Montana State Ballad
1-1-511. State ballad. The song “Montana Melody”, written by Carleen Harvey and LeGrande Harvey, is the official state ballad of the state of Montana.
History: En. Sec. 1, Ch. 56, L. 1983.
Source: Montana Legislature
Montana is one of the few states to have a state song and a state ballad. A ballad is different from most songs because it tells a story. The song was written by LeGrande Harvey. “Montana Melody” was adopted in 1983. Helena students from Jefferson school were instrumental in getting the bill passed. Hal Harper introduced and carried the bill.
Source: Missoula Convention and Visitors Bureau
Check out LeGrande Harvey’s website and biography:Here
Bear grass. Image courtesy flikr/yancy9.
Montana Melody
© LeGrande Harvey
I long to be in the places that I see
in the pictures of my dreams
Where there’s mountains full of trees,
meadows carpeted in green
Silent, snow-fall, clear running streams.
Where the bear-grass blooms
In the spring-time of the year,
And the larch turn gold in the Fall
Where there’s deer, elk and antelope
Beaver, bears and birds and the yippin’
coyotes serenade them all.
Chorus
Yes, there’s no place like Montana,
the Big Sky country, my home.
A place to set my spirit free,
a Rocky Mountain melody,
These things are a part of me,
Montana, Montana, my home.
Charlie Russell clouds paint sunsets in the West,
in colors of red, blue and gold.
Snow-capped peaks reach endless to the sky,
and the grain-fields with gentle breezes flow.
There’s high mountain lakes, Missouri river breaks
and the open plains, where the buffalo used to roam.
It’s a cowboy song, it’s where Indians belong
God’s country, my home sweet home.
I had a dream, of how Heaven’s s’posed to be,
and when I die, that’s where I want to go.
Cause there’s mountains full of trees, meadows
carpeted in green, silent snowfall, clear running streams.
Image License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Citation styles
- APA style
- Montana State Ballad. (2010, June 25). In State Reports by ClassBrain. Retrieved 17:52, May 18, 2012, from http://www.statereports.us/2010/06/montana-state-ballad/
- MLA style
- Nora K, “Montana State Ballad.” State Reports by ClassBrain. 25 June 2010, 21:06 UTC. . 18 May 2012 <http://www.statereports.us/2010/06/montana-state-ballad/>.
- MHRA style
- Nora K, 'Montana State Ballad', State Reports by ClassBrain, 25 June 2010, 21:06 UTC, <http://www.statereports.us/2010/06/montana-state-ballad/> [accessed 18 May 2012]
- The Chicago Manual of Style
- Nora K, “Montana State Ballad.” State Reports by ClassBrain, http://www.statereports.us/2010/06/montana-state-ballad/ [accessed May 18, 2012].
- CBE/CSE style
- Nora K, Montana State Ballad [Internet]. State Reports by ClassBrain; 2010 June 25, 21:06 UTC [cited 2012 May 18]. Available from: http://www.statereports.us/2010/06/montana-state-ballad/.
- Bluebook style
- Montana State Ballad, http://www.statereports.us/2010/06/montana-state-ballad/ (last visited May. 18, 2012).
- AMA style
- Nora K, Montana State Ballad. State Reports by ClassBrain. June 25, 2010, 21:06 UTC. Available at: http://www.statereports.us/2010/06/montana-state-ballad/. Accessed May 18, 2012.