Godiva's Hymn

Godiva's Hymn, named after Lady Godiva, also sometimes called the Engineer's Hymn, is a traditional song for the celebration of engineering. It has been associated with the US Army Corps of Engineers, and is widespread across numerous engineering faculties around North America.

The Hymn is usually sung to the tune of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", and at Skule™ it is typically sung at every appearance of the Mighty Skule Cannon, whereupon the Cannon is fired at the conclusion of the Hymn. After the Cannon firing, students at Skule™ usually break out into the Skule Yell. At Christmas time, the Lady Godiva Memorial Bnad has been known to sing the song to the tune of Good King Wenceslas.

During Godiva Week at Skule™, many Godiva's Crown competitors have been known to show off their mastery in memorizing obscure verses, and many have invented their own. Students have also asked for verses to be invented at other Skule™ events, particularly as part of the Havenger Scunt.

Disclaimer: Many old verses of the song are no longer used due to offensive language, antiquated ideas, and inappropriate ideals. These verses do not reflect the current beliefs and values of engineers and our community. In recent years, the engineering community has striven to become more conscious of the effect of language, particularly in cheers and yells such as Godiva's Hymn. As we have evolved as a community, we recognize that these verses should not be sung again. The original version of the hymn remains accessible only to acknowledge the faults of the origin of our engineering culture and to better understand why they should never be repeated.

Chorus

We are, we are, we are, we are, we are the Engineers,

We can, we can, we can, we can demolish forty beers.

Drink rum, drink rum, drink rum, drink rum, so come along with us,

For we don't give a damn for any damn man, who don't give a damn for us.

Godiva's Verses

When singing multiple verses, the first verse is sung before the chorus, followed by consecutive verses.

Godiva was a lady who through Coventry did ride,

To show to all the villagers her fine and lily-white hide.

The most observant villager, an Engineer of course,

Was the only one to notice that Godiva rode a horse.

Said she, "I’ve come a long, long way, and I will go as far,

With the man who takes me from this horse, and leads me to a bar."

The men who took her from her steed, and led her to a beer,

Were a bleary-eyed Surveyor and a drunken Engineer.

Godiva woke next morning and she had an awful head,

Decided to be sensible and spend the day in bed.

The only ones to visit her and bring her lots of cheer,

Were a broken-down Surveyor and a bloodshot Engineer.

Godiva died and where she fell a bench marks the spot,

In any Engineering text, its level can be got.

And up in Heaven, every day Godiva craves for beer,

But she'll have to wait until the gates let in the Engineers.

Godiva was a lady well-endowed, there was no doubt.

She never wore a stitch of clothes, just wound her hair about.

The first man who ever made her was an Engineer of course,

But on just one drink, an Artsie fink once made Godiva's horse.

Female Verses

A firehose by day and forty beers by night,

An engineer may never sleep but still stay just as bright,

And if you ever ask her how she keeps up her routine,

She'll raise her trust can of Jolt, smile and say 'Caffeine!'

A man sat in a tavern with a lovely looking lass

And stared when for the nineteenth time she raised and drank her glass

"You've out-drunk four strong men, and half the bar my dear"

The maiden smiled sweetly, said "I'm an Engineer!"

Pubcrawl Verse

We're lost, we're lost, we're lost, we're lost, we don't know where we are,

We want, we want, we want, we want, we want to find a bar.

Don't come, don't come, don't come, don't come, don't come along with us,

For we don't know where the hell we are but fuck we're on a bus!

Version française

Nous sommes, nous sommes, nous sommes, nous sommes les ingénieurs français

Quand on a fini de boire la bière, on sort le Bourgelais

On boit sans fin, on fait la fête et tout le monde nous adorent

Rien de mieux que la langue française pour stimuler un corps.

Politically Correct Verse

We are, we are, we are, we are, we are the Engineers,

We can, we can, we can, we fix anything with gears.

We work real hard, we play real hard, so come along with us,

For we don't give a damn for any damn man, who don't give a damn for us.

Engineering and University Verses

Venus is a statue made entirely of stone,

There's not a fig leaf on her, she's as naked as a bone.

On noticing her arms were gone, an Engineer discoursed,

"The damn thing's busted concrete and it should be reinforced."

An Engineer once came to class so drunk and very late,

He stumbled through the lecture hall at an ever-diminishing rate.

The only things that held him up and kept him on his course,

Were the boundary condition and the electromotive force.

