"Hail State" is the fight song and rally cry of Mississippi State University. The words and music were written by Joseph Burleson Peavey in 1939. The title of the song was adopted as the official domain name for Mississippi State athletics and for all social media platforms of the athletic department in 2014.[1]
Rally Cry edit
Hail State, as the rally cry[2] of the athletic program at Mississippi State, began to rise in popularity around 2010. With the rise in prominence of the football team under Coach Dan Mullen and a major marketing push from the Athletic Department, the phrase began making its way into the everyday lexicon of the Mississippi State fan base.
Social media edit
Hail State became the official hashtag of Mississippi State Athletics and Academics around the 2010 football season. It has trended[3] nationally and internationally at different momentous moments in the recent athletic history of the university.
Mississippi State was the first university to paint a hashtag (#hailstate) onto a playing surface.[4] The football program painted #hailstate in the north end zone at Davis-Wade Stadium. This act and future hashtags was later banned by the NCAA for all institutions.[5]
Use in football games edit
Hail State is played by the Famous Maroon Band at the start of each home game and after each time the team scores. There are several abbreviated versions that are played as stand tunes or in combination with the full theme.
Lyrics edit
Hail dear ol' State! Fight for that victory today. Hit that line and tote that ball, Cross the goal before you fall! And then we'll yell, yell, yell, yell! For dear ol' State we'll yell like H-E-L-L! Fight for Mis-sis-sip-pi State, Win that game today!
Alternate last line edit
Many Mississippi State fans replace the last line "Win the game today!" with "Go to hell Ole Miss!", a tongue-in-cheek jab at their rivals. Fans have also been known to shout this at the end of the U.S. National Anthem, regardless of the game, sport or team playing.
References edit
- ^ "Social Media Headquarters". Hailstate.com. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
- ^ Nash, Virginia. "True Maroon". True Maroon. msstate.edu. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
- ^ Ryan Montalbano [@ryan_montalbano] (June 18, 2013). "@stricklinMSU #WesRea #hailstate #MississippiState are all trending on twitter nationally..I think that calls for another #hailstate" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Laird, Sam (23 November 2011). "First Football Endzone Hashtag Touches Down In Mississippi". Mashable. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
- ^ Stevens, Matt. "NCAA Bans #HailState". The Dispatch. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
External links edit
- Song recording
- Lyrics: "Hail State." 8/10/06. Hail State Lyrics. Mississippi State University. Retrieved on March 5, 2008.