Be True to Your School

"Be True to Your School"
Single by The Beach Boys
from the album Little Deuce Coupe
Released	October 28, 1963
Format	Vinyl
Recorded	September 1963 (album) September 2, 1963 (single)
Genre	Surf rock
Length	2:09
Label	Capitol
Writer(s)	Brian Wilson and Mike Love
Producer	Brian Wilson
The Beach Boys singles chronology
"Surfer Girl"/"Little Deuce Coupe" (1963) "Be True to Your School"/"In My Room" (1963) "Little Saint Nick"/"The Lord's Prayer" (1963)

"Be True to Your School" is a song by The Beach Boys. The album version of this song was recorded on Monday, September 2, 1963. It appears on Little Deuce Coupe and Endless Summer.

The song features the University of Wisconsin's fight song "On Wisconsin." However, it's most likely a tribute to Hawthorne High School, whose school fight song uses the same melody as "On Wisconsin," as briefly explained by Al Jardine in the documentary The Beach Boys: An American Band. (1984) The Wilson brothers and Beach Boy Al Jardine attended that school.

The song was written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love (as established by Love's lawsuit gaining rights to several co-written songs of the 1960s), and was first recorded on Session 1 of the recording of their 1963 album Little Deuce Coupe.

The Beach Boys recorded two studio versions of this song. The original recording, which appeared on the album, was in a higher key and at a slower tempo than the second version which was released as a single. The second version features The Honeys chanting various "cheerleader yells" before the first chorus, and after the second and third. The concept for the single version, recorded later that week, was born in the same studio session that Brian and Mike created the original idea for "Fun, Fun, Fun", backstage in Farmington, Utah.

The single version was backed with "In My Room", a collaboration between Brian and Gary Usher, released as Capitol 5069 and charting at number 6 in Billboard, number 4 in the UPI chart survey for newspapers across the United States. It rated number 3 in New Zealand's Lever Hit Parade, number 6 in Sweden, and number 10 in Australia as cited by a contemporary issue of Billboard. Rising to popularity when the Beach Boys were still thought of as a Southern California phenomenon, it did best in Los Angeles: three weeks at #1 (KFWB).

Though David Marks was later to appear on the cover of the album Little Deuce Coupe, he played little part, being replaced by Al Jardine. This album was shortly shipped off to disc jockeys in the United States, coupled with a list of automobile-related terms to get them familiar with the language used on the songs, such as "Shut Down" and "Little Deuce Coupe".

The song is featured in an episode of Gilmore Girls, where the town troubadour (portrayed by Grant-Lee Phillips) is playing it during a pep rally.

This song is parodied by heavy metal band Twisted Sister in their song, called Be Crool To Your Scuel.