The Bud Song

An integral part of any Wisconsin band performance is the playing of the Bud song. The tune is a spinoff of the song 'You've Said It All,' a jingle with words and music originally written by Steve Karmen for Budweiser beer commercials. Copyrighted by Sandlee Publishing Corporation in 1970, the song has become legendary at the University because of its polka-like rhythm. Band director Michael Leckrone said the song's popularity got started at a 1975 hockey game. 'The crowd wanted to hear a polka,' he said. 'I didn't have any polkas. We had, just by accident, this beer commercial in the tunes we play. I told the band if we substituted the word "Wisconsin" for "Budweiser" it would work.'