Overview of U.S. regional anthems
Forty-eight of the fifty
U.S. states
have one or more state songs, a type of
regional anthem
, which are selected by each
state legislature
as a symbol (or emblem) of that particular U.S. state. Well-known state songs include "
Yankee Doodle
", "
You Are My Sunshine
", "
Rocky Top
", and "
Home on the Range
". A number of others are popular standards, including "
Oklahoma
" (from the
Rodgers and Hammerstein
musical
of the same name
),
Hoagy Carmichael
's "
Georgia on My Mind
", "
Tennessee Waltz
", "
Missouri Waltz
", and "
On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away
". Many of the others are much less well-known, especially outside the state.
Some U.S. states have more than one official state song, and may refer to some of their official songs by other names; for example,
Arkansas
officially has two state songs, plus a state anthem and a state historical song.
Tennessee
has the most state songs, with 12 official state songs and an official bicentennial
rap
.
Two individuals,
Stephen Foster
and
John Denver
, have written or co-written state songs for two different states. Foster wrote the music and lyrics for "
My Old Kentucky Home
", adopted by Kentucky in 1928, and "
Old Folks at Home
" (better known as "Swanee Ribber" or "Suwannee River"), adopted by Florida in 1935.
[1]
John Denver wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the music for "
Rocky Mountain High
", adopted by Colorado in 2007 as one of the state's two official state songs,
[2]
and co-wrote both lyrics and music for "
Take Me Home, Country Roads
", adopted by West Virginia in 2014 as one of four official state songs.
[3]
Additionally,
Woody Guthrie
wrote or co-wrote two state
folk songs
? "
Roll On, Columbia, Roll On
" (Washington) and "
Oklahoma Hills
" (Oklahoma) ? but they have separate status from the official state
songs
of both states.
New Mexico
has two state songs in Spanish: "
Asi Es Nuevo Mexico
" is the official Spanish state song, while "
New Mexico - Mi Lindo Nuevo Mexico
" is the state bilingual song.
Iowa
's "
The Song of Iowa
" uses the tune from the song "
O Tannenbaum
" as its melody.
[4]
The same tune is used for "
Maryland, My Maryland
" which was Maryland's state song from 1939 to 2021.
Arizona
has a song that was written specifically as a state anthem in 1915, as well as the 1981 country hit "Arizona", which it adopted as the alternate state anthem in 1982.
[1]
Absences and removals
[
edit
]
New Jersey
has never adopted a state song.
[5]
[6]
A resolution to declare the song "
Born to Run
" by
Bruce Springsteen
as the state song passed the
Assembly
, but failed the
state Senate
as the song's lyrics depict a desire to leave New Jersey.
[7]
[8]
Oklahoma
's state "rock song" from 2009 to 2011 was "
Do You Realize??
" by
The Flaming Lips
, but the state legislature vote was not ratified.
[9]
[10]
The move might have purportedly been due to offensive lyrics and a band member wearing of communist symbols on a shirt.
[11]
Maryland
had a state song until 2021. "
Maryland, My Maryland
" was removed due to pro-Confederate language, but no replacement was established.
[12]
Virginia
's previous state song, "
Carry Me Back to Old Virginny
", adopted in 1940,
[1]
was rescinded in 1997 due to language deemed racist by the
Virginia General Assembly
.
[13]
In 2015, "
Our Great Virginia
" was made the new state song of Virginia.
[14]
In 2021,
Louisiana
made "
You Are My Sunshine
" their only official state song by removing the less-popular "
Give Me Louisiana
". "You Are My Sunshine" is so beloved by Louisiana residents that many of them, including state legislators, were unaware that a second official song existed prior to the proposed removal. "
Southern Nights
" was added at the same time as the removal, but given a new designation as a state cultural song.
[15]
State songs
[
edit
]
Federal district songs
[
edit
]
Territory songs
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
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- ^
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.
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5 April
2018
.
- ^
"Maryland, my meh song"
Archived
2018-06-13 at the
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,
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- ^
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,
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- ^
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,
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2021
- ^
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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- ^
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.
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,
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- ^
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.
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.
Archived
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.
- ^
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.
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. Alabama Department of Archives & History. 2006-04-27. Archived from
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.
- ^
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.
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.
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a
b
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.
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2007-02-06
.
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.
- ^
a
b
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.
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2020-05-28
.
- ^
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.
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.
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, Department of Personnel & Administration, Colorado State Archives. Archived from
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on 2019-01-07
. Retrieved
2007-02-21
.
- ^
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"
.
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.
CRS 24-80-909
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- ^
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d
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,
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- ^
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,
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, May 7, 2014
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[1]
Archived
2013-07-28 at the
Wayback Machine
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- ^
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.
flsenate.gov
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.
- ^
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.
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. Archived from
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.
- ^
from janhintonmusic.com
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- ^
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.
hawaii.gov
. Retrieved
5 April
2018
.
- ^
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. Psychology Press. 1997.
ISBN
9780789003973
.
- ^
"HR 126 ...recognizing Ms. Effie Burt for her composition, "I'll M..."
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. Retrieved
5 April
2018
.
- ^
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.
www.kshs.org
. Retrieved
2021-12-02
.
- ^
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.
ky.gov
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.
- ^
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.
Louisiana State Legislature
.
Archived
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.
- ^
"Lyrics & act numbers of official songs"
. Archived from
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- ^
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.
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.
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
a
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
- ^
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. Los Angeles, CA: American Publications, Inc. p. 155.
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- ^
Sullivan, P. Lance, ed. (1990).
An Atlanta Anthology : Pen Women : Sixty Years of Art, Music, and Letters
. Atlanta, GA: Words Worth Publishing. p. 16.
ISBN
0962605700
. "Bonita Crowe, for example, was a nationally known pianist and composer, who served on the National Council of the Metropolitan Opera Association in New York, who played at the White House as the guest of Mrs. Franklin Roosevelt, and whose compositions were performed by the NBC Symphony Orchestra. While living in Hattiesburg, Miss., she composed the Mississippi state song and put to music many poems of the South."
- ^
"P. T. A. of Hardy Street School"
.
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. December 7, 1916. p. 5. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
- ^
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- ^
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.
- ^
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.
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.
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,
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,
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.
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.
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- ^
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.
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Imhoff, Gary (October 1999).
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.
External links
[
edit
]
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