This article is about the state song of Colorado. For information on where the flower grows, see
aquilegia.
Where the Columbines Grow is one of the two official
state songs of the U.S. state of
Colorado.[1] It was written and composed by Dr. Arthur John Fynn in 1911,[2][3] and was adopted on May 8, 1915.[4] In the early to mid-2000s, there was debate over replacing Where the Columbines Grow with
John Denver's Rocky Mountain High or
Merle Haggard's rare song Colorado. In 2007, the Colorado legislature named Rocky Mountain High as Colorado's second official state song, paired with Where the Columbines Grow.[5]
In October 1978, Dave Beadles, then the music director for
740 KSSS in
Colorado Springs, petitioned Governor
Richard Lamm to temporarily change the state song for Country Music Month to Colorado, written by Dave Kirby.[6] The petition was successful and Kirby was flown to Colorado for the occasion.[7]
^This verse was written by Fynn in 1921, responding to criticism that the song as originally published did not mention the name Colorado. It has a substantially different voice, perspective, and theme from the first three verses, and is rarely published.[2]