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US State Songs
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State Songs

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Tennessee Greeting: Tennessee's distinction as the home of country music is represented by an acoustic guitar in the foreground. Behind it is the night skyline of Nashville, the capital, and the Cumberland River that loops through the city, and in the distance are the Great Smoky Mountains.

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Tennessee State Song

"Rocky Top"

Written by Boudleaux and Felice Bryant

Adopted in 1982.

The song, "Rocky Top", by Boudleaux and Felice Bryant, was adopted as an official song of Tennessee on February 15, 1982, by Chapter 545 of the Public Acts of 1982.

Tennessee State Song: "Rocky Top"

"Rocky Top"

Verse

Wish that I was on ol' Rocky Top,
down in the Tennessee hills;
Ain't no smoggy smoke on Rocky Top;
Ain't no telephone bills;
Once I had a girl on Rocky Top;
Half bear, other half cat;
Wild as a mink, but sweet as soda pop,
I still dream about that;

Second Verse

Once two strangers climbed ol' Rocky Top,
lookin' for a moonshine still;
Strangers ain't come down from Rocky Top;
Reckon they never will;
Corn won't grow at all on Rocky Top;
Dirt's too rocky by far;
That's why all the folks on Rocky Top
get their corn from a jar;

Third Verse

I've had years of cramped-up city life
Trapped like a duck in a pen;
All I know is it's a pity life
Can't be simple again.


Chorus

Rocky Top, you'll always be
home sweet home to me;
Good ol' Rocky Top;
Rocky Top, Tennessee;
Rocky Top, Tennessee.

Origin of Song: "Rocky Top"

"Rocky Top" by Boudleaux and Felice Bryant, was adopted as an official song of Tennessee by Chapter 545 of the Public Acts of 1982.

Tennessee Law

Tennessee General Statutes, Title 4, Chapter 1, Part 3, Section 302.

TITLE 4. STATE GOVERNMENT
CHAPTER 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS
PART 3. STATE SYMBOLS
SECTION 302.

4-1-302. State songs. The official songs of this state shall be as follows:

(1) "My Homeland, Tennessee" by Nell Grayson Taylor and Roy Lamont Smith, as adopted by House Joint Resolution 36 in 1925;

(2) "When It's Iris Time In Tennessee" by Willa Mae Waid, as adopted by Acts 1935, chapter 154;

(3) "My Tennessee" by Francis Hannah Tranum, as adopted by Senate Joint Resolution 35 in 1955, as the official public school song in Tennessee;

(4) "The Tennessee Waltz" by Redd Stewart and Pee Wee King, as adopted by Senate Joint Resolution 9 in 1965; and

(5) "Rocky Top" by Boudleaux and Felice Bryant, as adopted by Acts 1982, chapter 545.

[Acts 1935, ch. 154, § 1, 2; mod. C. Supp. 1950, § 107.1, 107.2; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 4-107; Acts 1982, ch. 545, § 1.]

 


State Songs
US State Songs
Forty-nine states of the United States (all except New Jersey) have one or more state songs, selected by the state legislature as a symbol of the state.