The Eyes of Texas

"The Eyes of Texas" is the school spirit song of the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas at El Paso. It is set to the tune of "I've Been Working on the Railroad." Students, faculty, staff, and alumni of the University sing the song at Longhorn sports games, before the fireworks and other events.

The song was written in 1903 by John Sinclair, editor of the Cactus yearbook and a UT band member, per the request of band member Lewis Johnson. Johnson was also the program director of the Varsity Minstrel Show that raised funds for the university track team. He debuted the song at the minstrel show, also known as a blackface performance. [1]

The lyrics are said to be intended to poke fun at University President Colonel Prather. Prather had attended Washington College, now Washington and Lee University, whose president, Robert E. Lee, would frequently tell his students, "the eyes of the South are upon you." Prather was known for including in his speeches a similar admonition, "The Eyes of Texas are Upon You," meaning that the state of Texas was watching and expecting the students to go out and do great things. Prather enjoyed the song and promoted its usage. He died not long thereafter, and the song was played at his funeral.

An alternate source for the song's inspiration is offered in Hood's Texas Brigade: Lee's Grenadier Guard, a 1970 book by Col. Harold B. Simpson that tracked the history of the vaunted Texas Brigade during the Civil War. The brigade served under General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and fought with distinction in nearly all of the Civil War's pivotal battles. But their finest hour occurred on May 6, 1864 at the Battle of the Wilderness.

General Grant's troops had broken the Confederate line and were driving the fleeing graycoats in disarray back into their reserves. The collapse of Lee's army - and the Confederate cause - seemed imminent when the Texas Brigade arrived with a resounding Rebel yell after an exhausting overnight march.

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