Waldo Jaquith

take my word.. this is bad… I’m sure the gentlemen does other songs justice but this is ….bad….

Posted by LarryG on 22 August 2010 @ 7pm

Have you heard some of the other proposed songs, Larry? I was going to point you to a bunch of them from blog entries that I’ve written about them in the past five years or so, but all of the links 404 now, unfortunately. As I recall, they’re all pretty wretched.

I liked the 2007 proposal to make “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” the state song.

Posted by Waldo Jaquith on 22 August 2010 @ 8pm

yeah… they’re all pretty much wretched… what we might need to do is offer a couple hundred thousand dollars and get some serious song writers in the competition but no awarding until we get the right one.

Posted by LarryG on 22 August 2010 @ 9pm

Sarah White keeps lobbying for the Carter Family’s “Longing for Old Virginia” … having heard her perform it a few times (usually under the Acorn Sisters moniker), I gotta admit, I’m sold.

Posted by James on 22 August 2010 @ 9pm

We saw you on tv this morning, Waldo. Please accept my sincere condolences for the loss of your friend, and thanks for having the courage to speak up.

Posted by spotter on 23 August 2010 @ 8am

I’m a huge fan of Eddie From Ohio’s “Old Dominion.” Ignore the obnoxious lip dubbing video that goes along with it, it’s the first clip on YouTube I could find with an album-quality soundtrack.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgRhGx-XNfo

It kind of ribs on Colorado there for a bit, but actually I think it’d be fairly fitting for Virginia to have an official state song that trash talks other states. Only most of the trash-talking Virginians I know would probably prefer it was making fun of California, New York or possibly Maryland.

Posted by Sam on 23 August 2010 @ 11am

I’ve never understood what was wrong with “Sweet Virginia Breeze.”

Posted by Steve Vaughan on 23 August 2010 @ 1pm

We could do definitely do a lot worse than that that EFO song, Sam. But, yeah, let’s target New Jersey or something. :)

Here’s an old state website with a bunch of the entries. The audio links don’t work anymore (they’re old-school RealAudio links). I liked the A.P. Carter song, “I’m Longing for Old Virginia,” which I’d never heard before, but there are a few versions of on iTunes.

Posted by Waldo Jaquith on 23 August 2010 @ 10pm

Waldo: that moth you took a picture of (in the header… on Flickr) looks remarkably like an emperor gum moth. Which is weird because I’m not sure they’re supposed to be outside of Australia/NZ:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opodiphthera_eucalypti

So it’s gotta be something that mimics it. I just can’t believe that it’s NOT it. Weird. I’ll keep peeking around.

Posted by Michael on 24 August 2010 @ 1pm

Okay… this makes more sense:

Polyphemus Moth

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antheraea_polyphemus

I was so confused.

Posted by Michael on 24 August 2010 @ 1pm

That was awful, and I agree with Steve Vaughan. Sweet Virginia Breeze is a terrific song, and it references the state tree, flower, bird, the Blue Ridge Mountains, and so on.

The only knocks on it (politically) that I can think of is that it doesn’t mention the beach, and it hints at a creator God. I’m sure that invalidates it with quite a few uptight people.

Posted by I.Publius on 24 August 2010 @ 4pm

well.. that particular rendition of it is less than wonderful…. but I think the lyrics would have a wider appeal than the ones that tend towards ‘old Va’.

We are a very diverse state – not only geographically but culturally and the more that gets addressed, the wider the appeal.

We need a song equivalent to “Virginia is for Lovers” – one that is upbeat, transcends the cultures but toe-tapping.. one that can be played by a wide variety of talent and instruments and has sing-along toe-tapping appeal.

Someone gin that up okay? :-)

Posted by LarryG on 24 August 2010 @ 5pm

I’ve never learned to ID butterflies or moths—save for the small amount that I had to learn for my entomology class at Tech :)—so the polyphemus moth is news to me! Thanks for that, Michael.

Posted by Waldo Jaquith on 24 August 2010 @ 11pm

What, you mean “Surfin USA” got shot down again?

Posted by Jeff Uphoff on 26 August 2010 @ 9am

how about Link Wray’s “Rumble” ?

Posted by James on 26 August 2010 @ 3pm

Yeah, I like the idea of an instrumental state song. :)

Posted by Waldo Jaquith on 26 August 2010 @ 3pm

“But, yeah, let’s target New Jersey or something. :)”

Nah, Philly’s got that down. (Rehnquist’s dissent is pretty brilliant. The “aesthetic value” of New Jersey, hahaha.).

Posted by Genevieve on 27 August 2010 @ 9am