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Open up my iTunes, and you’ll see a huge assortment of music. I’ve got stuff of every genre…except rap, ‘cause rap as crap. However, I seldom have a complete album in there, I have a few songs by everybody. Very rarely is there an album where I like every song. State Songs, however, is very interesting. Because nobody has upload 320kbps MP3s of this odd album to the Internet, I actually bought the CD! Oh lawd! The insert has facts about each state represented on this album. I actually found this album while looking for a CD with all of the state anthems on it. Weird what you find, eh?
So anyway, the songs on this album are named after US states, not about them. Keep this in mind, especially if you live in Iowa, Oregon, or New Hampshire. John Linnell, who makes this album and is half of They Might Be Giants, was having trouble naming his songs, so he decided to just name a bunch after US states, figuring that he’d at least have fifty names for fifty songs. The word “state” is they key here: it can refer to a political state, as we have here in the USA, or a state of mind. Each song in this album (save perhaps the few instrumental tracks) is named after a political state but refers to a certain psychological state of mind. You can even think of the state name as being the name of the person with a certain state of mind. Now sometimes the features of the political state are mentioned (specifically Maine), but that is really just a side note. At surface analysis, these songs make no sense.

Some of these could be interpreted differently, I suppose. Below is my analysis of the album. What do you think? It may be fun to listen yourself before reading mine, then compare. Let’s see what we can come up with. My analysis is spoilered, although for songs that are instrumentals, there is not a lot to analyze, in addition to track 2.
1. Illinois
The first track on this album is named after Illinois, a state that is often considered to be a microcosm, or a representation of the United States as a whole. This track is a happy little instrumental, reminiscent of a carnival theme. The USA is a huge cultural leader in the world, even if for Hollywood alone, although I don’t think there is any real connection between this happy song and the name attached to it. This is by far the happiest song on the album, and Illinois is generally happy waelthy state, even if our politicians suck ass in the last decade or so.

2. The Songs of the 50 States
This is more or less an introductory song for the album. It talks about people controlling minds and people under the ground which I interpret to mean that the people (not states) these songs are about have psychological issues that affect their lives. Interesting that John mentions fifty states in this song, even though most of the states did not get a song named after them.

3. West Virginia

Spoiler:
	This song seems to be about an incredibly introverted woman who finds comfort and solace in her own company. Her personality is a series of layers, all aspects of the same person. While people are interested in her and what she thinks and feels, she has closed herself off from the world. This one is pretty obvious.

4. South Carolina

Spoiler:

This song is very memorable and the meaning is probably the most agreed upon. This one also seems to be the general favorite from the album, although it is probably lower on the list for me personally. This song is about a guy looking for quick cash, the lazy guy that looks for a reason to litigate. This is another song that is incredibly easy to interpret if you can understand what the guy is saying. A man crashes his bicycle, sues, and lives the high life. “Lift that fork, eat that snail. Garson, summon up a new cocktail. South Carolina is interesting because it is on the eat coast but in the south as well. The east coast is the richest are in the United States, and while some people consider the south to be poor, states like Alabama and Tennessee are actually amongst the states with the least amount of debt right now, so I’d imagine that South Carolina is generally a pretty wealthy area, although I have not checked recently.

5. Idaho

Spoiler:

The reviews I’ve read of this album seem to not like this song, but it is actually pretty relaxing. Warning for those of you who listen to music in the car! This song has sirens. First time I listened to this album, I was driving down Illinois route 64 and was looking all around for the police car. As far as I can tell, this song is about a drug dealer/addict who is driving from the cops hot on his tail to cross into the state of Idaho in order to escape. The police of one state cannot arrest in another state, so before Idaho’s police find him, he can escape. I’d love to hear what other people think of this song. Also, this song is very relaxing to listen to at night in the dark. Try it.

6. Montana

Spoiler:

This is one of my favorites. This one is about a man in a hospital, nearing the end of his life. As he is about to die, he has this revelation that the state of Montana is really just a leg. I suppose if you look at it ight it can KINDA look like a leg, but maybe he means leg as in a support. All of the states rely on each other for support, and each is part of a greater country, the USA. Either way, it has a great melody, so this is one of my most played songs from this album. The dying man wants somebody to know his revelation so that it can live on and perhaps benefit from it. I guess Montana could be a leg. After all, Florida is America’s wang.