An Engineer from UofT once found the gates of Hell,

They looked the devil in the eye and said, "You're looking well."

Satan just returned the glare and said, "Why visit me?

You've been through Hell already, since you went to UofT!"

Discipline Verses

A Comp and an Elec did battle outside Bahen hall,

Students gathered round to watch the two great students brawl.

The Elec spoke of flux and fields for a minute, two, or three,

But the Comp kept rambling on and on and on recursively!

All EngSci types in second year are really in a plight,

They're the masochistic ones, who haven't seen the light,

After two more years they will all be just as brain dead,

As any first year Civil Engineering cement head.

Verses about Other Faculties and Artsies

An Artsie and an Engineer once found a gallon can,

Said the Artsie, “Match me drink for drink as long as you can stand.”

They took three drinks, the Artsie fell, his face was turning green,

But the Engineer drank on and said, "It's only gasoline"!

An Artsie and an Engineer were stranded on a boat,

One man above capacity, the poor thing would not float.

The Engineer would flip a coin to settle the dispute,

So he flipped it in the water and the Artsie gave pursuit.

The Army and the Navy boys went out to have some fun,

Down at the local tavern where the fiery liquors run.

But all they found were empties for the Engineers had come,

And traded all their instruments for gallon jugs of rum.

A wide-eyed Artsie Chemist and a Chemical Engineer,

Were formulating molecule equations over beer.

Each drank a glass of water, but the Artsie hit the floor,

For what he thought was H2O was H2SO4.

So now you’ve heard our story and you know we are the Engineers,

And when we all shall graduate, we’ll all have great careers.

An Engineer’s starting wage can pull in 60 G’s,

While an Artsie with a Ph.D. can work at Mickey D’s.

Verses from Skule history

The Jerry P. Potts trophy for the chariot race at Skule™

Had been stolen from the fold but Mario said, "Dis ain't cool".

So Mario recovered it, returned it to the throngs,

On the condition that the Skule™ mates sing his praises in their song.

Joe E. Skule™'s 100 but he has a heart of gold;

He gave the meds his Skulehouse when it was 94 years old.

The meds were very grateful, but they have problems with precision,

For they use those T-squares and dividers when making their incisions.

For 50 years the engineers at Queens' have had our pole,

From Varsity they took it, and their F!rosh week was its role;

But 28 of our own went down, and with a cunning plan

We opened up an unlocked door and brought it home again!

Verses about fictional engineers

Said Spock to Captain Kirk "the logic you cannot refute,

the odds of our survival are so small I can't compute."

Said Kirk "Oh no! We all shall die!" but then he gave a cheer,

For he just remembered Scotty was the resident engineer!

Verses about history and mythology

Sir Francis Drake and all his men set out for Calais Bay,

They'd heard the Spanish Rum fleet was headed up that way.

But the Engineers had beat them by a night and half a day,

And though as drunk as they could be, you still could hear them say...

Rapunzel let her hair down for two suitors down below,

So one of them could grab a hold and give the old heave-ho.

The prince began to climb at once, but soon came out the worst,

For the Engineer rode up a lift and reached Rapunzel first.

Elvis was a legend, he's the King of Rock & Roll,

But the life he was leading, well it finally took its toll,

He realized too late that he choose the wrong career,

So he faked his death, and came to Skule™ to become an Engineer.

New Verses from Godiva Hymn Contest (2015)

I came across a girl whose skin was glazed in purple hue,

Her aura proud, her spirit loud, her words were strong and true;

She led a group of hundreds who were chanting far and near,

And in my mind, I had no doubt - she led the engineers!

New Verse from Godiva Hymn Contest (2017)

At frosh week does it all begin, with cheers and purple dye

And then before we know it we’ve returned from PEY

We made it through the many years with blood and sweat and tears

Though time may pass we shan’t forget - I am an engineer!

Closing Verse

Now you've heard our story and you know we're Engineers,

We love to hate our problem sets, we love to drink our beers.

We drink to every person who comes here from far and near,

'Cause we're a HELL-OF-A, HELL-OF-A, HELL-OF-A, HELL-OF-A, HELL-OF-AN-ENGINEER!!!

Controversial Verses

Please visit the Discussion page for these verses. On desktop, navigate to the top of the page and click on the Discussion tab above the title. On mobile, type "Talk:Godiva's Hymn" into the search bar.