Quite Possibly, the Greatest Song Ever Written
by Matt Minarik
I don’t know what gets me more excited, watching the Eagles score a touchdown or what happens afterward. It happens everywhere, in bars, on the street, and even in opposing stadiums, but you can experience it the best at Lincoln Financial Field. You start to hear the boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, then everybody roars Fly Eagles Fly and then the rest of the greatest song ever written is sung by close to 70,000 people in unison. I’m getting the chills just thinking about it. “Fly Eagles Fly,” “The Eagles Fight Song,” “The Eagles Victory Song,” whatever you want to call it, is the song many Eagles fans teach their children even before the “Pledge of Allegiance” or “The Star-Spangled Banner.” I am guilty of that. It’s almost a rite of passage, but it wasn’t always that way.
Fight, Eagles, Fight
In 1956, composers Charles Borrelli and Roger Courtland wrote the original Eagles fight song. It was titled “The Eagles’ Victory Song,” and it didn’t even contain the phrase Fly Eagles Fly. The opening lyrics to the song were Fight Eagles Fight, and the song lasted for almost five minutes. For reasons I don’t know or couldn’t find, the song was not widely used for the next eight years.
Jerry Wolman purchased the Eagles in 1963 and was looking to bring a little excitement to halftime of the Eagles games. Growing up in the Washington D.C. area, Wolman always had fond memories of hearing the awful Redskins fight song, “Hail to the Redskins.” He wanted to bring that to Philadelphia, so he created The Philadelphia Eagles Sound of Brass Band. He appointed Arlen Saylor to lead the band and arrange a different song version. Borelli and Courland still received credit even after the song was slightly altered. Daniel Patrick Sheehan of the Morning Call wrote that the 200-member band featured 60 skirt-clad “Eaglettes” performed drill and dance routines. The song “was a real showpiece,” Saylor said in a 2005 interview. “It was a dynamic piece of music. It became a trademark, a musical signature for the Eagles.” “The Eagles’ Victory Song” was played at halftime of Eagles home games during the remainder of the 1960s, but it never gained a ton of popularity, and the band was disassembled in 1969.
The song fell into obscurity for the next 25+ years.
Philadelphia Eagles fans sing the Eagles fight song “Fly Eagles Fly” during tailgate festivities outside of Lincoln Financial Field before NFC Championship against the Atlanta Falcons in Philadelphia, Pa. on Sunday, Jan. 23, 2005. (Photo by Kirby Lee/Getty Images)
Fly, Eagles, Fly
In 1996, Bobby Mansure created an innovative entertainment concept in the NFL by starting the Eagles Pep Band, an ensemble of four talented strolling musicians that captivate and charm fans with a grassroots musical performing style. Along with fellow pep band member Brian Saunders, “The Eagles’ Victory Song” was re-written and re-born. The latest version changed the intro from Fight, Eagles Fight to Fly, Eagles Fly. The tempo was also slowed down and played in a different key. It was also shortened to 33 seconds and ended with the spelling of the team’s name.
If you have been to an Eagles game, tailgate, or practically any Eagles event, you more than likely have seen them and sang along. To put a name to the jersey number, #04 Bobby Mansure is Frontman and plays Tenor Sax, #03 Brian Saunders plays Lead Saxophone, #02 Bruce Mulford plays Upright Bass, and #01 Anthony “Skull” DiMeo plays Guitar/Banjo. Ok, back to the song.
In 1997 and 1998, The Eagles Pep Band would play at tailgates and during games at Veterans Stadium. They even started the initiative “Learn Your Fight Song,” which invited fans to sing along and learn the latest version of the song.
PHILADELPHIA, PA – SEPTEMBER 23: Philadelphia Eagles fans hold up an EAGLES sign during a game against the Detroit Lions on September 23, 2007 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The won (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images)
The Rise of a Philly Classic
The new and improved fight song did not catch on right away. The Eagles finished 3-13 in 1998 and 5-11 in 1999. It gained a little more interest in 1999 but not enough. There were a few reasons to celebrate. Everything changed at the turn of the century. In their second year, Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb led the Eagles to an 11-5 record and a playoff berth. This was the start of something special not only on the field but blaring out of the speakers.
Tommy Rowan of the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote, in 2014, it was named one of the 10 top NFL fight songs by Billboard. Super-short and instantly memorable, ‘Fly, Eagles, Fly’ works more like a great jingle than a great fight song. There is no other song better in the NFL. I don’t care if I’m biased. Who else has a fight song (not chant) anyway besides us and the Commanders? It does not matter because they all suck anyway. Rant over.
“Fly Eagles Fly” is not only the first set of lyrics in the song but also now a brand. That phrase is on hats, shirts, people get tattoos, and it’s also a greeting between Eagles fans along with ‘Go Birds’. It’s everywhere. With each year that passes, the popularity of the song grows. Fans post videos of their kids singing the song on social media. It’s just another thing that brings Eagles fans together. It started being played as a five-minute song by a brass band then became something that nobody cared to sing and finally ending up being the theme of the most incredible group of fans in the NFL.
Every game myself and my family watch at home, we have the song ready to play, so when the Eagles score a touchdown, we sing the song and go crazy. All my kids know the lyrics. Even my eight-year-old granddaughter learned the lyrics when she was four. If you bleed green, you probably know the words, but if not, now is the best time to learn.
