“The Eyes of Texas” was written by University of Texas students Lewis Johnson (music) and John L. Sinclair (lyrics) in 1903 as the university’s official alma mater. It first debuted at an annual campus minstrel show on May 12, 1903, where it was instantly a hit among the students and University President in attendance. It would later become the school’s unofficial fight song, sang at the Texas Longhorn football games.
The essence of a song is based on the catchphrase of then UT President William Prather, who would often say to his students, “the eyes of Texas are upon you.” The origins of this phrase date back to the Civil War, which ended less than four decades before the song’s creation. In the “battle of the Wilderness,” the Texas brigade was losing to Union forces when Confederate General Robert E. Lee spoke to commanding officer Maxcy Gregg, telling his brigade to charge at the enemy. Gregg then gave a command to his soldiers referencing Lee’s words. While there are several different accounts of what exactly Gregg said to his soldiers, President Prather’s recounting of the event goes as follows: “General Gregg gave the command: ‘Attention, Texas brigade! Forward! The eyes of General Lee are upon you!’.” In his inaugural speech as University President, Prather followed the General Gregg story by saying “Forward, young men and women of the University, the eyes of Texas are upon you!”
Johnson and Sinclair’s song features both the melody and some borrowed lyrics from “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad,” also known as the “Levee Song” (the earliest known version of the song). The “Levee Song” dates back to around the mid 19th century and is about the use of African American slave labor used to build levees and railroads across the South. It was a song performed at many minstrel shows, including those organized at the UT, and features a mocking use of African American slang as well as racial slurs. It’s believed that Johnson and Sinclair used the melody of this song because of how well known it was known by the university students.
UT’s fight song isn’t the only version of “The Eyes of Texas.” It was also recorded by the group, Milton Brown and His Musical Brownies, in 1936. Unlike the university’s tune, Milton Brown’s version isn’t written like a march. Instead, it’s written as a Western Swing song, a fairly new genre at the time, and it featured a piano, a banjo, fiddles, a bass, and a steel guitar. Milton Brown is actually credited alongside Texas legend, Bob Willis, as a founding father of Western Swing. Both musicians were originally part of the music group called the Light Crust Doughboys before leaving to work on their own creative projects. Brown started a group with his ‘Musical Brownies’ and Bob Wills created a group with his own ‘Texas Playboys’ (called Bob Willis and His Texas Playboys). The genre of Western Swing is a type of dance that oftentimes has a fast/upbeat tempo meant to get people up and dance. This is certainly the case with Brown’s “Eyes of Texas.”
While Milton Brown’s version might feel like a fun dance tune that you can move around to, the song itself has historical ties to the Confederacy and minstrel shows. Consequently, it’s clear that “The Eyes of Texas” is associated with the Anglo subclass of Texan culture. Texan Anglos, and many other southern white Americans, were those responsible for the enslavement and oppression of African Americans. Even after slavery was abolished, racism lived on (minstrel shows being an example of such). While “The Eyes of Texas” doesn’t overtly celebrate this aspect of history, it feels as though its undertones subtly preserve the racism that has existed and continues to exist in the United States.
Lyrics
The Eyes of Texas are upon you,
All the livelong day.
The Eyes of Texas are upon you,
You cannot get away.
Do not think you can escape them
At night or early in the morn’?
The Eyes of Texas are upon you
Til Gabriel blows his horn.
Works Cited
Martinez, Alberto A. “True Origins of ‘the Eyes of Texas’.” Medium, Medium, 7 July 2021, almartinezut.medium.com/true-origins-of-the-eyes-of-texas-3f2188569f0e.
Levin, Joe. “The Damning History behind UT’s ‘The Eyes of Texas’ Song.” Texas Monthly, 17 June 2020, www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/ut-austin-eyes-of-texas-song-racist/.
“8 Thoughts on ‘Ask Mr. Mudd: ‘Levee Song’ and Princeton’s Minstrel Shows.’” Princeton University, The Trustees of Princeton University, blogs.princeton.edu/mudd/2017/01/ask-mr-mudd-levee-song-and-princetons-minstrel-shows/.
Mecke, Sarah. “Milton Brown, Bob Wills, and the Fort Worth Origins of One of Texas’ Most Beloved Musical Styles: Record Town in Forth Worth, TX: Vinyl, Cds, Cassettes, 45s, 78s.” RECORD TOWN, RECORD TOWN, 3 Oct. 2019, https://www.recordtowntx.com/news/2019/10/3/ld5lyi8j0ajpcoepae6w8e7som2zxw.
