{"id":2873,"date":"2016-11-17T20:24:31","date_gmt":"2016-11-17T20:24:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/?p=2873"},"modified":"2016-11-17T20:27:20","modified_gmt":"2016-11-17T20:27:20","slug":"old-wabash-the-history-of-a-school-and-its-song","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/2016\/11\/17\/old-wabash-the-history-of-a-school-and-its-song\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cOld Wabash\u201d: History of a school and its song"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Dr.<\/a>
Dr. Richard Bowen leads the Wabash College Glee Club in singing an early version of “Old Wabash.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cFrom the hills of Maine to the Western plain, or where the cotton is blowing;
\nfrom the gloomy shade of the northern pine, to the light of the southern seas\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

And so it goes.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a tune that can flow out of the mouths of students and alumni without hesitation. But, interestingly enough, that familiar tune is not the original.<\/p>\n

Dr. Richard Bowen, Glee Club Director and Assistant Professor of Music, did some research over the past several weeks and, with the help of the Wabash College Glee Club, shared some of the song\u2019s secrets at his Chapel Talk on Thursday, \u201cWill the Real \u2018Old Wabash\u2019 Please Stand Up: Reflections and Revelations Regarding Wabash\u2019s Favorite Song.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bowen said that when he announced his Chapel Talk title to the Glee Club, he was not prepared for their reaction, which was, \u201cWow! We didn\u2019t know you were so hip Dr. Bowen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cReally? I\u2019m hip?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, you lifted your title from Eminem,\u201d they responded.<\/p>\n

Bowen shared that he had no idea what they were talking about, and just like that, he wasn\u2019t so hip.<\/p>\n

But unlike \u201cSlim Shady,\u201d there aren\u2019t necessarily imitations of our current \u201cOld Wabash.\u201d There is one version written sometime in 1896 that is very different from today\u2019s, which was written around 1900, yet this one was also titled \u201cOld Wabash.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 1896 version has no known author, but, Bowen asked, \u201cIs this the real \u2018Old Wabash?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch a claim, however, fails on two accounts,\u201d Bowen explained. \u201cIt did not capture enough attention to ensure widespread performance, and it was not designated as the official song.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Bowen<\/a>
Bowen and the Glee Club sing today’s version of “Old Wabash.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That designation went to Carroll Ragan and Edwin Meade Robinson\u2019s version, which is similar to the song that is sung today. But not exactly.<\/p>\n

Ragan originally composed the music to be a played as a concert band march for former Wabash President William Patterson Kane\u2019s inauguration in 1900. But then the school offered $50 (which was a lot back then) to whomever could write a new school song. So Ragan gave the music to Robinson, who wrote the lyrics to \u201cOld Wabash.\u201d<\/p>\n

Generally, words come first in songwriting. And if they don\u2019t, normally the composer knows the music will be partnered with vocals. Since this was not the case, Robinson had a difficult time finding a proper flow for the lyrics. Despite later admitting parts of the song were rough and awkward, it must\u2019ve impressed Wabash because his words live on.<\/p>\n

\u201cOld Wabash\u201d was originally composed in the key of E flat, which gave it a range similar to the \u201cStar-Spangled Banner.\u201d It also had a two-step style to it because of the march it was originally composed to be.<\/p>\n

Because of its difficulty, the song\u2019s key was lowered in 1915 and the style was changed to swing. In 1970, a tenor descant was added, while revisions to the piano accompaniment were made in recent years.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Old Wabash\u2019 continues to evolve,\u201d Bowen said. \u201cDoes \u2018Old Wabash\u2019 sound the same today as it did in 1900? Certainly not. In the future year of 2082, will \u2018Old Wabash\u2019 sound exactly the same as it does today? I kind of doubt it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs \u2018Old Wabash\u2019 a better song today than it was 116 years ago?\u201d Bowen asked. \u201cMy answer is a resounding yes. \u2018Old Wabash\u2019 remains today a vibrant, relevant, almost-living organism that continues to occupy a vital place in the larger life of Wabash College. If it had not changed, I wonder if we would still be singing it?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cFrom the hills of Maine to the Western plain, or where the cotton is blowing; from the gloomy shade of the northern pine, to the light of the southern seas\u2026\u201d And so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"w_featured_image_url":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/Old-Wabash-1024x552.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2873"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2881,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2873\/revisions\/2881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}