state songs -- our suggestions?


Fourth of July got me thinking about state songs... for the most part, they're obscure, to say the least, with a few notable exceptions. Go take a look at http://www.50states.com/songs/ and see if you agree. I thought it would be fun to see if we could compile a list of state songs drawn from the more familiar catalog of commercial and standards. For instance, for Oklahoma, why not "Oklahoma!" from the musical? For New York, how about Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind"? For California, isn't there some old standard that starts "California, here I come, right back where I started from"? For some states, we might rely on songs associated with prominent cities or geographical features. For example, for Illinois, there's "My Kind of Town (Chicago Is)". Colorado has "Rocky Mountain High", and Indiana has "On the Banks of the Wabash". The real challenge will be to find a song associated with North and South Dakota!
1439bhr
For South Dakota, the Beatles "Rocky Raccoon."

For North Dakota there is "North Dakota" from "Joshua Judges Ruth" by Lyle Lovett.

I favor "Anchored down in Anchorage" by Michelle Shocked for Alaska.

For my home state, "Texas Flood" is the only appropriate choice considering our recent weather. Pity that Stevie Ray is not around to do the live version.
"Girl from the North Country" by Bob Dylan is supposedly about a Wisconsin girl?!?
For Idaho:

Lynyrd Skynyrd....."What's Your Name?"

Well, its 8 o'clock in Boise, Idaho
I'll find my limo driver
Mister, take us to the show
I done made some plans for later on tonight
I'll find a little queen
And I know I can treat her right.

Happy listening,
Patrick
I'm with Marakanetz on Chris Rhea's "I'm Going to Texas". Or perhaps a couple of Lyle Lovett tunes such as "That's Right, You're Not From Texas (But Texas Wants You Anyway)"

"Yellow Rose of Texas" is nice as state songs go, but it's not like it gets any airtime....

Albert- Didn't know you are a Texan- What part?

Jim
Any other old civil rights activists remember, "Mississippi, Find Yourself Another Country To Be Part Of"???
Anyone knows Nina Hagen's New York New York?
There is a german and english version of the same song can be found on her single LP.
Jimbo, I was born in Texas, grew up in Ft. Worth, moved to Dallas in 1972 and lived here ever since.

If you are near, you need to join us for one of our weekly music sessions.
Unfortunately, for Washington D.C., with the way the politicians have been going over the last 40 years, it has to be "The Internationale".
For Tennessee, I vote for "Volunteers" by Jefferson Airplane. I've already heard enough Rocky Top around here to last me a lifetime.
South Carolina's motto is "We don't give a damn how you did it up north" or We're dumb and proud of it". There's got to be a song in there somewhere!!!