Ode to Williams

Music

The Ode to Williams now has a tune. Pick it out on the piano and try singing it, if you like. You will note that the tune of the last line quotes from The Mountains. <lilypond> {\partial 2 g4 g c c c d e c c c b b b c d2 g,4 g b b b c d g, g g c c c d e2 e4 e f f f f a, a f' f e c c c d2. c4 b b b c d g, g g c c c d e2 e4 e f f f f a, a e' e c c d e f2. f4 e e d d c g g g e' e d d c2.} \addlyrics { Here I am, I go to Will -- iams, land of moun -- tains fields and trees, Where the smog and smoke of ci -- ties ne -- ver in -- ter -- rupts the breeze; Where our u -- ni -- forms are pur -- ple and we proud -- ly sport the cow; Where for dis -- cus -- sions nine -- teen is the most that they al -- low; Where my lec -- ture class is fif -- ty; my pro -- fes -- sor knows my name--- And ev -- ery -- one I meet seems gen -- u -- ine -- ly glad they came. } </lilypond>

Lyrics

The Ode to Williams started out as just a poem. Here it is, though it is now somewhat redundant to the above.

Here I am -- I go to Williams: land of mountains, fields, and trees,

Where the smog and smoke of cities never interrupts the breeze;

Where our uniforms are purple and we proudly sport the cow;

Where for discussions, nineteen is the most that they allow;

Where my lecture class is fifty; my professor knows my name,

And everyone I meet seems genuinely glad they came.

Williams -- I go to Williams!

I go to Williams!

Apparently, numerous members of the Williams community have taken it upon themselves to learn this catchy bit of verse.

About

The Ode to Williams is a subset of the Ode to Harvard by Diana Davis '07, written in her freshman fall of 2003. There is a .wav version of this ode being performed here.