Which States have the most and least songs written about them?

I would have thought that California and New York would be pretty near the top. I’m not sure I can remember any song referencing Rhode Island or even Alaska.

Johnny Horton, North to Alaska

Much to my surprise, we have a state song. Probably all the others have one too.

Texas would probably be up there. Texans love to sing about Texas or listen to songs about Texas. Delaware would have to be near the bottom.

Kansas may have a lot of songs associated with it, (“Over the Rainbow” anyone?) but right offhand I can’t remember any that speak of it specifically.

Our state song is “Home on the Range”, and the word “Kansas” does not appear in it.

Rhode Island is Famous for You” by Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz, also known for “That’s Entertainment” and “Dancing in the Dark,” among a host of others. Here performed by the great Blossom Dearie.

Kansas, My Kansas
mmm

A cursory Googling makes a strong case for Texas as the most.

Maine? Any at all? The only thing off the top of my head is Jackson Browne’s Nothing But Time:

“Rolling down 295 out of Portland, Maine.
Still high from the people up there, feeling no pain.”

King of the Road?

Scout Songs has the lyrics for Delaware. The second set of lyrics were made popular by Perry Como in 1959. The song references:
[ul][li]Delaware (What did Della wear?)[/li][li]New Jersey (She wore a brand-new jersey.)[/li][li]California (Why did Cali phone ya?)[/li][li]Hawaii (She called to say how-ah-ya.)[/li][li]Mississippi (What did Misses sip?)[/li][li]Minnesota (She sipped a mini-soda.)[/li][li]Oregon (Where has Ory gone?)[/li][li]Alaska (If you want, I’ll ask he(r).)[/li][li]Texas (She went to pay her taxes.)[/li][li]Wisconsin (How did Wiscon sin?)[/li][li]Nebraska (She stole a new brass key.)[/li][li]Arkansas (Too bad Arkan saw.)[/li][li]Tennessee (And so did Tenna see.)[/li][li]Florida (It made poor Flora die.)[/li][*]Missouri (She died in misery.)[/ul]

“Dust In the Wind”? :smiley:

“I’m as corny as Kansas in August…”

I don’t suppose “Kansas City” counts…

That one doesn’t count because I just listened to the original recording and he mispronounces “Bangor.” It’s BANG-GORE, not BANG-GER.

Is This Thing On by The Promise Ring has a slightly more in-depth reference to Delaware, although still not completely on point. One way of looking at the lyrics such as

is that the speaker is just singing gibberish as a mic check (and thus the song’s not about the state at all,) or the speaker is singing about someone in Delaware who is either not-plugged in or talking gibberish.

A young down-east pilot named Sanger
Got a girl alone in his hangar
When she asked where in Maine
He was flying his plane
He said he was going to Bangor!

“Anchored Down in Anchorage,” by Michelle Shocked.

" Other than the Bee Gees, who wrote a song about “Massachusetts”?

There may not be a song about RI that has the entire name of the state in it. You can probably find the entire name of all the other states in a song.

Are we counting songs about specific cities, or do they have to be about the state in general?

(tons of songs about NYC)

The Rooster’s Lay Eggs in Kansas” was purportedly Sousa’s favorite encore.