Far above the golden valley
Glorious to view.
Stands our noble Alma Mater
Towering toward the blue.
Lift the chorus ever onward,
Crimson and the blue.
Hail to thee our alma Mater,
Hail to old K. U.
Far above the distant humming
Of the busy town.
Reared against the dome of heaven,
Looks she proudly down.
Lift the chorus ever onward,
Crimson and the blue.
Hail to thee our alma Mater,
Hail to old K. U.
Greet we then our foster mother,
Noble friend so true,
We will ever sing her praises,
Hail to old K. U.
Lift the chorus ever onward,
Crimson and the blue.
Hail to thee our alma Mater,
Hail to old K. U.
In 1891, there was no school song for Professor George Barlow Penny's Glee and Mandolin Club to sing on its tour through Kansas to Denver and back. No one responded with an original song in answer to his appeals. Just before departure he thought of the Cornell song "Far Above Cayuga's Waters." Hastily changing a few words he gave it to the glee men to sing on the trip. He did not intend for it to be used after his return, but it remained and became the official Alma Mater of The University. The music is not Cornell's but an old English folk tune, "Annie Lisle."
from The Songs of Old KU