The State(s) We're In
Listening to the iPod today when 'Idaho' by the BoDeans came on, and I idly got to thinking - there's millions of songs with the names of US states in them - have I got the set?
So back home, and to the search function in iTunes, to find that my collection only covers 29 of the 50 states. Which is a bit shabby, really.
So over to the readership - how can I best fill these gaps?
The 'missing' states are:
Alaska
Connecticut
Delaware (and don't be suggesting any Perry Como...)
Maine
Maryland
Minnesota
Missouri (surprised by this one)
Nevada (and this)
New Hampshire (not by this)
North Carolina
North Dakota
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Utah
Washington (all 'Washington's' refer to D.C.)
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Kansas is a bit of a cheat, as all my songs relate to the city rather than the state, as do most of my New York songs (although New York, New York saved the day)
And the winners? No surprises really. NY top with 62 entries (but mostly city rather than state), California next with 29, Georgia with 19 and Texas with 13. No other state broke 10. (These numbers are not 'unique' songs - they do include 'swaps' and covers.)
So come on, where are all the songs about Rhode Island?
And yes, I do appreciate there is something very OCD about the above...
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After much research...
and the disappointment that Bernie Marsden's Alaska did not record a song called "Alaska" (they did record one called "The Sorcerer", however, which somewhat makes up for it), I found this...
http://www.lacyjdalton.com/The-Alaska-Song.htm
Here's 5 off your list
You will find the full 50 at this link:
http://blog.ipickmynose.com/2007/09/07/50-states-in-50-songs/
The only extras I had were:
Christmas in Nevada - Willard Grant Conspiracy
Laying Low in Eli, Nevada - David Dondero
From Tulsa to North Carolina - Link Wray
North Dakota - Lyle Lovett
Delaware Station - Neal Casal
Oregon Girl - Someone Still Loves You
Oregon - Last Town Chorus
Portland, Oregon - Loretta Lynn
Exeter, Rhode Island - Jennifer O Connor
Whatever you want...
...it's somewhere on the internet, isn't it?
Thanks Simon - interesting list if a bit 'Americana' for my tastes. Then it would be, really, wouldn't it.
I would still maintain that 'Washington Bullets' by the Clash is about DC rather than the state, which is why I excluded it from my list.
Ok, now we've knocked that one off, what about English counties?
I can give you three for Yorkshire, two for Lancashire, one for Cheshire.....
Pennsylvania
"Pennsylvania 65,000" by Glenn Miller ?
And Billy Joel has a song called "Stop In Nevada" on his 'Piano Man' album.
There's some old country song called...
"North To Alaska", isn't there?
Perry Como
What's wrong with Perry Como?
Nothing
Nothing. Two Perry Como songs on my i-tunes "25 Most Played": For The Good Times and And I Love You So. Kris Kristofferson and Don Maclean. Perry Como was hip. And a great singer.
No. 1 Most Played is Rumours by Kippington Lodge. I think I left it on Repeat One by mistake.
Nowt wrong with Perry per se...
..apart from his godawful Christmas specials we used to get back in the 70's...
My specific problem is with that ditty that went something like,
"What did Delaware, boy, what did Delaware?
...she wore a brand New Jersey, wore a brand New Jersey..."
And ever onwards, in increasingly convoluted 'do you see what I did there?' smugness through as many states as conceivably possible.
And I shall now be stuck for the rest of the afternoon with that tune indelibly stuck in the front of my mind.
Bugger.
Of the moment
Oh I do like a bargain.
What about Rhode Island Red by Ike and Tina Turner which also mentions Louisiana in the first line.
Oops
Sorry that should be Sweet Rhode Island Red.
Is it cheating...
.. to suggest Michelle Shocked's Anchorage for Alaska?
Can't access that list
How about Dakota by the Stereophonics? Surely proof of the "put an infinite number of monkeys in a room full of an infinite room of typewriters and they'll produce the complete works of Shakespeare" theory, given the lamentable quality of the rest of their 'oeuvre'?
If I might suggest
"South Carolina (Barnwell)" by the incredible Gil Scott Heron - a fine song!
Don't know that one...
...where can it be found?
I've got it on a compilation called "Glory"
but it's also on the album "From South Africa to South Carolina"
North to Alaska...
...by Ted Hawkins. And South Dakota to Manchester by Fairport Convention.
The Alaska One......
