The music to The Whiffenpoof Song was written in 1894 by Guy Sculls, although Tod B. Galloway is sometimes credited. Meade Minnigerode and George S. Pomeroy wrote the lyrics in 1908 based on Rudyard Kiplin's poem, Gentleman Rankers. Minnigerode and Pomeroy were members of the Whiffenpoof Society (*) at Yale University. Their song was adopted as the Society's theme song. Actor James Whitmore and director George Roy Hill were members of the Whiffenpoof Society. Rudy Vallee, a Yale graduate himself, remembered the song from his college days. He featured The Whiffenpoof Song in a 1963 broadcast of his radio program and subsequently recorded it in 1937 (Bluebird 7135). Bing Crosby, with Fred Waring's Glee Club, had a #7 pop hit with the song (Decca 23990) in 1947, selling a million copies. Other recordings of The Whiffenpoof Song through the years include those by Robert Merrill (RCA 1313) in 1947 and Bob Crewe (Warwick 519) in 1960. The song could be heard in the movies Winged Victory (1944) and Riding High (1950).

Elvis recorded The Whiffenpoof Song in medley with Violet (Flower of NYU) at United Recorders in Hollywood on August 23, 1969. It appeared in his 1969 film, The Trouble With Girls.