) Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech" is the fight song of the Georgia Institute of Technology, better known as Georgia Tech. The composition is based on "Son of a Gambolier", composed by Charles Ives in 1895, the lyrics of which are based on an old English and Scottish drinking song of the same name.[3] It first appeared in print in the 1908 Blueprint, Georgia Tech's yearbook. The song was later sung by the Georgia Tech Glee Club on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1953, and by Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev during the 1959 Kitchen Debate.[4][5][6][7]

"Ramblin' Wreck" is played after every Georgia Tech score in a football game, directly after a field goal or safety, and preceded by "Up With the White and Gold" after a touchdown. It is also frequently played during timeouts at the team's basketball games.[4][8][9]

The term "Ramblin' Wreck" has been used to refer to students and alumni of Georgia Tech much longer than the Model A now known as the Ramblin' Wreck has been in existence.[10] The expression has its origins in the late 19th century and was used originally to refer to the makeshift motorized vehicles constructed by Georgia Tech engineers employed in projects in the jungles of South America. Other workers in the area began to refer to these vehicles and the men who drove them as "Rambling Wrecks from Georgia Tech."[10]

  1. ^ "Inventory of the Georgia Tech Songs Collection, 1900-1953". Georgia Tech Archives and Records Management. Archived from the original on September 9, 2017. Retrieved May 15, 2011.
  2. ^ "History". Georgia Tech School of Music. Archived from the original on February 6, 2011. Retrieved May 15, 2011.
  3. ^ "Georgia Tech Traditions". RamblinWreck.com. Georgia Tech Athletic Association. Archived from the original on December 26, 2007. Retrieved February 12, 2007.
  4. ^ a b Edwards, Pat (August 25, 2000). "Fight Songs". The Technique. Archived from the original on November 13, 2004. Retrieved July 29, 2009.
  5. ^ McMath, p.276
  6. ^ Wallace, p.106
  7. ^ "Georgia Tech - Official Student Handbook". Archived from the original on September 3, 2014.
  8. ^ Edwards, Pat (October 2, 1995). "Ramlin's". The Technique. Archived from the original on May 20, 2009. Retrieved June 27, 2007.
  9. ^ Rottmann, David (September 6, 2002). "New NCAA Football raises bar". The Technique. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved June 14, 2007.
  10. ^ a b Shaw, Jody (August 23, 2002). "Music tradition alive today" (PDF). The Technique. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 30, 2009. Retrieved April 30, 2007.