Sons of Westwood

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Sons of Westwood, also called Bruin Warriors and Big C, is UCLA’s fight song. It uses the tune of Big C, the UC Berkeley fight song written for the construction of Berkeley’s big concrete “C.” The UCLA Bruin Marching Band performs it in the football pregame show as they move into the script UCLA formation. In 2016 the song was updated and renamed Bruin Warriors, with lyrics that now include daughters as well as sons. When sung after a game, the band plays once, then the 8-clap follows. The first two lines are in 3/4 time and the singers sway with their neighbors in a circle-like move; after the line “Fight! Fight! Fight!” the song ends in 4/4 time.

Big C was composed in 1913 by Harold P. Williams with lyrics by Norman Loyall McLaren to honor the Berkeley campus’ large concrete “C.” It won the Daily Californian school song contest in 1913. From the late 1940s to the 1960s, UCLA and Cal hosted a college football doubleheader during All University Weekend. One year, Kelly James, an associate director of the UCLA Band and a Cal Band alumnus, arranged Big C for a halftime show with UCLA, UC Davis, and Cal bands. UCLA adopted James’ arrangement with its own lyrics and renamed it Sons of Westwood. Cal fans argued over ownership, and a long exchange followed. In 1969 UCLA learned from the Copyright Office that Big C had never been copyrighted, so it was in the public domain. When Cal plays Big C, UCLA fans sometimes sing a parody ending, and when UCLA plays Sons of Westwood, Cal uses a short ending tag. The 2009 UCLA Band CD True Blue listed it as “Big C [UCLA Fight Song],” and it was later renamed Bruin Warriors with new lyrics to reflect women in the band since Title IX in 1972.