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.
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 10 official state songs and an official bicentennial rap.
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"), adopted by Florida, and " My Old Kentucky Home", are among the best-known songs in the U.S. In 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, along with "Where the Columbines Grow". [2] In 2014, the West Virginia Legislature approved a resolution to make Denver's " Take Me Home, Country Roads" one of four official state songs of West Virginia. [3] Additionally, Woody Guthrie wrote or co-wrote two state folk songs – " Roll On, Columbia, Roll On" and " Oklahoma Hills" – but they have separate status from the official state songs of Washington and Oklahoma, respectively. 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.
New Jersey has never adopted a state song. [4] In 2021, Maryland removed the official status of " Maryland, My Maryland" due to pro-Confederate language deemed racist, but did not establish a replacement. [5] Virginia's previous state song, " Carry Me Back to Old Virginny", adopted in 1940, [1] was later rescinded in 1997 due to language deemed racist by the Virginia General Assembly. [6] In 2015, " Our Great Virginia" was made the new state song of Virginia. [7]
New Mexico has not one but two other songs in Spanish:" Así Es Nuevo México" 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 the melody for their official state song. [8]
State | State song | Composer(s) | Lyricist(s) | Year adopted |
---|---|---|---|---|
Alabama | " Alabama" | Edna Gockel Gussen | Julia S. Tutwiler | 1931 [1] [9] |
Alaska | " Beyond Your Dreams Within Your Reach (Alaska's Flag)" | Elinor Dusenbury | Marie Drake | 1955 [1] [10] |
Arizona | State song: " Arizona" | Rex Allen and Rex Allen, Jr. | Rex Allen and Rex Allen, Jr. | 1981 [1] [11] |
State anthem: " Arizona March Song" | Maurice Blumenthal | Margaret Rowe Clifford | 1919 [1] [11] | |
Arkansas | State anthem: " Arkansas" | Eva Ware Barnett | Eva Ware Barnett | 1917/1987 [1] [12] |
" Arkansas (You Run Deep in Me)" | Wayland Holyfield | Wayland Holyfield | 1987 [1] [12] | |
" Oh, Arkansas" | Terry Rose and Gary Klaff | Terry Rose and Gary Klaff | 1987 [1] [12] | |
State historic song: " Arkansas Traveler" | Sandford C. Faulkner | State Song Selection Committee | 1949/1987 [1] [12] | |
California | " I Love You, California" | Abraham F. Frankenstein | F. B. Silverwood | 1951 [1] |
Colorado | " Where the Columbines Grow" | A.J. Fynn | 1915 [1] [13] [14] | |
" Rocky Mountain High" | John Denver and Mike Taylor | John Denver | 2007 [13] [15] | |
Connecticut | State song: " Yankee Doodle" | 1978 [16] [17] | ||
Second state song: "Beautiful Connecticut Waltz" | Joseph Leggo | 2013 [16] [17] | ||
State cantata: " The Nutmeg" | Stanley L. Ralph | 2003 [16] [17] | ||
State polka: "Ballroom Polka" | Ray Henry | 2013 [17] [18] | ||
Delaware | " Our Delaware" | Will M. S. Brown | George Beswick Hynson | 1925 [1] |
Florida | Official song: " Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)" (with revised lyrics) | Stephen Foster | Original: Stephen Foster
Adapted: Stephen Foster Memorial at the University of Pittsburgh |
2008 (revised lyrics)
[19] 1935 (original lyrics) [1] |
Official poem: " I Am Florida" | Walter "Clyde" Orange | Allen Autry Sr. | 2013 [20] [21] | |
State anthem: " Florida (Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky)" | Jan Hinton | 2008 [22] | ||
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] [23] |
Idaho | " Here We Have Idaho" | Sallie Hume Douglas | McKinley Helm and Albert J. Tompkins | 1931 [1] |
Illinois | " Illinois" | Archibald Johnston | Charles H. Chamberlain | 1925 [24] |
