"Ten Thousand Men of Harvard" is the most-frequently performed of Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

's numerous fight songs

Fight Songs

Fight Songs is the fourth studio album by American alternative country band Old 97's, first released on April 27, 1999. It features the song "Murder ", which was named one of the top songs of all time by Blender magazine....

http://hcs.harvard.edu/~hub/songs/. It was written by A. Putnam, class of 1918. Harvard College freshmen become acquainted with this song early in their college careers, as the Harvard marching band

Marching band

Marching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...

 traditionally marches through Harvard Yard

Harvard Yard

Harvard Yard is a grassy area of about , adjacent to Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that constitutes the oldest part and the center of the campus of Harvard University...

 and performs this song one night early each fall. It is also among the songs performed by the Harvard Glee Club

Harvard Glee Club

The Harvard Glee Club is a 60-voice, all-male choral ensemble at Harvard University. Founded in 1858 in the tradition of English and American glee clubs, it is the oldest collegiate chorus in the US. The Glee Club is part of the Holden Choruses of Harvard University, which also include the...

 at its annual Football Concerts with Yale and Princeton.

The song is the fight song of choice for the Harvard Football team. Each incoming class of players is required to memorize and perform the song to the upperclassmen. The football team sings the song in unison after each win, and following victory in The Game the song is sung on the 50-yard line.

The Harvard University Band

Harvard University Band

The Harvard University Band is the official student marching band of Harvard University. The Harvard Wind Ensemble, the Harvard Summer Pops Band, and the Harvard Jazz Bands also fall under the umbrella organization of HUB....

 generally plays the song after every score by the Harvard football team, after every goal scored by the Harvard men's ice hockey team, as well as at the beginning and end of every period of a Harvard men's ice hockey game.

When the Band plays its extended version of the song, it includes other verses with nonsense sounds and sexual allusions. The "Latin" verse, in fact, is dog Latin

Dog Latin

Dog Latin, Cod Latin, macaronic Latin, or mock Latin refers to the creation of a phrase or jargon in imitation of Latin, often by directly translating English words into Latin without conjugation or declension...

 (a pun), as "illegitimum non carborundum

Illegitimi non carborundum

Illegitimi non carborundum is a mock-Latin aphorism meaning "Don't let the bastards grind you down". -History:...

" loosely means, "don't let the bastards grind you down."

Lyrics

First Verse

Illegitimum Non Carborundum;

Domine salvum fac.

Illegitimum Non Carborundum;

Domine salvum fac.

Gaudeamus igitur!

Veritas non sequitur?

Illegitimum non Carborundum -- ipso facto!

Fourth Verse

Ten thousand men of Harvard

want vict'ry today,

For they know that o'er old Eli

Elihu Yale

Elihu Yale was a Welsh merchant and philanthropist, governor of the East India Company, and a benefactor of the Collegiate School of Connecticut, which in 1718 was named Yale College in his honour.- Life :...

Fair Harvard holds sway.

So then we'll conquer old Eli's men,

And when the game ends, we'll sing again:

Ten thousand men of Harvard

gained vict'ry today!