University of Tennessee Athletics
USA Today Names 'Rocky Top' #1 Fight Song
October 27, 2015 | Football
USA Today has named Tennessee's 'Rocky Top' as the top fight song in all of college football as part of the outlet's College Football Fan Index.
Here's what USA Today's Alan Siegel had to say about Rocky Top
1. Tennessee, "Rocky Top"
Here's an open secret about "Rocky Top": it's not Tennessee's official fight song*. But that fact doesn't matter to Volunteers fans. The catchy, beloved tune is practically synonymous with their school. *UT's official fight song is "Down the Field."
"Rocky Top" has been played at Tennessee football games since 1972, but before we get there, let's talk about how the song came to be. It sprung from the minds of Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, a husband-and-wife country songwriting duo that penned hits "All I Have to Do Is Dream," "Wake Up Little Susie," "Bye Bye, Love," and "Love Hurts." For a stretch in 1967, the Bryants stayed at the Gatlinburg Inn in Gatlinburg, Tenn., while they worked on a record for Hee Haw star Archie Campbell.
"It was an album about golden memories or something along that line and they thought that was a little depressing and said `let's go a little up tempo on something,'" David Cross, whose aunt and uncle owned the Gatlinburg Inn, told WBIR.com last year. "They sat down and they penned most of `Rocky Top' in about 10 minutes."
