List of U.S. state songs

Forty-nine of the fifty U.S. states that make up the United States of America have one or more state songs, which are selected by each state legislature, and/or state governor, as a symbol (or emblem) of that particular U.S. state. New Jersey does not have an official state song, while Virginia's previous state song, "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny", adopted in 1940,^[1] was rescinded due to its racist language by the Virginia General Assembly.^[2] In 2015, "Our Great Virginia" was made the new state song of Virginia.^[3]

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. 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]

Two individuals, Stephen Foster, and John Denver, have written or co-written two state songs. Foster's two state songs, "Old Folks at Home" (better known as "Swanee Ribber" or "Suwannee River") (for adopted by Florida), and "My Old Kentucky Home" are among the best-known songs in the U.S. On March 12, 2007, the Colorado Senate passed a resolution to make Denver's trademark 1972 hit "Rocky Mountain High" one of the state's two official state songs, sharing duties with its predecessor, "Where the Columbines Grow".^[4] On March 7, 2014, the West Virginia Legislature approved a resolution to make Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads" the official state song of West Virginia. Governor Earl Ray Tomblin signed the resolution into law on March 8, 2014.^[5] Other 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), 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.

State songs

State	State song	Composer(s)	Lyricist(s)	Year adopted
Alabama	"Alabama"	Mrs. Edna Gockel Gussen	Julia Strudwick Tutwiler	1931[1][6]
Alaska	"Alaska's Flag"	Elinor Dusenbury	Marie Drake	1955[1][7]
Arizona	State song: "Arizona"	Rex Allen and Rex Allen, Jr.	Rex Allen and Rex Allen, Jr.	1981[1][8]
	State anthem: "Arizona March Song"	Maurice Blumenthal	Margaret Rowe Clifford	1919[1][8]
Arkansas	State anthem: "Arkansas"	Eva Ware Barnett	Eva Ware Barnett	1917/1987[1][9]
	"Arkansas (You Run Deep in Me)"	Wayland Holyfield	Wayland Holyfield	1987[1][9]
	"Oh, Arkansas"	Terry Rose and Gary Klaff	Terry Rose and Gary Klaff	1987[1][9]
	State historical song: "The Arkansas Traveler"	Sanford Faulkner	(Official lyrics by committee, 1947)	1949/1987[1][9]
California	"I Love You, California"	Alfred F. Frankenstein	F. B. Silverwood	1951[1]
Colorado	"Where the Columbines Grow"	A.J. Fynn		1915[1][10]
	"Rocky Mountain High"	John Denver and Mike Taylor	John Denver	2007[11]
Connecticut	State song: "Yankee Doodle"			1978[1][12]
	State cantata: "The Nutmeg"			2003[1][12]
Delaware	"Our Delaware"			1925[1]
Florida	Official song: Revised lyrics of "Old Folks at Home (Swanee Ribber)"	Adopted by the Stephen Foster Memorial at the University of Pittsburgh from the original by Stephen Foster		2008 (revised lyrics)[13] 1935 (original lyrics)[1]
	Official song: "I Am Florida"	Walter "Clyde" Orange	Allen Autry Sr.	2013[14][15]
	State anthem: "Florida (Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky)"	Jan Hinton		2008[16]
