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Saying it all about Florida in a song

By SUE CARLTON, Times Columnist
Published January 9, 2008

My fellow Floridians. We have a decision to make.

Yes, there is that important vote around the corner on the big property tax plan. But first, something more immediate: We have but one more day to weigh in on what could be our new state song.

Yes, in point of fact, we already have a state song.

Old Folks At Home, better known as "Way Down Upon The Swanee River," is as familiar to us natives as our official state bird (the mockingbird), our official state politician (Bubba the homegrown boy gone to Tallahassee) and our official state marine mammal (the lovable manatee, whom we prefer pictured in our brochures without those unsightly propeller scars).

Believe it or not, some Floridians are actually not in love with the idea of a state song written in the 1800s in the voice of a black slave pining for "de old plantation" and referring to "darkeys." Gov. Charlie Crist didn't use it in his inauguration, and some legislators have taken up the push to find something more appropriate.

Not everyone agrees. (Around here we can't even agree on what "grouper" is.) You can hear plenty of grousing that the very idea of ditching Old Folks At Home would be a kick in the pants to history and a colossal surrender to political correctness.

But hey, they're suggesting getting rid of its official-song status, not obliterating it from all history books and human memory banks. It probably wouldn't even be a felony to hum it in public.

By the way, writer Stephen Foster reportedly never visited Florida, never dipped a toe into the Hillsborough River, much less the Suwannee. He originally intended it to be about another river entirely, and certainly not our Withlacoochee either, since what could possibly rhyme with "Withlacoochee?"

Apparently, he just thought "Suwannee" had a cool groove to it.

Which, given the carpetbagger traditions of our state, might be sort of appropriate.

So more than 200 song entries later, the finalists have been winnowed down. You can vote on them, or just listen or read the lyrics, at www.justsingflorida.org. Tomorrow's the last day to weigh in, and the winner will be announced Friday in Tampa.

There's Florida - Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky. There's also Florida, My Home. Not to be confused with My Florida Home.

My personal favorite is Orange Blossom Song, sung by legions of Florida schoolkids including myself, with lyrics so sweet they made your teeth ache. Sadly, it is not one of them. And trust me, not being able to see state officials forced to bop along to lyrics like, "The sun comes creepin' into where I'm sleepin', and the songbirds sing hello," is a loss to us all.

Not that the final three contain gritty, Florida-style Born in the USA references to hurricanes, humidity, housing crises, scams against the elderly or the paving of our state. Though there are references to gators, rockets, immigrants and retirees.

None are what you'd call rousing fight songs, either, though one does feature a nice Broadway finish. (For fun, my Web colleagues created a dance mix to liven things up, which you can hear at entertainment.tampabay.com.)

Even when it's down to one, changing our state song is no done deal. It still has to make it past lawmakers, and such efforts have failed before.

Then again, we live in Florida, where wonders never cease.

[Last modified January 8, 2008, 23:48:14]