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Meet The New Song; Not Like The Old Song

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By STEVE OTTO, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 18, 2008

The truth is, most state songs are wretched anyhow, so Florida's new song won't stand out any more than the bulk of them. In fact, with any luck by this summer it will have disappeared into the kudzu outside of Tallahassee, another bad idea from the same state that once changed the name of mullet to "Lisa" to make it sound more appealing. I haven't seen a Lisa in years.

Some of you have probably heard "Florida ,Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky," the winner of the competition to replace Florida's current song, "Old Folks At Home." If you're a computer person, you can find it easily enough. We link to it on TBO.com. If you're not, just hang around any street corner. I figure people will soon be humming it everywhere.

It's one of those sugary little melodies that you might hear while waiting forever in line at Disney World. In fact, now that I think about it, the song reminds me of the Canadian song they play at Epcot in the pavilion, the one that you listen to while watching Mounties and panoramic scenes of our northern neighbor. Substitute "Canada" for "Florida" and instead of "Sawgrass," stick in "Icicle" and I think the two might be interchangeable.

Way Down Upon The ...

We had to have a new state song because that's the world we live in. When I was a kid, we learned it without the dialect that has doomed it to the world of nonsongs. It's not going to stop me from breaking out into "Way down upon the Swanee River," every time we roll over the Suwannee River on our way back into Florida.

For me, it's not only a signal that we're back home, but after a day on I-75, the "all the world is sad and dreary, everywhere I roam" part seems to strike a chord. Somehow I don't think I'll feel the same way about "Florida, where the sawgrass meets the sky, Florida, where our hearts will ever lie; Sitting proud in the ocean like a sentinel true; Always shielding your own yet giving welcome."

Most state songs are equally forgettable. A few states have gone the show-biz route. Oklahoma stole the Broadway show of the same name, and Kansas goes with "Home on the Range."

But if you think Florida's old song was insensitive, how about "Carry me back to old Virginny, There's where the cotton and the corn and 'tatoes grow, There's where the birds warble sweet in the springtime, There's where the old darkey's heart am long'd to go. There's where I labored so hard for old massa, Day after day in the field of yellow corn."

'Northern Scum'

My favorite is "Maryland My Maryland," although you have to work through a few verses before you get to the good stuff such as "Thou wilt not yield the vandal toll, Maryland, My Maryland. Thou wilt not crook to his control, Maryland, My Maryland! Better the fire upon thee roll, Better the blade, the shot, the bowl, Than crucifixion of the soul, Maryland, My Maryland!

"I hear the distant thunder-hum, Maryland, My Maryland! The Old Line's bugle, fife and drum, Maryland, My Maryland! She is not dead, nor deaf, nor dumb.

"Huzza! She spurns the Northern scum! She breathes! She burns! She'll come! She'll come! Maryland, My Maryland."

I'm not too clear what all is going on in those verses, but any state song that includes "Northern scum" is a song with real character. You don't forget a song like that.

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