The USC all-male a cappella group Trojan Men brought new meaning to being a Trojan through their music video “Trojans for Life.” The clever ode to USC salutes everything from the university’s Olympic gold medalists to its alumni in Hollywood.

Commissioned by the Ronald Tutor Campus Center, the song was written by Trojan Men member Daniel Weidlein ’12, who began writing the tune by compiling a list of all of the great things about USC.

“We wanted something really simple that was catchy and a clear USC thing,” Weidlein said.

“We were trying to find things to highlight about the school,” he added. “It was really easy to come up with a million athletically related things, but we really wanted to make it as diverse as possible and show off the various facets of what makes USC so great.”

Weidlein worked with Trojan Men President Kevin Rutkowski and USC Spectrum Director Dane Martens to winnow the list of positive attributes of the university, a task that was difficult due to the volume of material.

“The hardest thing was to pare it down and figure out what would be the best things to put in,” Weidlein said. “We had way too many things we wanted to show off in the song.”

https://youtu.be/5a3INbzhp00

The song mentions USC traditions, including the Trojan Marching Band, Traveler, Tirebiter and Tommy Trojan. It invokes the university’s official fight song and the concept of the Trojan Family with the chorus: “Fight on for old ’SC; we are family ’til the end, that’s a guarantee.”

It also includes a heavy dose of humor, with members of the Trojan Men playfully rapping the lyrics: “We’re going crazy up in the Ronald Tutor Campus Center, y’all! So if you’re all really ready to get down and rep for USC, lemme see y’all stand up and fight on!”

Weidlein’s favorite part is in the bridge, right after the second rapping section.

“All of the lyrics on the bridge are based on the five words that are written on the base of Tommy Trojan,” he said. “So if you listen … all of a sudden the language gets a little more elevated and elegant, which I think is pretty cool.”

USC film and television production major Danny Erb shot the video. While it’s hard for him to choose a favorite scene, he really liked the opening and the scene shot during game day.

“It looks great,” he said. “One thing I liked about it is the Trojan Men were very serious about making it the best it could be. There was a lot of excitement and passion with the people working on the project.”

Released in November, the video has been well received by students and celebrities alike. On the day it was released, USC fan Spike Lee and USC alumni LeVar Burton, Matt Leinart and Allyson Felix tweeted about the project.

The song can be heard and downloaded for free at soundcloud.com/thetrojanmen/trojans-for-life

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