Give My Regards to Davy
"Give My Regards to Davy" is Cornell University's primary fight song. The song's lyrics were written by Charles Tourison '1905, W. L. Umstad '1906; and Bill Forbes '1906, a trio of roommates at Beta Theta Pi, and then set to the tune of George M. Cohan's "Give My Regards to Broadway". The song refers to a fictional encounter between an anonymous freshman (a "piker") and David "Davy" Hoy, the registrar and secretary for the commitee on student conduct, and Professor of Languages and the first Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Thomas F. "Tee Fee" Crane revolving around the freshman's expulsion on account of bingedrinking. David Hoy was known for his ferocity as a strict diciplinarian. Professor Crane, on the otherhand, was generally well-liked among students. "Theodore Zink's" was a bar in downtown Itahca that has since closed. It's legend still lives on in the annual event "Zink's Night", which is celebrated worldwide by Cornellians.
Lyrics
The original and best known lyrics:
- Give my regards to Davy,
- Remember me to Tee Fee Crane.
- Tell all the pikers on the hill
- That I'll be back again.
- Tell them just how I busted
- Lapping up the high highball.
- We'll all have drinks at Theodore Zinck's
- When I get back next fall!
Sometime in the 1950's, a second and unofficial version appeared, refering to President Deane Malott's "Social Events Standards" that attempted to ban fraternity parties, to ban women from visting men's off-campus apartments, and to maintain the strict curfews and sign-in/out times for women. This verse is only a modest form of outrage as compared to the protests that were staged (at one, students burned an effigy of Mallott) and the mobs that formed (one marched to President Malott's house demanding his resignation and throwing eggs, rocks, and smoke bombs).
- Give my regards to Ezra
- Remember me to Andy White.
- Tell all the virgins on the hill
- That I'll be back some night.
- Tell them just how I licked it,
- Lappin' up the brew at Jim's.
- We'll all take shots at Deane Malott's
- When I get back again!