# I'm a Jayhawk

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**I'm a Jayhawk** is the [fight song](/source/Fight_song) of the [University of Kansas](/source/University_of_Kansas).

## History

The original lyrics and music were written by George "Dumpy" Bowles in 1911. The lyrics to the song are generally not sung, instead, fans do a specific clap as the KU band plays the melody. The university bands do not play the intro, but only play the chorus of the song.

The song was updated in 1958 to reflect the teams of the [Big 8 Conference](/source/Big_8_Conference). The lyrics were rewritten again in 2010 to account for the departure of Nebraska and Colorado from the [Big 12 Conference](/source/Big_12_Conference).[1] The school has elected to not rewrite the lyrics following the departure of Texas A&M and Missouri from the league.

## Lyrics

Bowles' original wording of the song is as follows.[2]

Talk about the Sooners, the Cowboys and the Buffs, Talk about the Tiger and his tail, Talk about the Wildcat, and those Cornhuskin’ boys, But I’m the bird to make’em weep and wail, ‘Cause I’m a Jay, Jay, Jay, Jayhawk Up at Lawrence on the Kaw ‘Cause I’m a Jay, Jay, Jay, Jayhawk With a sis-boom hip hoorah. ‘Cause I’m a Jay, Jay, Jay, Jayhawk Up at Lawrence on the Kaw ‘Cause I’m a Jay, Jay, Jay, Jayhawk With a sis-boom hip hoorah, Got a bill that’s big enough to twist the Tiger’s tail, Husk some corn and listen to the Cornhusker’s wail, ‘Cause I’m a Jay, Jay, Jay, Jayhawk Riding on a Kansas Gale!

## External links

- [Birth of the Songs](http://www.ku.edu/about/traditions/songs/) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20141018170617/http://www.ku.edu/about/traditions/songs/) 2014-10-18 at the Wayback Machine
- ["Fight Song Contest Rules"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140810035243/http://www.kualumni.org/pdf/hc_fight_song_rules.pdf). Archived from [the original](http://www.kualumni.org/pdf/hc_fight_song_rules.pdf) on 2014-08-10. Retrieved 2014-08-08.

## References

1. ["Birth of the songs"](https://web.archive.org/web/20141018170617/http://www.ku.edu/about/traditions/songs/). The University of Kansas. Archived from [the original](http://www.ku.edu/about/traditions/songs/) on 2014-10-18. Retrieved 2014-08-08.

1. ["Traditions"](https://kuathletics.com/sports/2024/4/11/traditions.aspx). *kuathletics.com*. Retrieved 2014-10-18.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [I'm a Jayhawk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I'm_a_Jayhawk) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I'm_a_Jayhawk?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.