"Iowa Stubborn" is a song by Meredith Willson from his 1957 musical The Music Man. The first sung number in the show (it is preceded by the innovative spoken “Rock Island”), it is a relaxed “soft-shoe” (or schottishe) sung by the citizens of River City, Iowa trying to convince Professor Hill to "give Iowa a try." Its lyrics convey their polite, reserved and stoic demeanor, as well as their special "chip on the shoulder attitude never been without that recall". For example:
- “We can be cold as our falling thermometers in December if you ask about our weather in July. And we're so by God stubborn we can stand touchin' noses for a week at a time, and never see Eye to Eye.”
Read more about Iowa Stubborn: Places Mentioned in The Song
Famous quotes containing the words iowa and/or stubborn:
“When I was growing up I used to think that the best thing about coming from Des Moines was that it meant you didn’t come from anywhere else in Iowa. By Iowa standards, Des Moines is a mecca of cosmopolitanism, a dynamic hub of wealth and education, where people wear three-piece suits and dark socks, often simultaneously.”
—Bill Bryson (b. 1951)
“I, who had heard of music in the spheres,
But not of speech in stars, began to muse:
But turning to my God, whose ministers
The stars and all things are; If I refuse,
Dread Lord, said I, so oft my good;
Then I refuse not ev’n with blood
To wash away my stubborn thought:
For I will do or suffer what I ought.”
—George Herbert (1593–1633)