THAT’S MY FLORIDA
MOZART’S MELODIES ARE PLAYED BY THE TIDE
MICHAELANGELO PAINTS THE SKY
SUN DANCES ACROSS THE WATER
WEATHER’S YOUR DAILY ORDER
YOU CAN TOUCH THE CLOUDS
THE SUN SHOUTS OUT LOUD
EACH COLOR OF SHELL DECORATES THE BEACH
A RAINBOW BECOMES YOUR OWN MASTERPIECE
THAT’S MY FLORIDA, THAT’S MY FLORIDA, THAT’S MY FLORIDA COME…I’LL SHARE IT WITH YOU
WHERE THE BIRDS SING IN THE KEYS
YOU CAN PICK ORANGES FROM A TREE
SEA TURTLES CRAWL TO THE SEA
A COW IS CALLED A MANATEE
THE WATERS EVERY SHADE OF BLUE
THE SAND LEAVES A FOOTPRINT OF YOU
THREES WAVE IN TIME WITH THE BREEZE
THE SUN AND THE MOON WALK OUT OF THE SEA
THAT’S MY FLORIDA, THAT’S MY FLORIDA, THAT’S MY FLORIDA COME…I’LL SHARE IT WITH YOU
A PLACE WHERE YOU CAN BUILD CASTLES IN THE SAND
WHERE BIRDS AREN’T AFRAID TO TAKE BREAD FROM YOUR HAND
THAT’S MY FLORIDA, THAT’S MY FLORIDA, THAT’S MY FLORIDA COME…I’LL SHARE IT WITH YOU
LYRICS TO THE FLORIDA STATE SONG
“SWANEE RIVER (OLD FOLKS AT HOME)”
Way down upon the Swanee River,
Far, far away
There’s where my heart is turning ever,
There’s where the old folks stay.
All up and down the whole creation,
Sadly I roam,
Still longing for my childhood station,
And for the old folks at home.
CHORUS
All the world is sad and dreary
Everywhere I roam.
O dear ones, how my heart grows weary,
Far from the old folks at home.
2ndverse
All ‘round the little farm I wander’d.
When I was young;
Then many happy days I squander’d,
Many the songs I sung.
When I was playing with my brother,
Happy was I.
Oh, take me to my kind old mother,
There let me live and die.
3rdverse
One little hut among the bushes,
One that I love.
Still sadly to my memory rushes,
No matter where I rove.
When will I see the bees a humming,
All ‘round the comb?
When shall I hear the banjo strumming,
Down in my good old home.
FLORIDA STATE SONG
State Song – Florida Department of State
Stephen C. Foster wrote “The Swanne River (Old Folks at Home)” in 1851. After foster wrote the song, he sold it to E.P. Christy, a businessman who operated a series of minstrel shows.
Foster is reported to have chosen the term “Swanee” because its two-syllable cadence fit nicely into the music he had composed. The composer was not familiar with the Florida sections of the Suwannee River, because he never visited the state of Florida. A memorial center at White Springs, Florida, honors Foster, who authored about 200 popular songs during his prolific career.
Representative S.P. Robineau of Miami introduced House Concurrent Resolution No. 22 in 1935, designation, “Swanee River” as the official state song. It replaced “Florida, My Florida,” which had been adopted as the state song in 1913. In 2008 the Legislature designated that a revised version of the lyrics be the official version.
The Suwannee River flows in a southerly direction from the Okeefenokee Swamp in Georgia to the Gulf of Mexico in Florida. The river separates the Florida panhandle from the rest of the state.