"My Heart is in Madison" was first introduced by a group of varsity football players in 1940. Fred Gage '42, Mark Hoskins '46, LLB'48, LWC '48, and John Tennant '42, also known as "the grid trio," entertained the football team with the song, which was previously sung around campus with wide variations in lyrics. After the three sang "My Heart is in Madison" at an all-campus football rally in 1940, the song became an immediate hit with Badger fans. The UW Marching Band started singing the tune soon after, and it was a beloved tradition through the late 1980s. The song was last performed at a Varsity Band concert in 1990. Although relatively unknown to fans in recent years, many Badgers will remember these lyrics:

"My heart is in Madison M-A-D-I-S-O-N.
Where the boys are the squarest the girls are the fairest of any old town I've been in;
My heart is in Madison M-A-D-I-S-O-N.
In all kinds of weather we'll all stick together in M-A-D-I-S-O-N."