Indiana | " On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away" | Paul Dresser | 1913 [1] | |
Iowa | " The Song of Iowa" | Melchior Franck | S. H. M. Byers | 1911 [1] |
Official Companion State Song: "Make Me a World in Iowa" | Effie Burt | 2002 [1] [25] | ||
Kansas | " Home on the Range" | Daniel E. Kelley | Brewster M. Higley | 1947 [1] [26] |
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] [27] | ||
Louisiana | " Give Me Louisiana" | Doralice Fontane [28] | 1970 [1] | |
" You Are My Sunshine" | Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell | 1977 [1] | ||
State march: "Louisiana My Home Sweet Home" | 1952 [1] | |||
Environmental song: "The Gifts of Earth" [29] | ||||
Maine | State song: State of Maine | Roger Vinton Snow | Roger Vinton Snow | 1937 [1] |
State ballad: Ballad of the 20th Maine | The Ghost of Paul Revere | Griffin Sherry | 2019 | |
Maryland | None (Previously: Maryland, My Maryland) | |||
Massachusetts | State anthem: " All Hail to Massachusetts" | Arthur J. Marsh | 1981 [1] [30] | |
State folk song: " Massachusetts" | Arlo Guthrie | 1981 [1] [31] | ||
State ceremonial march: " The Road to Boston" | unknown | 1985 [1] [32] | ||
State patriotic song: " Massachusetts (Because of You Our Land is Free)" | Bernard Davidson | 1989 [1] [33] | ||
State glee club song: " The Great State of Massachusetts" | J. Earl Bley | George A. Wells | 1997 [1] [34] | |
State polka: " Say Hello to Someone from Massachusetts" | Lenny Gomulka [35] | 1998 [36] | ||
State ode: " Ode to Massachusetts" | Joseph Falzone | 2000 [1] [37] | ||
Michigan | An official state song: " My Michigan" | H. O'Reilly Clint | Giles Kavanaugh | 1937 [1] |
Minnesota | " Hail! Minnesota" | Truman Rickard | Cyrus Northrop | 1945 [1] |
Mississippi | "
Go, Mississippi" (sometimes called Go Mis-sis-sip-pi) |
William Houston Davis | 1962 [1] | |
Missouri | " Missouri Waltz" | melody: John V. Eppel arranged: Frederic K. Logan |
J.R. Shannon | 1949 [1] |
Montana | " Montana" | Joseph E. Howard | Charles Cohan | 1945 [1] |
State ballad: "Montana Melody" | 1983 [1] | |||
State lullaby: "Montana Lullaby" | 2007 [38] | |||
Nebraska | Official: " Beautiful Nebraska" | Jim Fras | Jim Fras and Guy Miller | 1967 [1] [39] |
Nevada | " Home Means Nevada" | Bertha Rafetto | 1933 [1] | |
New Hampshire | Official: " Old New Hampshire" | Maurice Hoffman | John F. Holmes | 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] [40] | |||
New Jersey | None [41] | N/A | N/A | N/A |
New Mexico | State song: " O Fair New Mexico" | Elizabeth Garrett | 1917 [1] | |
Spanish state song: " Así Es Nuevo México" | Amadeo Lucero | 1971 [1] | ||
State ballad: " Land of Enchantment" | Michael Martin Murphey, Don Cook, and Chick Rains | 1989 [1] | ||
Bilingual song: " New Mexico – Mi Lindo Nuevo México" | Pablo Mares | 1995 [1] | ||
State cowboy song: "Under New Mexico Skies" | Syd Masters | 2009 | ||
New York | State song: " I Love New York" | Steve Karmen | 1980 [42] | |
State hymn of remembrance: "Here Rests in Honored Glory" | Donald B. Miller | 2018 [43] [44] | ||
North Carolina | " The Old North State" | E.E. Randolph | William Gaston | 1927 [1] |
North Dakota | " North Dakota Hymn" | C. S. Putman | James Folely | 1947 [1] |
Ohio | " Beautiful Ohio" | Mary Earl | Ballard MacDonald (1918) Wilbert McBride (1989) |
1969 [1] [45] |
Rock song: " Hang On Sloopy" | Wes Farrell and Bert Berns | 1985 [1] [46] | ||
Oklahoma | Official state song: " Oklahoma" | Richard Rodgers | Oscar Hammerstein II | 1953 [1] [47] |
Official state waltz: "Oklahoma Wind" | 1982 [1] | |||
State Folk Song: " Oklahoma Hills" | Woody Guthrie and Jack Guthrie | 2001 [48] [49] | ||
Official state children's song: "Oklahoma, My Native Land" | Martha Kemm Barrett | 1996 [50] | ||
