‘Fly Eagles Fly’: Lyrics, meaning and origin of the Philadelphia Eagles’ chant

The Eagles’ chant melody dates back to the late 1950s but faded from popularity until it was resurrected and rearranged at the end of the millennium.

Update: Feb 12th, 2023 12:02 EST

STEPH CHAMBERSAFP

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Anyone who has been to Philly will be familiar with the Eagles’ triumphant chant, Fly Eagles Fly. The song gets played often enough - it is played after every home touchdown at Lincoln Financial Field as well as in the pre-game build-up, just before the national anthem. It is also played in Philadelphia International Airport during the NFL season once every hour.

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Fly Eagles Fly origins

Charles Borrelli and Roger Courtland wrote the sheet music and lyrics to the original song, which was entitled The Eagles’ Victory Song in the late 1950s. The original lyrics included the line, Fight, Eagles fight. The Philadelphia Eagles Sound of Brass, a 200-strong marching band would perform the song before games when the Eagles were based at Franklin Field in the early 1960s. But there was a lot of upheaval which caused major changes - Jerry Wolman bought a controlling stake in the Eagles franchise from the previous owners, the ‘Happy Hundred’ investment group, in December 1963.

Out on the field of play, things were not running smoothly either. In Joe Kuharich’s first two seasons in charge, the Eagles finished 6-8 and 5-9, failing to make it to the playoffs at all during the decade. The Sound of Brass marching band also left, and with it, the Eagles’ chant.

It resurfaced in 1996 when Bobby Mansure formed the Eagles Pep Band, a four-piece combo (lead and tenor sax, guitar, bass) and approached the franchise with a proposal of performing a revised version of Borrelli and Courtland’s song. The lyrics were slightly amended with the line Fight Eagles, Fight changed to Fly Eagles, Fly and the song was given a completely new arrangement and whittled down from the original five minutes to 35 seconds.

“I approached the Eagles in the summer of ‘96 with the idea of having a small, informal band to infiltrate tailgates, to talk to them, engage with them. Shockingly, they accepted!” Mansure told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “Now, we’re an institution with the Philadelphia Eagles. It’s been great.”

It was first performed by Mansure’s band (Bruce Mulford - bass, Brian Saunders - alto sax and Tony “Skull” Dimeo - banjo) in the parking lot outside the franchise’s then-home, Veterans Stadium before every Eagles home game. It soon caught on with the fans and within a couple of years was recognised as the Eagles official chant which they took with them when they moved to The Linc in 2003.