7. Pennsylvania
The word “Pennsylvania” is at the end of this song so technically it is not an instrumental. This one has traditional violin music, and culturally, the Pennsylvania region is pretty traditional. Ivy League school University of Pennsylvania is here. The east coast is of course the oldest area in the USA.
8. Utah

Spoiler:

Ya know, as much as people joke about the South, I think Utah gets the worst rap of any US state. It is know, of course, as the center of the Church of Latter Day Saints, or the Mormon church as it is more commonly known. More than any other song on this album, this one plays on the name of the state the most. You can’t spell “Utah” without “You”. I forget you-taw. This is probably one of the most boring songs on the album, although it isn’t bad. It’s a lot like Idaho, but the instrumentals aren’t as cool. I dunno what the specific state of mind is here, maybe indifference or abandonment concerning an old friendship?

9. Arkansas

Spoiler:

Well here’s a state nobody ever talks about. Arkansas! It’s a Southern state, although it isn’t really the “deep” south. This song is an old sea shanty, and it is very sorrowful. I love the melody here and this is also probably one of my favorite songs here. It is also probably the most absurd song. The premise is that a ship was build on a 1:1 scale, designed after the state of Arkansas. It sank, they need to rebuild it. Interestingly enough, this is one of the few songs that acknowledges that Arkansas is an actual state.

10. Iowa

Spoiler:
	This one could be interpreted a number of ways. I figure Iowa is a woman, and the singer is a bitter man who has anger at “Iowa” his ex-wife/girlfriend after a divorce or break up. The state of mind here is resentment or spite.

11. Mississippi
Nice little instrumental. Coo’

12. Maine

Spoiler:

This one has a great melody and along with Louisiana is my favorite song from State Songs. Replace “Maine” with a one syllable girl’s name and you have a regualr song. The state of mind here is that of being in a bittersweet relationship. “Maine” is a girl who can drive you crazy and tear at your heart, but damn it, ya just can’t live without her. This is one of the few songs to describe geographic aspects of the state,“coniferous trees”. Maine is the devil, you know.

13. Oregon

Spoiler:

This one is really cool too, even if just because of how it is sung. “Oregon is bad!” I’d love to hear what you guys think of this one, since it is kind of ambiguous. I figure this one is about xenophobia/paranoia or general fear mongering. “Oregon” is something that is bad with no explanation and it is climbin’ in yo windows, snatchin’ yo people up and all that junk. The song riles up the people, telling them to escape if they cannot stop whatever “Oregon” is.

14. Michigan

Spoiler:
	State of mind=Insanity. Next!

15. New Hampshire

Spoiler:
	Okay, I really like this one, too. This one is about a lonely old man. “New Hampshire” is the kind of guy who is interesting, but you don’t really wanna get to close to him. He’s socially awkward. The conversation between the two women in this song says it all. “Nobody likes New Hampshire man.”

16. Nevada

Spoiler:

The nature of the state of Nevada fits the nature of its respective song better than any of the others in this compilation. Big state, long song, but only a little bit of each has anything of interest. The state of Nevada’s biggest attraction is the city of Las Vegas. The rest of it, save the capital of Carson City, is pretty much empty. This song is the same way. It begins with a happy little rhyme, then is just a recording of a parade that happened to be going down outside the street of the recording studio. A lot of people find this track boring, and I suppose it is, but I still like it. I think it is a cool way to end the album. As for the state of mind, I get the idea of being part of something greater, and inter-generational bond.

Louisiana

Montana and Louisiana were released as a 45RPM vinyl record for some reason, and Louisiana does not appear on the CD. This sucks because it is one of my favorite ones. Luckily somebody with the record recorded a video of the record playing and stuck it on YouTube and the quality is amazing for how it was recorded. I have included an MP3 of that video in the archive here so you can enjoy this song, as it really is pretty good. Very catchy!

Spoiler:
	The state of mind is deception, and this one also acknowledges that Louisiana is a state

There were apparently some other songs that were never recorded but performed live. I have MP3s of two of these live songs, Alaska and Maryland. Maryland is just the first verse of Maryland’s official anthem and Alaska is a song about a lonely man who heads up to Alaska to look for gold. Both are rather meh and I didn’t include them here because they are poor recordings, but if you really want MP3s of them, hit me up and I’ll hook you up.