Spatter: New State Song

In 1851, Stephen Foster wrote "Old Folks At Home". It was written for E. P. Christy and his performing troupe, Christy's Minstels. The original draft of the song actually referred to the Pedee River instead of the Suwannee River, but in the end, Foster decided to replace it...one might imagine why... by the Suwannee River. Foster chose the Suwannee not out of familiarity (Foster lived in Pennsylvania and he never once visited Florida), but because Suwannee...shortened to "Swanee... fit in with the song's cadence and rhythms.

The song...renamed as "Swanee River"...was adopted as the official state song of Florida in 1935. That surprised me. I thought it had been adopted earlier than that. But actually, a song called "Florida, My Florida" had been its state song since 1913. By 1935, Foster had become famous and I suppose Florida..well, who knows why politicians do things.

By 1978, when "Swanee River" was sung at the dedication of the new state Capitol, there was enough social consciousness to substitute some of the more offensive lyrics: "brothers" was substituted for "darkeys" in the chorus and there was no attempt to reproduce dialect. More recently, the song's been shunned as governors nixed having the song played at state functions. But the song remained the official state song...until now.

This is the year that Florida has decided to abandon "Swanee River" and adopt a new state song. A search for a new song was launched last year. Songs were solicited and 243 of them were submitted. Then some specially formed committee narrowed down the submissions to 3 finalists. The three finalists were: "Florida - Where The Sawgrass Meets The Sky", "Florida, My Home" and "My Florida Home".

I'm not sure what this committee was using as criteria to select the finalists...all of them are rather somber. I guess the more jingly tunes were eliminated in favor of these because they'd be more appropriate for state ceremonies.

At this point, the selection process became more democratic. The three songs were put up on the internet and residents got the opportunity to vote on the song of their choice. By the end, there were only 8,767 votes - mine one of them - and the winner was announced yesterday: "Florida - Where The Sawgrass Meets The Sky".

It received about 4,600 votes and you can listen to it by clicking here and then clicking on the audio slide show link on the right.

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.

Florida, land of flowers, land of light.
Florida, where our dreams can all take flight,
Whether youth's vibrant morning or the twilight of years,
There are treasures for all who venture here -- in Florida.

Mocking birds cry and 'gators lie out in the sun
Bridges span southward to the Keys
and rockets skyward run,
The orange blossoms' sweet perfume
and fireworks fill the air,
and cultures rich, our native people share.

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.

Florida, land of flowers, land of light.
Florida, where our dreams can all take flight,
Whether youth's vibrant morning or the twilight of years,
There are treasures for all who venture here -- in Florida.

It was penned by Jan Hinton a music teacher from Pompano Beach, Florida (she's actually a native of Birmingham, England, but has lived in Florida for the past decade or so). It didn't get my vote...I liked another one better...but I have to say that its melody is growing on me.

So now, the song will be written into legislation for lawmakers to consider later this year. I'm guessing it's just a formality and that by years' end, Florida will have its third state song.