Forty-eight of the fifty states in the United 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 state. 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 of the same name), 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.
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 12 official state songs and an official bicentennial rap.
Two individuals, Stephen Foster and John Denver, have written or co-written state songs for two different states. Foster wrote the music and lyrics for "My Old Kentucky Home", adopted by Kentucky in 1928, and "Old Folks at Home" (better known as "Swanee Ribber" or "Suwannee River"), adopted by Florida in 1935. John Denver wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the music for "Rocky Mountain High", adopted by Colorado in 2007 as one of the state's two official state songs,[1] and co-wrote both lyrics and music for "Take Me Home, Country Roads", adopted by West Virginia in 2014 as one of four official state songs.[2] Additionally, Woody Guthrie wrote or co-wrote two state folk songs – "Roll On, Columbia, Roll On" (Washington) and "Oklahoma Hills" (Oklahoma) – but they have separate status from the official state songs of both states.
New Mexico has two state 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 its melody.[3] The same tune is used for "Maryland, My Maryland" which was Maryland's state song from 1939 to 2021.
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.
New Jersey has never adopted a state song.[4] A resolution to declare the song "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen as the state song passed the Assembly, but failed the state Senate as the song's lyrics depict a desire to leave New Jersey.[5] [6]
Oklahoma's state "rock song" from 2009 to 2011 was "Do You Realize??" by The Flaming Lips, but the state legislature vote was not ratified.[7] [8] The move might have purportedly been due to offensive lyrics and a band member wearing of communist symbols on a shirt.[9]
Maryland had a state song until 2021. "Maryland, My Maryland" was removed due to pro-Confederate language, but no replacement was established.
Virginia's previous state song, "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny", adopted in 1940,[10] was rescinded in 1997 due to language deemed racist by the Virginia General Assembly.[11] In 2015, "Our Great Virginia" was made the new state song of Virginia.[12]
In 2021, Louisiana made "You Are My Sunshine" their only official state song by removing the less-popular "Give Me Louisiana". "You Are My Sunshine" is so beloved by Louisiana residents that many of them, including state legislators, were unaware that a second official song existed prior to the proposed removal. "Southern Nights" was added at the same time as the removal, but given a new designation as a state cultural song.[13]
| State | State song | Composer(s) | Lyricist(s) | Year adopted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Alabama" | Edna Gockel Gussen | 1931[14] | ||
| "Alaska's Flag" | Elinor Dusenbury | 1955[15] | ||
| State song: "Arizona" | Rex Allen and Rex Allen, Jr. | 1981[16] | ||
| State anthem: "Arizona March Song" | Maurice Blumenthal | Margaret Rowe Clifford | 1919 | |
| State anthem: "Arkansas" | Eva Ware Barnett | Eva Ware Barnett | 1917/1987[17] | |
| "Arkansas (You Run Deep in Me)" | Wayland Holyfield | 1987 | ||
| "Oh, Arkansas" | Terry Rose and Gary Klaff | Terry Rose and Gary Klaff | 1987 | |
| State historic song: "Arkansas Traveler" | State Song Selection Committee | 1949/1987 | ||
| "I Love You, California" | Abraham F. Frankenstein | F. B. Silverwood | 1951 | |
| "Where the Columbines Grow" | A.J. Fynn | 1915[18] [19] | ||
| "Rocky Mountain High" | John Denver and Mike Taylor | John Denver | 2007[20] | |
| State song: "Yankee Doodle" | 1978 | |||
| Second state song: "Beautiful Connecticut Waltz" | Joseph Leggo | 2013 | ||
| State cantata: "The Nutmeg" | Stanley L. Ralph | 2003 | ||
| State polka: "Ballroom Polka" | Ray Henry | 2013 | ||
| "Our Delaware" | Will M. S. Brown | George Beswick Hynson | 1925 | |
| Official song: "Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)" (with revised lyrics) | 1935 (original lyrics) 2008 (revised lyrics)[21] | |||
