This is the
alma mater of
Carnegie Mellon University. Almost nobody knows the words because no one ever sings it. The music is played by the Carnegie Mellon
Kiltie Band at the beginning of football games.
Alma Mater
Here where spangled wildernesses
Robed the mountains of the west,
Where the savage strife and stresses
Brought the settlers' crimson quest;
Land of legend, glory, graces,
Gypsy tide and toiling shore,
'Mid thy hilltops, Alma Mater,
Stands enthroned for ever more.
All hail Carnegie, Alma Mater,
Stand enthroned for ever more.
I don't know the author of this song or any of the history behind it. I'd love to hear about it if anyone knows, because it is so strange. All the rest of the
school songs at least seem like they are about Carnegie Mellon, but this one...
First of all, Carnegie Mellon is in
Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. That is in the east/central
United States, and no where near the West. It's also not near any
oceans, so what is a
gypsy tide? As far as being enthroned on a hilltop, Carnegie Mellon is pretty much in a valley.
The most disturbing part of this song, though, is the part about "savage strife and stresses" and the "settlers' crimson quest". Does this sound to any one else like they're praising a bunch of
Colonials who came in and killed all the
Native Americans? Granted,
Fort Pitt was a fairly important location during the
French and Indian War, but Carnegie Mellon wasn't founded until 1900, so I still don't see the connection.