Eight stars of gold on a field of blue,
Alaska’s flag, may it mean to you,
The blue of the sea, the evening sky,
The mountain lakes and the flowers nearby,
The gold of the early sourdough’s dreams,
The precious gold of the hills and streams,
The brilliant stars in the northern sky,
The “Bear,” the “Dipper,” and shining high,
The great North Star with its steady light,
O’er land and sea a beacon bright,
Alaska’s flag to Alaskans dear,
The simple flag of a last frontier.
When I lived in West Virginia very briefly a long time ago, everyone from grade school on up knew (and sang) the unofficial state song. Apparently this year it was made official. Go Country Roads.
oh yeah, even in fourth grade (traditional grade for learning state history) we snickered at it. It’s truly bad.
I believe the reason they are all similarly bad is because they were commissioned and since commissions are often subject to nepotism you get work done not by the state’s best songwriter, but by the Comptroller’s nephew.
The problem with most anthems is that people think they need to sound reverent and patriotic, plus they have to mention why the state/nation/pipsqueak high school is significant/important/glorious/better than the ordinary pile of dirt, especially yours.
As a result, most of 'em sound like they were composed on a purely constipated organ. By and large, they’re lugubrious. You *definitely *can’t dance to them.
Of the national anthems I’ve heard, the only one to come close to escaping the misery is France’s.
State songs were usually written early in a state’s history by some enthusiastic amateur. Many started out as poems, later set to music by another enthusiastic amateur who either ripped off a hymn or march, or consciously aped the style. As a result they typically scan poorly, with a painful overreliance on melisma, and feature embarrassingly florid lyrics and turgid, uninspiring tunes.
“Oklahoma” is a great state song. Unfortunately the state sucks.
I don’t think I’ve even ever heard the Colorado state song. I don’t know what it is and I’ve lived here for years. I sure hope it’s not “Rocky Mountain High.” (Not that I don’t like the song…and not that it wouldn’t be appropriate…but…)
I’m rather torn about “Maryland, My Maryland”-on the one hand its lyrics express Treasonous and Reactionary sentiments but on the other hand its lyrics are some of the most poetic ever conceived.
I think our state song, “I Love You California” is quite lovely and urge everyone to listen to it (not the least because I created this YouTube video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjaSPPb81jQ
Well, it’s like My Old Kentucky Home. It’s a Stephen Foster minstrel song, including the today cringeworthy lyrics “Tis summer, the darkies are gay”, but it’s just a catchy song.
The lyrics for the official state version of the song were changed in 1986, “The darkies are gay” became “The people are gay.” If you hear the song being performed today, such as at the running of the Kentucky Derby, that’s the version being used.
Oddly, the song’s two other uses of the word “darkey”, one each in the second and third verse, remain. Only the first verse is typically performed, but still, strange choice there.
Since when is “Tennessee Waltz” supposed to be a good song? Good songs, IMHO, don’t place recursive logical paradoxes (paradoces?) in the lyrics. Consider:
I was dancing with my darling to the Tennessee Waltz
When an old friend I happened to see.
I introduced her to my darling, and while they were dancing
My friend stole my sweetheart from me.
Well, of course she did, ya twit. It was the Tennessee freakin’ Waltz! It says right there in the lyrics that was gonna happen!