Georgia	"Georgia on My Mind", sung by Ray Charles	Hoagy Carmichael	Stuart Gorrell	1979[1]
Hawaii	State anthem: "Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī"	Henri Berger	King David Kalākaua	1967[1][17]
Idaho	"Here We Have Idaho"	Sallie Hume Douglas		1931[1]
Illinois	"Illinois"			1967[1]
Indiana	"On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away"	Paul Dresser		1913[1]
Iowa	"The Song of Iowa"	S.H.M. Byers		1911[1]
	Official Companion State Song: "Make Me a World in Iowa"	Effie Burt		2002[1][18]
Kansas	"Home on the Range"			1947[1]
	Official state march: "The Kansas March"			1935[1]
	Official march: "Here's Kansas"			1992[1]
Kentucky	State song: "My Old Kentucky Home"	Stephen Foster		1928[1]
	Bluegrass song: "Blue Moon of Kentucky"	Bill Monroe		1988[1][19]
	"Kentucky Home Made Christmas"
Louisiana	"Give Me Louisiana"	Doralice Fontane[20]		1970[1]
	"You Are My Sunshine"	Jimmie Davis (former governor)		1977[1]
	State march: "Louisiana My Home Sweet Home"			1952[1]
	Environmental song: "The Gifts of Earth"[21]
Maine	"State of Maine Song"	Roger Vinton Snow		1937[1]
Maryland	"Maryland, My Maryland" (to the tune of "O Tannenbaum")		James Ryder Randall	1939[1][22]
Massachusetts	State anthem: "All Hail to Massachusetts"	Arthur J. Marsh		1981[1][23]
	State folk song: "Massachusetts"	Arlo Guthrie		1981[1][24]
	State ceremonial march: "The Road to Boston"			1985[1][25]
	State patriotic song: "Massachusetts (Because of You Our Land is Free)"			1989[1][26]
	State glee club song: "The Great State of Massachusetts"			1997[1][27]
	State polka: "Say Hello to Someone from Massachusetts"	Lenny Gomulka[28]		1998[29]
	State ode: "Ode to Massachusetts"			2000[1][30]
Michigan	An official state song: "My Michigan"	H. O'Reilly Clint	Giles Kavanaugh	1937[1]
Minnesota	"Hail! Minnesota"			1945[1]
Mississippi	"Go, Mississippi" (sometimes called Go Mis-sis-sip-pi)			1962[1]
Missouri	"Missouri Waltz"	melody: John V. Eppel arranged: Frederic K. Logan	J.R. Shannon	1949[1]
Montana	"Montana"			1945[1]
	State ballad: "Montana Melody"			1983[1]
Nebraska	Official: "Beautiful Nebraska"	Jim Fras and Guy Miller		1967[1][31]
Nevada	"Home Means Nevada"	Bertha Rafetto		1933[1]
New Hampshire	Official: "Old New Hampshire"			1949[1] 1977
	Official: "Live Free or Die"	Barry Palmer		2007
	Honorary: "New Hampshire, My New Hampshire"			1963[1]
	Honorary: "New Hampshire Hills"			1973[1]
	Honorary: "Autumn in New Hampshire"			1977[1]
	Honorary: "New Hampshire's Granite State"			1977[1]
	Honorary: "Oh, New Hampshire"			1977[1]
	Honorary: "The Old Man of the Mountain"			1977[1]
	Honorary: "The New Hampshire State March"			1977[1]
	Honorary: "New Hampshire Naturally"			1983[1][32]
New Jersey	none			[33]
New Mexico	State song: "O Fair New Mexico"	Elizabeth Garrett		1917[1]
	Spanish state song: "Así Es Nuevo Méjico"	Elizabeth Garrett		1971[1]
	State ballad: "Land of Enchantment"			1989[1]
	Bilingual song: "New Mexico – Mi Lindo Nuevo México"	Elizabeth Garrett		1995[1]
	State cowboy song: "Under New Mexico Skies"	Syd Masters		2009
New York	"I Love New York"	Steve Karmen[34]
North Carolina	"The Old North State"			1927[1]
North Dakota	"North Dakota Hymn"			1947[1]
