State Songs

Yesterday in the gym, I heard "Sweet Home Alabama" coming over the room's speakers, immediately followed by some lame ZZ Topp song where they say their hearts are in Mississippi. It made me wonder if there were songs that sing the praises of each one of our 50 states. After all, I thought, if crummy states like those are worthy of a song, then surely all the others would be, too, right? Heck, there's even an entire Broadway musical about Oklahoma, fergawshsakes. And nobody likes Oklahoma!

I don't recall ever hearing anyone singing the praises of Wisconsin, or any of the various Dakotas, but I'm sure that such songs exist. It's only natural to be proud of the state you live in. (Well, unless it's Oklahoma, that is.)

Anyway, for some reason it reminded me of an experience I once had at Stapleton Airport. I was about 26 years old and had just returned to Denver from a business trip to Utah. It was a silly trip; the company sent six of us to meet with one Air Force guy at Hill AFB near Ogden. We flew, spent the night in a hotel, and then went to the meeting...where the Captain started off by saying "Where's Eileen?"

"Um, sorry Cap'n, Eileen's in Denver."

"Mm. Well, she's the only one I needed to talk with. There's no point in having the meeting if she's not here." And that was that. No meeting. No reason to be there.

Oh well, I had a rental car and an entire day to kill, so I spent the time driving through the hills of Utah, and even had a couple of hours to spend at the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake, which I enjoyed very much. They had elaborate dioramas explaining each significant event in the church's history, and despite the fact that the plot resembled a really bad SciFi movie, the quality of the presentation was pretty decent. I felt quite well entertained, and got on the airplane feeling better than I would have if I'd have spent the day in a meeting about missile deployments.

When I arrived in Denver, I hopped on the shuttle van back to the parking facility where I'd left my Pinto. It was more like somebody's car than a bus, and I got in the backseat, hoping that no smelly fat guys would try to squeeze in next to me. As it turned out, there was just one other guy who crawled in the back, and then, just as the driver was about to pull out, another fellow jumped in the shotgun seat.

OK, fine, I wasn't crowded, and it was only a few miles to the lot; perhaps I could shut my eyes and relax for a bit.

But no. As the van pulled away from the island, the guy in the front seat started singing! And not in a "Tourette's syndrome, I-can't-help-myself" kind of way, either, but with full Jim Nabors volume. "If I had a wagon, I would...GO to Colorado -- GO to Colorado!", and so on. Good lord! What is wrong with this dude? Is he high or something?

Both the driver and the other passenger appeared as nonplussed as I was. What the heck do you do when some bozo just starts cranking out a song in a public minivan? I had no idea. Just listen, I guess.

The thing was -- well, the thing was that it was kindof a catchy song, recognizing the appeal of Colorado, etc., and I was glad to be home. Plus, the dude had an excellent voice. And he was so...enthusiastic!

It doesn't seem like a few verses of a sugary "gosh, golly, gee I like this place" song would give one enough time to go from a cynical "How can I make this guy shut up?" attitude to "Dude, you totally made my day!", but it did. By the last verse (If I had a spaceship...), we were all singing along. And everybody shook the man's hand and thanked him for the song when we unloaded the van. Huge smiles all around. My suitcase seemed lighter, the sun seemed brighter, and it struck me just how infectious a positive attitude could be.

I learned a couple of big lessons that day. One was that if you're going to embarrass yourself in public, go ahead and do it with gusto! And another one was that it's a pretty cool thing to spread a little joy among strangers.

No, I can't say that I've followed in this inspiring man's footsteps; to this day, I've never started a sing-along on a shuttle bus. But I think about it sometimes, and it makes me smile and feel just a tiny bit better about the world and the people in it. And I hope there are times when I spread a little part of that feeling around to the folks around me.

Anyway, my advice for you is this, my friends: If you feel like singing, do it! And you know, it's OK to dance a little bit as you walk down the street, too. Try it! Trust me, you'll have a great day!