Levi fights for fresh fight song

January 9, 2023

Sophomore Levi Shamblen created Milton’s new fight song.

Levi said Enrichment Teacher Ms. Natalie Easton assigned him the song for being “most musically inclined.”

Levi said he started composing the song when he was a freshman. He said the song took about two years and was a lot of trial and error. He was already given the lyrics, so he had to compose a melody from scratch.

“To write the melody, I repeated the lyrics in my head while thinking of what I thought the song would sound like,” said Levi.

According to Levi, the instrumentation of the song could be played on any instrument.

“Any instrument can play the song. It’s a marching band arrangement, so anything from piccolo to tuba and percussion can play it,” said Levi.

Levi said he didn’t take inspiration from other fight songs. He added that he wanted to create his own genuine, original song.

Levi said the fight song is usually played at football games. The band started learning the new fight song during their summer band practices, and they played it all the way through the season, he added.

Previously Milton had a longtime fight song, which was borrowed from a university.

“I thought we needed a new fight song because the one we were using was Wisconsin University’s, and we have been using it for a very long time,” said Levi.

Levi also mentioned that his favorite part of his song is the closing line because the music gets intense and the lyrics bring excitement and hope.

Milton Band Director Mr. Ryan Hewitt said that he has had students attempt to write pieces before, but no one has been as successful as Levi.

Musically, Mr. Hewitt said that the melody was catchy and simple and that it was exactly what is expected from a school fight song. He said that all he had to do was adjust a note or two to make the song fit in with proper music theory rules. He added that he did the arrangement of the accompaniment, harmonies and percussion, but Levi made it very easy, since his melody was so well written.

Mr. Hewitt added that he didn’t witness Levi’s entire process, but he said that Levi was working on the fight song even before he came to work at Milton last February.

“I have composed music myself, and I know just how difficult it can be to come up with a good, original idea, and I’m sure he worked very hard to create something that became as cohesive and catchy as the new Milton fight song,” said Mr. Hewitt.

“I applaud his work, and I look forward to hearing what he comes up with next!” he added.

Levi said that he is also proud of his work.

Milton Fight Song

We are Milton,

There’s no one just like us.

We always work together,

So, you can always trust.

Accepting any challenge,

Get ready to attack.

We are the proud Orange,

We are the fighting Black!

Representing honor,