Playlist: 50 Songs for 50 States

BuzzSugar — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 12:15:32 -0700

When I asked Buzz readers to come up with a song for all 50 of the United States, I knew you'd get it done. But I wasn't expecting you to do it so quickly! Less than 24 hours after I first posted the challenge last week, every state had at least one suggested song, and the options just kept rolling in. (Interesting bit of trivia: The last state to get a song suggestion was Utah.)

Picking the list for my 50 Songs for 50 States iMix was tough with so many great options. I tried to keep a balance of genres and artists, and to incorporate suggestions from as many of you as possible. I also tried to pick songs that were on iTunes, but unfortunately, the picks for Maine, Maryland and North Carolina weren't available. To make up for their absence, I added saritalasweeta's pick of a song to represent Washington, DC. If you'd like to make a playlist of your own or just see what everyone came up with, all of the suggestions are posted here.

I have to give shout-outs to tikilite, glam sugar, jenybugs and rhondak for coming up with full playlists of their own, and to D-Diggity for nearly making it through the whole country using nothing but Johnny Cash songs. To see my playlist, read more

Alabama: "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynrd Skynrd
Alaska: "Alaska" by Dr. Dog
Arizona: "Hotel Arizona" by Wilco
Arkansas: "Arkansas Killing Time" by The Pine Box Boys
California: "California Girls" by the Beach Boys
Colorado: "The Colorado Trail" by Connie Dover
Connecticut: "Connecticut" by Judy Garland and Bing Crosby
Delaware: "Hello, I'm in Delaware" by City and Colour
Florida: "Florida" by Modest Mouse
Georgia: "Midnight Train to Georgia" by Gladys Knight
Hawaii: "Blue Hawaii" by Elvis
Idaho: "Private Idaho" by the B-52's
Illinois: "Lookin' Out My Back Door" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Indiana: "Goin' Back to Indiana" by the Jackson Five
Iowa: "Iowa" by Dar Williams
Kansas: "You're Not in Kansas Anymore" by Jo Dee Messina
Kentucky: "Awnaw" by Nappy Roots
Louisiana: "Louisiana" by the Walkmen
Maine: "Maine" by They Might Be Giants
Maryland: "Maryland" by Vonda Shepard
Massachusetts: "U-Mass" by The Pixies
Michigan: "Say Yes! To Michigan" by Sufjan Stevens
Minnesota: "Minnesoter" by the Dandy Warhols
Mississippi: "Down in Mississippi (Up to No Good)" by Sugarland
Missouri: "Missouri Waltz" by Johnny Cash
Montana: "Blue Rock Montana" by Willie Nelson
Nebraska: "Nebraska" by Bruce Springsteen
Nevada: "Stop in Nevada" by Billy Joel
New Hampshire: "New Hampshire" by Matt Pond PA
New Jersey: "Jersey Girl" by Tom Waits
New Mexico: "Crash and Burn" by Sheryl Crow
New York: "The Only Living Boy in New York" by Simon & Garfunkel
North Carolina: "North Carolina" by the Oranges Band
North Dakota: "North Dakota" by Lyle Lovett
Ohio: "Ohio" by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young
Oklahoma: "Oklahoma Hills" by Arlo Guthrie
Oregon: "Portland Oregon" by Loretta Lynn with Jack White
Pennsylvania: "Pennsylvania 6-5000" by the Glenn Miller Band
Rhode Island: "Sweet Rhode Island Red" by Ike and Tina Turner
South Carolina: "From South Carolina" by Her Space Holiday
South Dakota: "South Dakota Hairdo" by Joe West
Tennessee: "Tennessee" by Arrested Development
Texas: "All my Ex's Live in Texas" by George Strait
Utah: "The History of Utah" by Camper Van Beethoven
Vermont: "Moonlight in Vermont" by Ella Fitzgerald
Virginia: "Virginia Moon" by Foo Fighters
Washington: "Four Hours In Washington" by M. Ward
West Virginia: "Take Me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver
Wisconsin: "Highway 51 Blues" by Bob Dylan
Wyoming: "Song of Wyoming" by Chris LeDoux
Washington, DC: "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" by The Postal Service

Playlist Challenge: 50 Songs for 50 States

BuzzSugar — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 15:13:54 -0700

Okay, Buzz readers, I know how great you are at selecting new casts for classic shows and hunting down the most buzzworthy movies, books and albums around, so I know you can handle this all-American playlist challenge! In honor of July 4th (and the great party PartySugar's been planning), I challenge you to name one song for each of the 50 states so that put together, we can make a playlist of 50 songs celebrating every corner of the country.

The guidelines:

The state name can either be in the title of the song or in a song lyric.
If the state name is in a lyric, please provide the lyric in your comment.
Official state songs do not count.

So get thinking and put your ideas in the comments section below! I'll re-post this challenge over the weekend and then I'll do a follow-up post with the master playlist on Wednesday, July 4th. If there are multiple songs suggested for one state, I'll choose one of them to put on the playlist. Good luck!

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