Official State Songs
Here are a Few Official Songs Known Outside Their Own States
Every state has an official song, but only about a dozen actually cross any state lines.
Many state legislatures have struggled with the selection of an official state song, but some of the best ones were not written for that purpose and don't mention the state. Only a few have come up with lyrics that people actually sing.
Here are a few that are known outside their state borders:
Connecticut: "Yankee Doddle Dandy." George M. Cohan probably made this the most popular one of all. But it never mentions Connecticut.
Florida: "The Swanee River." The "ribber," as Stephen C. Foster called it, runs through Georgia and Florida, but Foster was probably writing about the Georgia section because he never visited Florida. After 84 years, in 1935, S. P. Robineau of Miami had it adopted as Florida’s official song, although it never mentions Florida.
Georgia: "Georgia on My Mind." Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell gave Georgia a natural when they produced this one in 1930.
Kansas: "Home on the Range." Dr. Brewster Higley wrote this in 1876, focusing on someplace "where buffalo roam and deer and antelope play," never mentioning Kansas.
Kentucky: "My Old Kentucky Home." Stephen C. Foster wrote this winner, too, not only mentioning Kentucky but putting it in the title. A state can’t ask for much better than that, especially when it gets played for the national Kentucky Derby audience every year.
Louisiana: "You Are My Sunshine," a well known country love song by Jimmy Davis, the country singer who became governor of Louisiana. There are a couple of extra choruses about Louisiana cotton, corn, crawfish and gumbo, but most natives have never heard them and no one ever gets past the original love song. Still, it is solidly associated with Louisiana.
Maryland: "Maryland My Maryland." You’ve heard the tune if you’ve ever watched the Preakness horse race. But you may not have caught James Ryder Randall’s harsh fighting words: "The despot’s heel is on thy shore…Avenge the patriotic gore that flecked the streets of Baltimore."
Oklahoma: Oklahoma!" Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Rodgers and Broadway gave the Sooners one of the best state songs. Both Hammerstein and Rodgers were New Yorkers, but they knew "where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain" and "the corn grows as high as an elephant’s eye."
Tennessee has six songs listed as "official" songs," but most Americans have probably heard of only "The Tennesee Waltz" and "Rocky Top," both of which rank among the top of all state songs. The waltz is a sad story about a guy losing his "little darlin’ the night they were playing the beautiful Tennessee Waltz."
Virginia: "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny," written by James Bland, a 19th Century African American minstrel. It was adopted as the state song in 1940 but was "retired" to "emeritus" status in 1997 when some legislators declared the lyrics offensive. In 2006 the state senate named "Shenandoah" as the interim state song, but that also ran into trouble because the lyrics say "I’m bound away, ’cross the wide Missouri," a river some distance from Virginia.
West Virginia: "West Virginia Hills" is the official song, but the state would do well to adopt John Denver’s "Country Roads." Most Americans have heard him sing about "West Virginia, mountain mama."
Wisconsin: "On Wisconsin." The Wisconsin Badger Band popularized this tune, which John Phillip Souza called the best college fight song he had heard. It was originally intended for Minnesota, but the lyrics have undergone several changes to make it more appropriate to Wisconsin
Source: 50states.com