Alaska Highway - Dan Bern
How about double points for Nevada California from the Jayhawks -lets pretend they are signing about the state and not the city.
Minnesota
Jordan, Minnesota - Big Black
Do yourself a favour
and save yourself some work:
To be fair, they're mostly cities, but Alaska's in there. Rhymes with Nebraska.
By the way, what became of David Hepworth's 'list' songs that he was collecting?
Dumbstruck
Wow... "Subterranean Homesick Blues" with an A-Z. That's quite something. I particularly like the way the band is rocking the off-centre necktie look... very fetching.
Take Me Home Country Roads
mentions West Virginia, doesn't it?
And for South Carolina, you've got Hickory Wind.
No no no Lucas....
Mentions are no good - the State's name has to be in the title, not just the lyric.
And the full State name, so 'Jersey Girl' doesn't cut it for me.
Now what about Washington - the State, not the district?
Ah, sorry
Ignore everything I've said today.
Dambuilders
There was a good Boston band in the 90s called The Dambuilders who planned to release a single for every state, but they didn't get far before breaking up: Pennsylvania, Idaho, Arkansas, Louisiana and Montana.
Many states have their own 'State Song', of course, which often contain the name of the state in the title: Hail, Pennsylvania or My Old Kentucky Home. Etcetera.
Apologies if
this has appeared twice but my computer seems to be doing weird things today. Anyway. Utah. Cross it off yer list because those Osmond boys had a song called 'Utah' on their 'Crazy Horses' album. I wish I didn't know this. But I do.
Sufjan Stevens
He's your man if you're looking for not only a song but an album about each state:
Beginning with Michigan, Stevens announced an intent to write an album for each of the 50 U.S. states and so far they've been excellent. Can't recommend them enough.
How about we try something similar for England?
I can't think of any apart from old folk songs.
I can do this one too...
Dexys - Thankfully Not Living in Yorkshire it Doesn't Apply
Bill Nelson - Adventures in a Yorkshire Landscape
Manics - South Yorkshire Mass Murder
Milburn - Cheshire Cat Smile
errr...
Judy Garland - Surrey With the Fringe on Top
But I'm sure there's more.
Tried to avoid Sufjan as it felt like cheating
But I agree entirely with the recommendation.
Jamie
I think our Sufjan is regretting mentioning his gargantuan plan and- marvellous as the two albums he's produced thus far have undoubtedly been- the horrific premonition of being a ninety two year old man still plucking his banjo whilst extolling the majesty of the volcanoes on Hawaii's Big Island has finally hit home. His next release will probably be a 7" single about the vertiginous road systems of Vermont.
The Fall
You've got a point with Sufjan but I admire his pluck. He's pretty prolific so an album a year with the odd good year producing two and three should seem him safely home!
Oh and back to the English counties list:
The Fall - Lucifer Over Lancashire
Salad - Kent
The Orphans of Babylon
"Pinch Me, I Think I'm In Kent". Always played whenever we're driving across the Dartford bridge. See Giles Smith's "Lost In Music" for details...
Does This Train Stop on Merseyside?
By the wonderful Amsterdam should also make the list - assuming metropolitan councils can also be included...?
Also Essex Dogs...
By Blur
I'm considering
a move to Memphis - Colorblind James Experience
their Rideboard also namechecks a lot of Americana
Minnes(n)o(w)ta
‘Minnesoter' by The Dandy Warhols is a gem of a summer song that to me is redolent of suntan oil, teen lust, and the sandy lake beaches of the state. Courtney Taylor-Whatsis starts out pronouncing the state name as the ‘Minnesoter' of the title simply so he can (sorta) rhyme it with ‘crazy loner', but then spends the rest of the tune alternating between -soter and -sota. The locals themselves have never pronounced it ‘Minnesoter', but I think that it does make it sound endearingly rustic.
New York
On the 50 states site, New York seamed to have caused a problem. All the songs were of the city not the state. New York, New York (so good they etc. etc.) seems to be the only one that fits the bill.
On English counties The Albion Band did the Somerset Wassail and the Gloucestershire Wassail. Probably the world of folk should give rich pickings.
New York
New York State of Mind - Billy Joel, does this count?
more ideas
When it's springtime in Alaska - Johhny Cash
Oregon Hill - Cowboy Junkies
Sands of Nevada - Mark Knopfler
Christmas in Nevada - Willard Grant Conspiracy
West Virginia My Home - Hazel Dickens
Missouri Waltz - Johnny Cash