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Beautiful Ohio: The Official State Song of Ohio Words by Ballard MacDonald and music by Mary Earl The original words were: Long, long time ago Someone I know Had a little red Canoe , In it room for only two. Love found its start Then in my Heart , And like a Flower grew. CHORUS: Drifting with the current down a moonlit Stream , While above the Heavens in their glory gleam, And the Stars on high Twinkle in the sky, Seeming in a Paradise divine, Dreaming of a pair of eyes that looked in mine. Beautiful Ohio, in dreams again I see Visions of what used to be. A Bill that was passed by the Ohio State Legislature in 1969 changed the well-known original words to a somewhat forced and awkward verse and chorus -- evidently in an effort to make the song more about the State, itself, rather than primarily about romantic love. The following, an uninspired and somewhat confusing blending of certain sentiments contained in the songs " California, Here I Come " and Rogers And Hammerstein 's "Oklahoma," now constitute the lyrics of the official Ohio state song. Lyrics by Wilbert McBride I sailed away, Wandered afar. Crossed the mighty restless Sea , Looked for where I ought to be. Cities so grand, Mountains above, Led to this land I love. CHORUS: Beautiful Ohio, where the golden grain Dwarf the lovely flowers in the summer rain. Cities rising high, silhouette the sky. Freedom is supreme in this majestic land. Mighty Factories seem to hum in tune, so grand. Beautiful Ohio, thy wonders are in view, Land where my dreams all come true. (NOTE: Presumably, the song's reference to "grand cities" with "mountains above" is not meant to speak of the famously flat topography that surrounds cities such as Cleveland , Columbus , Toledo , Akron , Dayton and Cincinnati . Instead, it would seem that the reference is to certain unnamed cities in mountainous regions that happen to be located in other parts of the world, across a mighty, but similarly unnamed, "restless sea." However, it's not clear to the writer how these "grand cities" or the mountains that happen to be above them could compel the reasonable person back across a "restless sea" in order to allow them to spend time surrounded by grain pollen and smoking factories that hum in tune... Maybe it's just me, but I think Ohio made a mistake in 1969 when it changed the original lyrics, which were really quite lovely.) |
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