Official state gospel song: " Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" | Wallis Willis | 2011 [51] | ||
Oregon | " Oregon, My Oregon" | Henry Bernard Murtagh | John Andrew Buchanan | 1927 [1] |
Pennsylvania | " Pennsylvania" | Eddie Khoury and Ronnie Bonner | 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 [52] |
"When It's Iris Time in Tennessee" | Willa Waid Newman | 1935 [1] [52] | ||
"My Tennessee" | Frances Hannah Tranum | 1955 [52] | ||
" Tennessee Waltz" | Pee Wee King | Redd Stewart | 1965 [1] [52] | |
" Rocky Top" | Felice and Boudleaux Bryant | 1982 [1] [52] | ||
" Tennessee" | Vivian Rorie | 1992 [52] | ||
"The Pride of Tennessee" | Fred Congdon, Thomas Vaughn, and Carol Elliot | 1996 [1] [52] | ||
"A Tennessee Bicentennial Rap: 1796-1996" | Joan Hill Hanks | 1996 [52] | ||
" Smoky Mountain Rain" |
Kye Fleming Dennis Morgan |
2010 [52] [53] [54] | ||
"Tennessee" | John R. Bean | 2012 [52] | ||
Texas | " Texas, Our Texas" | William J. Marsh | William J. Marsh and Gladys Yoakum Wright | 1929 [55] [56] |
Utah | State song: " Utah...This Is the Place" | Sam and Gary Francis | 2003 [57] | |
State hymn: "
Utah, We Love Thee" (state song from 1937 to 2003) [58] |
Evan Stephens | 2003 [1] | ||
Vermont | " These Green Mountains" | Diane Martin (composer) Rita Buglass Gluck (arranger) |
Diane Martin | 1999 [1] [59] |
Virginia | Traditional state song: " Our Great Virginia" | Jim Papoulis (arranger), based on " Oh Shenandoah" | Mike Greenly | 2015 [7] |
Popular state song: " Sweet Virginia Breeze" | Steve Bassett and Robbin Thompson | 2015 [7] | ||
Emeritus state song: " Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" (retired as official song in 1998) | James A. Bland [60] | 1940 [1] [6] | ||
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] [61] | |
Unofficial state rock song: " Louie Louie" | Richard Berry | Richard Berry | unofficial [62] | |
West Virginia | Official state song: " The West Virginia Hills" | Henry Everett Engle | Ellen Ruddell King | 1963 [1] [63] |
Official state song: "This Is My West Virginia" | Iris Bell | Iris Bell | 1963 [1] [63] | |
Official state song: "West Virginia, My Home Sweet Home" | Julian G. Hearne, Jr. | Julian G. Hearne, Jr. | 1963 [1] [63] | |
Official state song: " Take Me Home, Country Roads" | John Denver, Bill Danoff, and Taffy Nivert | 2014 [64] | ||
Wisconsin | State song: " On, Wisconsin!" | William T. Purdy | Charles D. Rosa and J. S. Hubbard | 1959 [1] [65] |
State ballad: "Oh Wisconsin, Land of My Dreams" | Shari A. Sarazin | Erma Barrett | 2001 [1] [65] | |
State waltz: "The Wisconsin Waltz" | Eddie Hansen | Eddie Hansen | 2001 [1] [65] | |
Wyoming | State song: " Wyoming" | George Edwin Knapp | Charles E. Winter | 1955 [1] [66] |
State song: "Wyoming Where I Belong" | Annie & Amy Smith | Annie & Amy Smith | 2018 [1] [67] |
Federal district | Song | Composer(s) | Lyricist(s) | Year adopted |
---|---|---|---|---|
District of Columbia | Song: "Washington" | Jimmie Dodd | 1951 [68] | |
March: " Our Nation's Capital" | Anthony A. Mitchell | 1961 [68] |
Territory | Song | Composer(s) | Lyricist(s) | Year adopted |
---|---|---|---|---|
American Samoa | " Amerika Samoa" | Napoleon Andrew Tuiteleleapaga | Mariota Tiumalu Tuiasosopo | 1950 |
Guam | " Stand Ye Guamanians" | Ramon Manalisay Sablan | Ramon Manalisay Sablan
Lagrimas Untalan (translation) |
1919 |
Northern Mariana Islands | " Gi Talo Gi Halom Tasi" | Wilhelm Ganzhorn | David Kapileo Taulamwaar Peter
Jose and Joaqin Pangelinan |
1996 |
Puerto Rico | Anthem: " La Borinqueña" | Félix Astol Artés | Manuel Fernández Juncos | 1977 |
United States Virgin Islands | " Virgin Islands March" | Sam Williams and Alton Adams | 1963 |