| Official poem: "I Am Florida" | Walter "Clyde" Orange | Allen Autry Sr. | 2013[22] [23] | |
| State anthem: "Florida (Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky)" | Jan Hinton | 2008[24] | ||
| 1979 | ||||
| State anthem: "Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī" | 1967[25] | |||
| "Here We Have Idaho" | Sallie Hume Douglas | McKinley Helm and Albert J. Tompkins | 1931 | |
| "Illinois" | Archibald Johnston | Charles H. Chamberlain | 1925[26] | |
| "On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away" | Paul Dresser | 1913 | ||
| "The Song of Iowa" | S. H. M. Byers | 1911 | ||
| Official Companion State Song: "Make Me a World in Iowa" | Effie Burt | 2002[27] | ||
| "Home on the Range" | Daniel E. Kelley | Brewster M. Higley | 1947[28] | |
| Official state march: "The Kansas March" | 1935 | |||
| Official march: "Here's Kansas" | 1992 | |||
| State song: "My Old Kentucky Home" | Stephen Foster | 1928 | ||
| Bluegrass song: "Blue Moon of Kentucky" | Bill Monroe | 1988[29] | ||
| "You Are My Sunshine" | Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell | 1977 | ||
| State march: "Louisiana My Home Sweet Home"[30] | Castro Carazo | Sammie McKenzie and Lou Levoy | 1952 | |
| State environmental song: "The Gifts of Earth"[31] | Frances LeBeau | 1990[32] | ||
| State cultural song: "Southern Nights"[33] | Allen Toussaint | 2021 | ||
| Roger Vinton Snow | Roger Vinton Snow | 1937 | ||
| Griffin Sherry | 2019 | |||
| None | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| State anthem: "All Hail to Massachusetts" | Arthur J. Marsh | 1981[34] | ||
| State folk song: "Massachusetts" | Arlo Guthrie | 1981[35] | ||
| State ceremonial march: "The Road to Boston" | Unknown | 1985[36] | ||
| State patriotic song: "Massachusetts (Because of You Our Land is Free)" | Bernard Davidson | 1989[37] | ||
| State glee club song: "The Great State of Massachusetts" | J. Earl Bley | George A. Wells | 1997[38] | |
| State polka: "Say Hello to Someone from Massachusetts" | Lenny Gomulka[39] | 1998[40] | ||
| State ode: "Ode to Massachusetts" | Joseph Falzone | 2000[41] | ||
| An official state song: "My Michigan" | H. O'Reilly Clint | Giles Kavanaugh | 1937 | |
| "Hail! Minnesota" | Truman Rickard | Cyrus Northrop | 1945 | |
| "Mississippi" | Bonita Crowe | 1916[42] [43] [44] | ||
| "Go, Mississippi" | William Houston Davis | 1962 | ||
| "One Mississippi" | Steve Azar | 2022 | ||
| "Missouri Waltz" | melody: John V. Eppel arranged: Frederic K. Logan | J.R. Shannon | 1949 | |
| "Montana" | Joseph E. Howard | Charles Cohan | 1945 | |
| State ballad: "Montana Melody" | 1983 | |||
| State lullaby: "Montana Lullaby" | 2007 | |||
| Official: "Beautiful Nebraska" | Jim Fras | Jim Fras and Guy Miller | 1967[45] | |
| "Home Means Nevada" | Bertha Rafetto | 1933 | ||
| Official: "Old New Hampshire" | Maurice Hoffman | John F. Holmes | 1949 1977 | |
| Official: "Live Free or Die" | Barry Palmer | 2007 | ||
| Honorary: "New Hampshire, My New Hampshire" | 1963 | |||
| Honorary: "New Hampshire Hills" | 1973 | |||
| Honorary: "Autumn in New Hampshire" | 1977 | |||
| Honorary: "New Hampshire's Granite State" | 1977 | |||
| Honorary: "Oh, New Hampshire" | 1977 | |||
| Honorary: "The Old Man of the Mountain" | 1977 | |||
| Honorary: "The New Hampshire State March" | 1977 | |||
| Honorary: "New Hampshire Naturally" | 1983[46] | |||
| None[47] | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| State song: "O Fair New Mexico" | Elizabeth Garrett | 1917 | ||
| Spanish state song: "Así Es Nuevo México" | Amadeo Lucero | 1971 | ||
| State ballad: "Land of Enchantment" | Michael Martin Murphey, Don Cook, and Chick Rains | 1989 | ||
| Bilingual song: "New Mexico – Mi Lindo Nuevo México" | Pablo Mares | 1995 | ||
| State cowboy song: "Under New Mexico Skies" | Syd Masters | 2009 | ||
| State song: "I Love New York" | 1980[48] | |||
| State hymn of remembrance: "Here Rests in Honored Glory" | Donald B. Miller | 2018 | ||
| "The Old North State" | E.E. Randolph | William Gaston | 1927 | |
| "North Dakota Hymn" | C. S. Putman | James Folely | 1947 | |
| "Beautiful Ohio" | Mary Earl | Ballard MacDonald (1918) Wilbert McBride (1989) | 1969[49] | |
