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eric on May 20th 2009 at 12:26 pm Music

State Songs and questioning the very fiber of my being

So, like most of you these days, I’ve been thinking a lot about state songs. I don’t mean actual, official state songs like “Hail, South Dakota” and “Delaware Uber Alis,” but songs about states. You know, like Springsteen’s “Nebraska” and “Sweet Home Alabama” by Allman Marshall Skynard Revival.

DelawareFor some states (like Texas), there are tons of songs. Other states, like Washington (a-hem), there’s not a tune to be found. Of course, down south, you get the country songs like “T for Texas” and “All my Ex’s Live in Texas.” Out west, you get cowboy songs by Gene Autry, Patsy Montana and The Bee Gees. California has gold rush songs. States like Pennsylvania, Maryland and Washington don’t seem to have any.1

Some states, like California, have a romantic “must get there” feel to them. All of the west has this. Even the states where you just pass through, like Kansas and Nebraska, have songs about them.

The states we’ve left behind, Virginia, Kentucky, even Ohio, are memorialized in song.

But not Pennsylvania. And not Washington. Maybe it’s because nothing rhymes with either of them. There’s not a chance we could get: “Nothing could be finer than to be in Washington in the morning?”. But then, Pennsylvania does have: “I won’t put politics on paper; it’s a mania / So I refuse to use the pen in Pennsylvania” from 1776. So who really knows?

Dee grumma dinger sin wunderbore gute!Did I move from one dud state to another? Is Washington really the west coast’s answer to Pennsylvania? Is Seattle Philadelphia? Would that make Spokane Pittsburgh? It almost fits! Does Washington have its own version of Middleswarth chips? Is there a coal region? A turnpike? Washington does have its fair share of Mennonites and I did find Birch Beer at the super market (though it didn’t say if it were white or red – what’s that about?). Maybe I haven’t moved at all. Maybe Washington and Pennsylvania are on opposite ends of the same Mobius strip!

What does any of this have to do with songs about states? I don’t know, but neither do you.

  1. Yes, I know about “Pennsylvania 6-5000.” [↩]


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20 responses so far

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20 Comments

Comment by ScottNo Gravatar
2009-05-20 17:54:31

Well, I could make a stereotypical comment about how since Texas is bigger and better….but I won’t. Though songs like China Grove and Midnight Special are pretty good songs about Texas, the actual official state song blows. Texas Our Texas is bleck. Though, we still do have kids say the Texas pledge of allegiance after the US pledge every day. Don’t know of anyone else who does that.

Washington DC does have its own song. Ghetto D, Make Crack Like Dat. Or, at least that was the case during previous administrations. Though California has the California Uber Alles by Dead Kennedys….man is that an awesome song.

Comment by ericNo Gravatar
2009-05-20 18:33:26

Texas is hogging all the good songs. But “All my Ex’s Live in Michigan, that’s Why I Live in Minnesota” – so, I guess it makes some sense.

The Washington that I was talking about is the state. DC has some songs, but it shouldn’t count unless Puerto Rico counts, and we all know that Puerto Rico is the United State’s Pluto.

 
 
Comment by CalderNo Gravatar
2009-05-20 19:32:48

Billy Joel’s song Allentown, is indeed about Allentown. Midnight Oil of all people have Harrisburg which is about Three Mile Island. Harry Chapin has a song about a runaway truck full of bananas that’s about RT 307 which comes down off the mountain into Scranton proper.

Comment by ericNo Gravatar
2009-05-20 21:41:06

True, there are songs about places in Pennsylvania. Even “Dancing in the Streets” mentions PA, but songs about the whole state are hard to come by. I can think of two and one is basically an instrumental. Hell, both are usually instrumentals (PA 6-5000 and PA Polka).

 
 
Comment by ThomasLBNo Gravatar
2009-05-21 02:59:57

I think a lot of it comes down to being easy to rhyme. There are a lot of songs about Tennessee for that reason. (Usually they rhyme it with “Me.”)

The worst state anthem belongs to Texas. It starts out:

Texas, Our Texas! All hail the mighty state!
Texas, Our Texas! So wonderful, so great!

Geez. It sounds like it was written by a ten-year-old, or Dear Abby.

Comment by CalderNo Gravatar
2009-05-21 04:15:55

Actually sounds similar to Socialist State anthems.

 
Comment by ericNo Gravatar
2009-05-21 14:39:26

Many state songs are horrible. But didn’t Oklahoma just make a Flaming Lips song their official state song? Weird, eh?

 
Comment by scottNo Gravatar
2009-05-23 20:09:06

Even worse than the state song, is the pledge of Texas allegiance. (I am not kidding about this. We have our students say it every day after the national pledge)

“Honor the Texas Flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible.”

Comment by ericNo Gravatar
2009-05-23 20:25:38

Now that’s interesting. Which came first, the U.S. pledge’s “under God” or Texas pledges’s “under God”?

Would be fun to know.

Comment by scottNo Gravatar
2009-05-23 22:07:35

The US one. It was added a couple years ago to thumb their noses at all them godless atheists, muslims, and other types of commies. There are times I really hate Texas.

Comment by ericNo Gravatar
2009-05-24 09:37:24

Haha.. that’s hilarious. Of course, that’s how the US one got in there too.

Texas is a nice place I always enjoy traveling through it, but I wouldn’t want to live there.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by AlanNo Gravatar
2009-05-21 04:31:35

There are quite a few songs about Seattle, though. Perry Como’s 1969 hit, “Seattle” is one of my favorite songs by the “smooth crooner”.

http://www.kokomo.ca/cd_review/press/covers/seattle_front.htm

Comment by ericNo Gravatar
2009-05-21 14:36:14

There are a ton of songs about Seattle. I found one by the Young Fresh Fellows about the Aurora Bridge, it’s really cute.

 
 
Comment by AlanNo Gravatar
2009-05-21 19:02:22

Eric, I asked my wife, born and reared in the great state of Washington, “Hey, does Washington have a state song?” and she promptly started singing…

http://www.shgresources.com/music/statesongs/wa.mpga

She said they sang it a lot in elementary school.

Comment by ericNo Gravatar
2009-05-21 19:31:23

Oh my… it sure does. In PA, we never sang our state song. I don’t really even know what it is. We had the Pennsylvania Polka and that was pretty much it.

 
 
Comment by DJNo Gravatar
2009-05-22 12:59:25

Check out Sufjan Stevens . . . he is working his way through making 50 records about the states. right now he has illinois and michagan under his belt.

Comment by ericNo Gravatar
2009-05-22 13:14:35

That’s insane. 50 different albums? That’s a bit much. He’s going to say “fuck it” at some point. It’s going to seem forced at some point. How could it not?

Comment by CourtneyNo Gravatar
2009-05-26 13:43:11

Youuuuuu should have Illinoise and Michigan. I deeeefinitely gave you Illinois and Michigan. They may have found new homes as coasters or frisbees for homeless people or something though.

Comment by ericNo Gravatar
2009-05-26 13:49:39

Huh? When? Hmm…

 
 
 
 
Comment by CourtneyNo Gravatar
2009-05-26 15:08:33

Cleeeeearly more than a year ago. That is just a “guesstimate”.

 

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