State Songs is a concept album released by John Linnell of They Might Be Giants in 1999. It was Linnell's third solo project and first full solo album. It consists of tracks that are named after, and are at least partially inspired by, 15 of the 50 U.S. states. The album is absurdist in nature, suggesting that there is another West Virginia inside of the state, that one can drive a house to Idaho, that Montana is a leg, Iowa is a witch, Oregon is bad, and Arkansas has sunken and is to be replaced by a ship of its exact shape and size.
"Montana" was released as the single for the album. Rather than a standard 7" or 12" vinyl record, the disc was green and die-cut into the shape of the 48 contiguous states. It was pressed by Erika Records. The single also featured the non-album track "Louisiana" as the B-side. Originally, "South Carolina" was the album's single, but the track was too long for the grooves to fit in the small area between the labels and the edges of the United States. The labels were marked with no text, instead only showing silhouettes of their respective states.
Read more about State Songs: Recording, Track Listing, Personnel
Famous quotes containing the words state and/or songs:
“Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.”
—Thomas Paine (1737–1809)
“O women, kneeling by your altar-rails long hence,
When songs I wove for my beloved hide the prayer,
And smoke from this dead heart drifts through the violet air
And covers away the smoke of myrrh and frankincense;
Bend down and pray for all that sin I wove in song....”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)