Ohio	"Beautiful Ohio"	Mary Earl	Ballard MacDonald (1969) Wilbert McBride (1989)	1969[1][35]
	Rock song: "Hang On Sloopy"	The McCoys		1985[1][36]
Oklahoma	Official song: "Oklahoma"	Rodgers and Hammerstein		1953[1][37]
	Official state waltz: "Oklahoma Wind"			1982[1]
	Rock song: "Do You Realize??"	The Flaming Lips		2009[38]
	Official state folk song: "Oklahoma Hills"	Woody Guthrie and Jack Guthrie		2001[39]
Oregon	"Oregon, My Oregon"	J.A. Buchanan and Henry B. Murtaghin		1927[1]
Pennsylvania	"Pennsylvania"			1990[1]
Rhode Island	State march: "Rhode Island"			1996
	State song: "Rhode Island, It's for Me"			1996[1]
South Carolina	"Carolina"	Anne Curtis Burgess	Henry Timrod G.R. Goodwin (editor)	1911[1]
	"South Carolina on My Mind"	Hank Martin and Buzz Arledge		1984[1]
South Dakota	"Hail, South Dakota!"	DeeCort Hammitt		1943[1]
Tennessee	"My Homeland, Tennessee"	Roy Lamont Smith	Nell Grayson Taylor	1925[40]
	"When It's Iris Time in Tennessee"	Willa Waid Newman		1935[1][40]
	"My Tennessee"	Frances Hannah Tranum		1955[40]
	"Tennessee Waltz"	Pee Wee King	Redd Stewart	1965[1][40]
	"Rocky Top"	Boudleaux Bryant / Felice Bryant		1982[1][40]
	"Tennessee"	Vivian Rorie		1992[40]
	"The Pride of Tennessee"	Fred Congdon / Thomas Vaughn / Carol Elliot		1996[1][40]
	"A Tennessee Bicentennial Rap: 1796-1996"	Joan Hill Hanks		1996[40]
	"Smoky Mountain Rain"	Kye Fleming Dennis Morgan		2010[40][41][42]
	"Tennessee"	John R. Bean		2012[40]
Texas	"Texas, Our Texas"	William J. Marsh	William J. Marsh and Gladys Yoakum Wright	1929[43][44]
Utah	State song: "Utah, This Is the Place"	Sam and Gary Francis		2003[45]
	State hymn: "Utah, We Love Thee" (State Song 1937-2003)[46]	Evan Stephens		2003[1]
Vermont	"These Green Mountains"	Diane Martin (composer) Rita Buglass Gluck (arranger)	Diane Martin	1999[1][47]
Virginia	Traditional state song: "Our Great Virginia"	Jim Papoulis (arranger), based on "Oh Shenandoah"	Mike Greenly	2015[3]
	Popular state song: "Sweet Virginia Breeze"	Steve Bassett and Robbin Thompson		2015[3]
	Emeritus state song: "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" (retired as official song in 1998)	James Bland[48]		1940[1][2]
Washington	State song: "Washington, My Home"	Stuart Churchill (arranger)	Helen Davis	1959[1]
	State folk song: "Roll On, Columbia, Roll On"	based on "Goodnight, Irene"	Woody Guthrie	1987[1][49]
	Unofficial state rock song: "Louie Louie"	Richard Berry	Richard Berry	unofficial[50]
West Virginia	Official state song: "The West Virginia Hills"	Henry Everett Engle	Ellen Ruddell King	1963[1][51]
	Official state song: "This Is My West Virginia"	Iris Bell	Iris Bell	1963[1][51]
	Official state song: "West Virginia, My Home Sweet Home"	Julian G. Hearne, Jr.	Julian G. Hearne, Jr.	1963[1][51]
	Official state song: "Take Me Home, Country Roads"	John Denver Bill Danoff Taffy Nivert		2014[52]
Wisconsin	State song: "On, Wisconsin!"	William T. Purdy	Charles D. Rosa and J. S. Hubbard	1959[1][53]
	State ballad: "Oh Wisconsin, Land of My Dreams"	Shari A. Sarazin	Erma Barrett	2001[1][53]
	State waltz: "The Wisconsin Waltz"	Eddie Hansen	Eddie Hansen	2001[1][53]
Wyoming	"Wyoming"	George Edwin Knapp	Charles E. Winter	1955[1][54]

