# Help me find songs that refer to states! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 18, 2004, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-songs-that-refer-to-states/260342 "2004-08-18T03:08:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-songs-that-refer-to-states/260342/61 "2004-08-19T01:52:41Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > “All I Owe Ioway” from “State Fair” by Rodgers and Hammerstein :smack: Iowa Stubborn, from the Music Man! > [@](#): > > Oh, there’s nothing halfway > About the Iowa way to treat you, > When we treat you > Which we may not do at all. > There’s an Iowa kind of special > Chip-on-the-shoulder attitude. > We’ve never been without. > That we recall. > We can be cold > As our falling thermometers in December > If you ask about our weather in July. > And we’re so by God stubborn > We could stand touchin’ noses > For a week at a time > And never see eye-to-eye. > But what the heck, you’re welcome, > Join us at the picnic. > You can eat your fill > Of all the food you bring yourself. > You really ought to give Iowa a try. ---
**Author:** ![Mariemarie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58f4c7/32.png) [@Mariemarie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mariemarie)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-songs-that-refer-to-states/260342/62 "2004-08-19T02:27:39Z")
Here are a couple of obscure ones for **Virginia** : _Son Of Your Father_ by Elton John, from_Tumbleweed Connection_ (“Now two men lay dead as nails on an East Virginia farm”) and _Who’ll Stop the Rain_ by CCR (“I went down to Virginia seeking shelter from the storm”) ---
**Author:** ![chukhung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@chukhung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chukhung)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-songs-that-refer-to-states/260342/63 "2004-08-19T04:38:44Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > I was expecting Gordon Lightfoot’s _Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald_ to mention Michigan > … > The only mention of anything Michigan-y (which is where the ship sank) is the following reference to Whitefish Bay… I believe the Edmund Fitzgerald’s wreckage rests in Canadian territory. The best cite I can find online is [http://main.blclinks.net/~sshort/shipwrecked/grtlakes/superior/whitefsh/fitzart5.htm](http://main.blclinks.net/~sshort/shipwrecked/grtlakes/superior/whitefsh/fitzart5.htm) which says > [@](#): > > Those interested in the wreck include documentary filmmaker Fred Shannon, who shot it last summer from a research submarine. Shannon sued unsuccessfully this spring to prevent retrieval of the bell. He argued that part of the wreckage is in American waters, so the project requires state approval. Lansing, Mich., Judge Lawrence Glazer said there was no proof of that: all charts indicate the Fitzgerald rests in Canadian waters. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-songs-that-refer-to-states/260342/64 "2004-08-19T05:27:50Z")
Thanks for all the suggestions, folks. Many of your thoughts were used. I have now compiled the following list: Alabama - _Sweet Home Alabama_, Lynyrd Skynyrd Alaska - _North to Alaska_, Johnny Horton Arkansas - _Tennessee Stud_, Doc Watson Arizona - _Take It Easy_, The Eagles Indiana - _Mary Jane’s Last Dance_, Tom Petty Kentucky - _Kentucky Rain_, Elvis Washington - _Gimme What You Got_, Don Henley Iowa - _Stuart_, Dead Milkmen Nebraska - _Hazard_, Richard Marx Idaho - _Tattoo_, Faster Pussycat West Virginia - _Take Me Home (Country Roads)_, John Denver Ohio - _Four Days_, Counting Crows North Carolina - _Raise Up_, Petey Pablo South Carolina - _Hickory Wind_, Gram Parsons Maryland - _St. Robinson In His Cadillac Dream_, Counting Crows New York - _Country Boy Can Survive_, Hank Williams, Jr New Jersey - _Allentown_, Billy Joel Maine - _King of the Road_, Roger Miller New Hampshire - _(I’ll Always) Miss New Hampshire_, Jim Britton Vermont - _Sugarbush Cushman_, Poi Dog Pondering Texas - _Good Time_, Counting Crows Tennessee - _Rocky Top_, Public Domain Mississippi - _I’m A Ramblin’ Man_, Waylon Jennings Florida - _Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out On Broadway)_, Billy Joel Georgia - _Ramblin’ Man_, Allman Brothers Delaware - _Square from Delaware_, Fats Waller Connecticut - _When Sal’s Burned Down_, Dar Williams Louisiana - _Calling Baton Rouge_, Garth Brooks Illinois - _Lookin’ Out My Back Door_, Creedence Clearwater Revival Michigan - _America_, Simon & Garfunkel California - _Daylight Fading_, Counting Crows Missouri - _You Came a Long Way from St. Louis_, Marvin Gaye Virginia - _Somewhere Along the Line_, Billy Joel Nevada - _Sounds of Nevada_, Mark Knopfler Utah - _Friend of the Devil_, Grateful Dead Montana - _Come Monday_, Jimmy Buffett Minnesota - _The Biggest Ball of Twine In Minnesota_, Weird Al Yankovic Oregon - _Don’t Take Me Alive_, Steely Dan North Dakota - _Rocky Racoon_, The Beatles South Dakota - _Steady On_, Shawn Colvin Wisconsin - _The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald_, Gordon Lightfoot Wyoming - _Nebraska_, Bruce Springsteen New Mexico - _A Sorta Fairytale_, Tori Amos Pennsylvania - _You’re My Home_, Billy Joel Colorado - _Rocky Mountain High_, John Denver Massachusetts - _The Pointless, Poignant Crisis of a Coed_, Dar Williams Hawaii - _Mele Kalikimaka_, Bing Crosby Oklahoma - _Never Been to Spain_, Three Dog Night Kansas - _Devil Came from Kansas_, Procul Harem Rhode Island - _Rhode Island Is Famous for You_, Artist Unknown ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-songs-that-refer-to-states/260342/65 "2004-08-23T16:56:16Z")
While I was looking for MIDIs to use as ring tones for a new cordless phone, I happened upon [The Music of These United States: Songs about US States or with State names.](http://parlorsongs.com/issues/2003-3/thismonth/feature.asp) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-songs-that-refer-to-states/260342.md?page=3)