US Official State Songs

State Song Designations of the 50 States

Access profiles of each of the 50 US states official songs. Includes details on the origin and lyric of the state song.

Forty-nine of the fifty U.S. states that make up the United States of America have one or more state songs, which are selected by each state legislature, and/or state governor, as a symbol (or emblem) of that particular U.S. state. New Jersey does not have an official state song, while Virginia's state song, "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny", adopted in 1940, is now considered the "emeritus" state song and is scheduled to be replaced, having been rescinded by the Virginia General Assembly. The General Assembly has not voted on a new song yet- the process of selection, including an extensive contest for public submissions, began in 1998.

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. 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.

A few of these songs are among the best-known songs in the U.S., including "Old Folks at Home" (better known as "Swanee Ribber" or "Suwannee River"), "Yankee Doodle", "You Are My Sunshine", "My Old Kentucky Home", and "Home on the Range"; a number of others are popular standards, including "Oklahoma!" (from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical), 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.