The United States of Songs: Nebraska

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Happy Black Friday, everybody! Hopefully you're all happy and sated, blissfully drifting in and out of a starch-induced food coma from yesterday, and- Oh, who am I kidding, if you're American you're probably locked in mortal combat with a woman over a Transformers action figure at a Toys 'R Us right now, and if you're one of our rare foreign readers you probably don't care much about a musical road trip through the US anyway. Well, for the remaining two of you who might read this, it's time for my quest to find a new state song for every state in the union to visit the Cornhusker State:

The state: Nebraska
The song: "I Love Nebraska" by Ginger ten Bensel

 

 

We've had some winners and we've had some losers throughout this project, but boy oh boy, Nebraska you put me in a hard place. If we were going off a pure "quality of song" standpoint, we'd pull up Bruce Springsteen's "Nebraska" and call it a day. But because I'm an idiot and I saddled myself with some arbitrary-yet-incredibly-restrictive rules, and not many songs with "Nebraska" in the title are actually about Nebraska, the state. They tend to casually mention it as a destination or a place the singer's passing through. Or they're bizarre odes to the college football team.

 

And farming. Lots of farming.

But this tune pretty much captures all the appeal of Nebraska I could think of, which is to say not a lot at all. Don't take that the wrong way, Nebraskaniños, I just don't know much about you guys and I'm from Illinois: we had to develop a superiority complex about SOMEBODY, and we just happened to pick you guys. And Iowa. And Missouri. And Indiana. You could forgive me for thinking it's all 'Husker football and crop fields and Bright Eyes concerts, right? News of Nebraska doesn't really make it far out of the state. In fact, I can't remember the last time I heard mention of Nebraska on the national news. Even your congressmen keep it pretty low key, and that's kind of impressive in this day and age. So what is there? Progressive income tax, that weird unicameral state legislature, and according to the video: tractors, big hair, fanny packs, and church.

This isn't a great tune, I'll admit it, and I know most Nebraskaniños live in and around Omaha so they'll be quick to point out that it's actually a more urban state than I might be led to believe. So educate me, guys, what are the reasons to visit your great, flat state?

Runner-Up: "Nebraska" by Grandaddy
Most Laughable Suggestion: "Omaha Stylee" by 311

Got a better state song for Nebraska? Want to help avoid poor, defenseless Nevada avoid a similar fate next week? Start suggesting songs in the comments!

 

 

 

 

Flickr photo Western, Nebraska Old Settlers Picnic Parade July 2009 by Shannon Ramos used under a Creative Commons License.



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