“I’m a Ramblin’ Wreck from Georgia Tech” is the official fight song of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech for short). You probably knew that already, but you might not know that:
- Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev sang the song together during a summit in Moscow back in 1958. Nixon suggested singing a song to ease the tension in the room. Khrushchev had heard “I’m a Ramblin’ Wreck” on an Ed Sullivan sing-a-long during a previous trip to the United States, and since Nixon knew no Russian songs, “I’m a Ramblin’ Wreck” was sung by default.
- “I’m a Ramblin’ Wreck” has been featured in many movies: Gregory Peck sang it while strumming a ukulele in The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, John Wayne whistled it in The High and the Mighty and Tim Holt’s character sings a few bars of it in His Kind of Woman.
- “I’m a Ramblin’ Wreck” was the first school song played in space.
- Because of the song’s many references to drinking, almost every school year a student group (backed by MADD), petitions the student government to change the fight song to something more sober. These petitions are heavily defeated each time they are proposed.
ADDITIONAL TRIVIA: There are only 5 schools in Division-I that do not contain “University” in their official name. Georgia Tech is one, as is ACC rival Boston College. The three remaining “non-University” schools are the service academies: Army, Navy and Air Force.