Old-time fight song sung on “Boardwalk Empire”

Fans of the HBO show “Boardwalk Empire” may have recognized a few chords from the fourth season’s premier on Sunday, when one of the characters sang a 1920s era version of the Cherry and White Fight Song.

A scene in Sunday’s episode “New York Sour” shows William Thompson (played by Kevin Csolak), the son of Eli Thompson, apparently returning home to New Jersey from Temple and singing the fight song for his family, including the show’s main character Nucky Thompson (played by Steve Buscemi).

The song is a historic incarnation of the modern fight song called “Fight Temple, Fight!” The character sings the lost verse “Fight Temple fight on/ Fight with all your might/ Fight for the Cherry and White/ Keep our colors high/ Roll the ball and hit the line/ All the Temple stars will shine/ Skill and courage win the game/ Fight on Temple fight.”

Later in the scene, Nucky Thompson departs telling William Thompson and his family to “fight for the Cherry and the White.”

The show follows a group of historical gangsters and is set in Prohibition Era Atlantic City, N.J.