Band is more than forming a butt while playing Stripper; it's a way of life. Band mottos reflect our philosophy; here are some of the words we live by. (At least, the more tasteful ones.) Some have been enduring (if not endearing); others tend to be one-year mottos, perhaps immortalized on the annual T-shirt.

Music, Marching, Mirth, and Merriment

The Band's bywords, dating back into the mists of time. Or in the more staid words of recruiting copy: "The Band exists as much for the enjoyment of its own members as for the entertainment of spectators." Or something like that.

Not a Parade

A common chant when marching down the street, especially without a parade permit. Used in the naive hope that if you repeat it enough times, the angry-looking police officer up ahead won't do something nasty. (e.g. "These aren't the droids you're looking for.") (You know, when the Olympic Torch was run through the U.S. on the way to the 1984 Olympics, Princeton was the only town in the country that refused to let it come through without a parade permit.)

Get David arrested

A way of showing our fondness for the Band President; the name changes annually, often moments after the new President takes office. Sometimes chanted in alternation with the previous motto while parading.

Creative Thinking and Originality (CT&O)

What we strive for during show writing. A rallying cry in the early '80s, in response to some Differences of Opinion with the University Administration. We're on better terms now, more or less.

You can't regret what you don't remember

Kind of a "morning after" concept. Big in the mid-80s.

You can't remember what you force yourself to forget

See above.

Awesome High-Stepping Sonic Glory

Not a motto, per se, but more a state of mind. As in, it's midterm break so there are only thirty Band members performing, but when they march out, you're still experiencing the "Awesome High-Stepping Sonic Glory of the Princeton University Band."

Band Is Fun

...or "BIF". Kinda simple; the reductionist view. From the mid-80's.

More fun than humans should be allowed to have

A mid-80's motto with an unpronouncable acronym (MFTHSBATH). Almost certainly stolen from Letterman.

Elsewhere, Galaxies are Forming

One facet of the Band's philosophy of Randomness. Sometimes show writing can get kinda wild. (E.g. "You want us to form what??) Some suggestions for halftime jokes cause the Randometer to go off-scale. Now, picture if you will, a universe of constant entropy. The Law of Conservation of Entropy tells us that when the Band does something a little random, somewhere else the universe must become a little less random; e.g. someone's room suddenly gets neat. When the Band becomes more random, perhaps frogs start speaking English, or monkeys type Hamlet. During a particularly successful evening of show writing, "elsewhere galaxies are forming." (Taken to the extreme case, during a well-performed halftime show, intelligent life may evolve in some particularly unlikely spot, say, New Haven.)

It's always funny until someone loses an eye

Even fun has its limits.

And then it's really funny

"Limits" is not in our vocabulary. Seriously though, we've never known a good joke that wasn't made that much better by driving it into the ground...at 300 mph.

Sometimes Music isn't Pretty

...sometimes followed by "shown here" and "actual size." It applies in many circumstances, not the least of which is being hit in the face with a cream pie while playing a trombone. Ya know, Redi Whip on warm skin goes rancid in under a minute.

Death is Always Funny

Our 1993-94 motto; read the halftime show scripts from that year and you'll understand. (Hey, don't forget that Princeton was the home of Lyle Menendez.)

Sleep with Your DM

Less of a motto, more of a mantra. Often invoked during the "announcements" portion of a rehearsal. If the DMs (a.k.a. Godlike Apparitions) had been at Mount Siani, this would have been the Eleventh Commandment.

Heaven's House Band

In reporting Princeton's victory over UCLA in the 1996 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, Sport's Illustrated wrote: "If there really is a hoop heaven, the house band would be Princeton's, troubadours in straw hats who played the theme from Underdog late in the Tigers' victory."

The Quaker is a Dork

Once you see Penn's mascot, no explanation is necessary. Also a universal invariant; regardless of where you go or what time it is, the Quaker is still a dork. (In 1998, the Quaker got a new costume...so now he also resembles a reject from a Saturday morning cartoon.)