Territories

Some American overseas territories, although not U.S. states, have songs and marches of their own.

Territory	Song	Composer(s)	Lyricist(s)	Year adopted
American Samoa	"Amerika Samoa"
District of Columbia	Song: "Washington"	Jimmie Dodd		1951[55]
	March: "Our Nation's Capital"	Anthony A. Mitchell		1961[55]
Guam	"Stand Ye Guamanians"			1919
Northern Mariana Islands	"Gi Talo Gi Halom Tasi"			1996
Puerto Rico	"La Borinqueña"	Félix Astol Artés	Manuel Fernández Juncos	1977
United States Virgin Islands	"Virgin Islands March"			1963

See also

• List of U.S. state, district, and territorial insignia
• Lists of United States state symbols

References

1. Johnson, Roger R. (2009). "State Songs". Welcome to America. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
2. "Official State Song of the Commonwealth of Virginia". 2006. Retrieved 2007-02-06.
3. "Listen: Virginia Now Has 2 State Songs". 2015. Retrieved 2015-04-02.
4. Accessed April 16, 2009 http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/song/co_rocky_mountain_high.htm Accessed April 16, 2009 Check |url= value (help). Missing or empty |title= (help)
5. http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/song/co_rocky_mountain_high.htm
6. Act 31-126, Acts of Alabama, "STATE SONG: Alabama". Official Symbols and Emblems of Alabama. Alabama Department of Archives & History. 2006-04-27. Retrieved 2007-02-06.
7. "Official State Song". Alaska Information. State of Alaska Office of Economic Development. Retrieved 2007-02-06.
8. "Arizona State Anthems". SOS for Kids. Arizona Secretary of State's Office. 2003. Retrieved 2007-02-06.
9. "State Songs". Arkansas Secretary of State's Office. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
10. "Colorado State Song". Colorado State Symbols & Emblems. State of Colorado, Department of Personnel & Administration, Colorado State Archives. Retrieved 2007-02-21.
11. Brown, Jennifer (March 12, 2007). "Lawmakers OK 'Rocky Mountain High'". The Denver Post. Retrieved 2007-03-12. CRS 24-80-909
12. STATE OF CONNECTICUT, Sites ° Seals ° Symbols; Connecticut State Register & Manual; retrieved on January 4, 2007
13. "Summary of Bills Related to Arts, Cultural, Arts Education. Or Historical Resources That Passed the 2008 Florida Legislature May 5, 2008", Retrieved 2011-12-14
14. "SR1894". flsenate.gov. Florida State Senate. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
15. "I Am Florida". www.iamflorida.org. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
16. from janhintonmusic.com "Home" page. Retrieved on November 27, 2008
17. Hawaii Revised Statutes §5-10
19. KRS 002.100
20. Statton, Dana; Mitchell, Jennifer (28 August 2014). "Give Me Louisiana: Selections from the Doralice Fontane Papers". Louisiana State University. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
21. Lyrics & act numbers of official songs
22. Maryland, My Maryland - Maryland State Song
23. M.G.L. 2:19
24. M.G.L. 2:20
25. M.G.L. 2:27
26. M.G.L. 2:31
27. M.G.L. 2:43
28. Official Web Site of Lenny Gomulka and the Chicago Push
29. M.G.L. 2:44
30. M.G.L. 2:47
31. NE-gov-symbols.
32. RSA 3:7
33. Florio, Gwen (2007-02-16). "Lullaby rocks Mont. politics". USA Today.
34. http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/emblems/song.htms
35. Ohio Revised Code: 1989 S 33, eff. 11-6-89; 1989 H 457
36. House Concurrent Resolution 16 on November 20, 1985.
37. 25 Okla. Stat. § 94.3
40. "State Songs". State of Tennessee. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
41. Tennessee Journal, Vol. 36, No. 23, June 4, 2010
42. Tom Humphrey, 'Smoky Mountain Rain' Wins Race to Become 8th State Song, KnoxNews website, June 3, 2010.
43. Spain, Jr., Charles A. (19 May 2014). "Texas, Our Texas". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
44. "State Song" (Texas Government Code § 3101.005)
45. Utah State Song - "Utah, This is the Place" from pioneer.utah.gov "Pioneer: Utah's Online Library" page. Retrieved on 2008-09-08
46. Utah State Hymn - "Utah We Love Thee" from pioneer.utah.gov "Pioneer: Utah's Online Library" page. Retrieved on 2008-09-08
47. "State Song". Secretary of State of Vermont. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
48. The song was rescinded in 1998 but is still not yet replaced and still in use until for the time being.
49. "Symbols of Washington State". Washington State Legislature. Archived from the original on 2007-03-05. Retrieved 2007-03-11.
50. "Washington State Facts". wsdot. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
51. Ramella, Richard. "West Virginia's Three State Songs". West Virginia Division of Culture and History. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
52. "'Take Me Home, Country Roads' a WVa State Song". USA Today. March 7, 2014.
53. "State song, state ballad, state waltz, state dance, and state symbols". Wisconsin Legislature 1.10. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
54. "Wyoming Facts and Symbols: State Song". State of Wyoming. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
55. Imhoff, Gary (October 1999). "Our Official Songs". DC Watch. Retrieved February 7, 2012.

External links

• Media related to Songs of the United States at Wikimedia Commons