| Rock song: "Hang On Sloopy" | 1985[50] | |||
| Official state song: "Oklahoma" | Oscar Hammerstein II | 1953[51] | ||
| Official state waltz: "Oklahoma Wind" | 1982 | |||
| State Folk Song: "Oklahoma Hills" | Woody Guthrie and Jack Guthrie | 2001[52] [53] | ||
| Official state children's song: "Oklahoma, My Native Land" | Martha Kemm Barrett | 1996[54] | ||
| Official state gospel song: "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" | Wallis Willis | 2011[55] | ||
| "Oregon, My Oregon" | Henry Bernard Murtagh | John Andrew Buchanan | 1927 | |
| "Pennsylvania" | Eddie Khoury and Ronnie Bonner | 1990 | ||
| “Pennsylvania” | Gertrude Rohrer | Gertrude Rohrer | 1960 | |
| State march: "Rhode Island" | 1996 | |||
| State song: "Rhode Island, It's for Me" | 1996 | |||
| "Carolina" | Anne Curtis Burgess | Henry Timrod G.R. Goodwin (editor) | 1911 | |
| "South Carolina on My Mind" | Hank Martin and Buzz Arledge | 1984 | ||
| "Hail, South Dakota!" | DeeCort Hammitt | 1943 | ||
| "My Homeland, Tennessee" | Roy Lamont Smith | Nell Grayson Taylor | 1925[56] | |
| "When It's Iris Time in Tennessee" | Willa Waid Newman | 1935 | ||
| "My Tennessee" | Frances Hannah Tranum | 1955 | ||
| "Tennessee Waltz" | Redd Stewart | 1965 | ||
| "Rocky Top" | 1982 | |||
| "Tennessee" | Vivian Rorie | 1992 | ||
| "The Pride of Tennessee" | Fred Congdon, Thomas Vaughn, and Carol Elliot | 1996 | ||
| "A Tennessee Bicentennial Rap: 1796-1996" | Joan Hill Hanks | 1996 | ||
| "Smoky Mountain Rain" | Kye Fleming Dennis Morgan | 2010[57] [58] | ||
| "Tennessee" | John R. Bean | 2012 | ||
| "The Tennessee in Me" | Debbie Matthas | 2023[59] | ||
| "Copperhead Road" | 2023 | |||
| "Texas, Our Texas" | William J. Marsh | William J. Marsh and Gladys Yoakum Wright | 1929[60] | |
| State song: "Utah...This Is the Place" | Sam and Gary Francis | 2003[61] | ||
| State hymn: "Utah, We Love Thee" (state song from 1937 to 2003)[62] | Evan Stephens | 2003 | ||
| "These Green Mountains" | Diane Martin (composer) Rita Buglass Gluck (arranger) | Diane Martin | 1999[63] | |
| Traditional state song: "Our Great Virginia" | Jim Papoulis (arranger), based on "Oh Shenandoah" | 2015 | ||
| Popular state song: "Sweet Virginia Breeze" | 2015 | |||
| Emeritus state song: "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" (retired as official song in 1998) | James A. Bland[64] | 1940 | ||
| State song: "Washington, My Home" | Stuart Churchill (arranger) | Helen Davis | 1959 | |
| State folk song: "Roll On, Columbia, Roll On" | based on "Goodnight, Irene" | Woody Guthrie | 1987[65] | |
| Unofficial state rock song: "Louie Louie" | Richard Berry | unofficial[66] | ||
| Official state song: "The West Virginia Hills" | Henry Everett Engle | Ellen Ruddell King | 1963[67] | |
| Official state song: "This Is My West Virginia" | Iris Bell | 1963 | ||
| Official state song: "West Virginia, My Home Sweet Home" | Julian G. Hearne, Jr. | Julian G. Hearne, Jr. | 1963 | |
| Official state song: "Take Me Home, Country Roads" | John Denver, Bill Danoff, and Taffy Nivert | 2014[68] | ||
| State song: "On, Wisconsin!" | William T. Purdy | Charles D. Rosa and J. S. Hubbard | 1959 | |
| State ballad: "Oh Wisconsin, Land of My Dreams" | Shari A. Sarazin | Erma Barrett | 2001[69] | |
| State waltz: "The Wisconsin Waltz" | Eddie Hansen | Eddie Hansen | 2001 | |
| State song: "Wyoming" | George Edwin Knapp | 1955[70] | ||
| State song: "Wyoming Where I Belong" | Annie & Amy Smith | Annie & Amy Smith | 2018[71] | |
| Federal district | Song | Composer(s) | Lyricist(s) | Year adopted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song: "Washington" | 1951[72] | |||
| March: "Our Nation's Capital" | 1961 | |||
| Territory | Song | Composer(s) | Lyricist(s) | Year adopted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Amerika Samoa" | Napoleon Andrew Tuiteleleapaga | Mariota Tiumalu Tuiasosopo | 1950 | |
| "Stand Ye Guamanians" | Ramon Manalisay Sablan | Ramon Manalisay Sablan Lagrimas Untalan (translation) | 1919 | |
| "Gi Talo Gi Halom Tasi" | Wilhelm Ganzhorn | David Kapileo Taulamwaar Peter Jose and Joaqin Pangelinan | 1996 | |
| "La Borinqueña" | 1977 | |||
| "Virgin Islands March" | Sam Williams and Alton Adams | 1963 | ||