Florida State Song

For information on Stephen Foster, who wrote Old Folks at Home, check out our article: http://www.statereports.us/2010/05/stephen-foster/ Though this song is often accused of being racist because of its language, Foster was actually seeking to reform the music of his time and his music was very sentimental and kindly towards African Americans, especially compared to the other music of his period. (See the above...

Delaware State Song

George B. Hynson wrote out the poem, Our Delaware in 1906 as a tribute to Delaware’s three counties. Will M. S. Brown would later put it to music, and in 1925, the General Assembly made it the state song. The 4th verse was added relatively recently in the song’s long history, by Donn Devine, who wrote a verse “in praise of the State and pledging the loyalties of its citizens” (Title 29,...

Connecticut State Song

Originating as a song which made fun of the unequipped, uncultured, and poorly trained American soldiers, Yankee Doodle as since been adopted by the American people as a quintessentially American song. Within the lyrics, Doodle is thought to come from a German word meaning simpleton or fool. Whereas as macaroni refers to the popular macaroni style of wigs from the period. The idea that “Yankee Doodle...

Colorado State Songs

ContentsWhere the Columbines GrowRocky Mountain HighWhere the Columbines Grow VideoRocky Mountain High Video – John DenverWhere the Columbines Grow Colorado’s original state song was Where the Columbine’s Grow. A.J. Fynn wrote and composed the song, which was adopted almost a century ago in 1915. In the early 2000s, the Colorado legislature started to debate replacing the song with something...

California State Song

California’s state song was written by Francis Bernard Silverwood who was a clothier in Los Angeles. Later, Abraham Franklin Frankenstein, the then conductor of Orpheum Theatre Orchestra, would put Silverwood’s lyrics to music. It was first published by Hatch & Loveland, Music Printers, Los Angeles, Opera star Mary Garden would introduce the song to the world in conjunction with the Chicago...

Arkansas State Songs

Arkansas has two official state songs. There is also an Arkansas State Anthem, and an Arkansas state historical song. The two state songs, one of them called “Oh, Arkansas” and the other one called “Arkansas” or “You Run Deep in Me,” were written for the state’s 150th anniversary and the state honored them by making they both a state song in 1987. Image license:...

Arizona State Anthem and Alternative Anthem

Instead of having a state song, Arizona has two state anthems. Written by Margaret Rowe Clifford in 1915, and later adopted in 1919, Arizona’s original state anthem was the Arizona March Song. Later however, in 1981, the Arizona legislature would adopt Arizona, a popular country music hit, as the state’s alternative anthem. Image License: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paraflyer/ / CC BY-SA...

Alaska State Song

A Bit of History on the State Song The song was originally a poem written by Marie Drake, who was the Territorial Assistant Commissioner of Education of the Alaska Department of Education. She wrote most of the content for School Bulletin, which was cycled throughout Alaska’s school system and the poem made its debut on the October 1935 edition. Elinor Dusenbury came to Alaska by chance. Her husband was...

Alabama State Song

A Bit of History on the State Song and It’s Contenders Julia S. Tutwiler, a distinguished educator who studied new methods of education for women and girls, wrote out the words to Alabama. She had intended it to resembled the patriotic “fatherland” songs of her homeland in Germany, and wanted it to restore the spirits of the people of Alabama. Music was added later, and the song made its debut...

A Breeze From Alabama – Sheet Music

Scott Joplin’s song, A Breeze From Alabama is available here as free sheet music. If you play an instrument, you may want to add your rendition of his song as a unique part of your State Report Project.     Download the song as a MIDI file A Breeze From Alabama Sheet Music – PDF format – 5 pages – 108 KB Click here to download the sheet music in PDF format. Cite this…...