Unlike other states that only have a state song, Florida has a state song and a state anthem. Here's how it came about.
On May 15th, 2007, responding to an initiative to pick a new state song, the Florida Music Educators Association (FMEA) managed an online contest called "Just Sing, Florida!" which ran from May 15th to October 1st, 2007.
243 entries were made and were reviewed by a 6-member panel of FMEA. The panel initially narrowed the entries to the top 20 songs with the greatest potential. These 20 choices were eventually cut to 3 top selections, which ended up being "Florida, Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky," by Jan Hinton of Boynton Beach, "My Florida Home," by Cristopher Marshall of Orlando, and "Florida, My Home," by Carl Ashley of Boynton Beach and Betsy Dixon of Lantana.
In December of 2007, after the top selections had been made, the public voting begun. Citizens were urged to express their opinions through the online voting.
The internet voting began in December 2007 and ran through January 10th, 2008.
Soon into the voting, however, real concern developed in the process of picking the song. After all, the public was only given 3 final options, even though there had been over 240 entries. And the 3 selections were made by the FMEA, not the public. Indeed, "Florida's Song", which was performed at the inauguration of Governor Charlie Crist, was thought to be a viable candidate, but it never made it to the Committee's final cut.
Despite all the complaints and general confusion, the winner of "Just Sing, Florida!" was announced at noon on January 11th, 2008. Receiving over half of the 8,020 votes cast, "Florida, Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky" seemed an overwhelming favorite among Florida residents.
"Florida, Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky" was ready to become Florida's new state song, until, well, until things got even more complicated. There was still overwhelming support for the current state song, "Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)" in the State Legislature, which was more than enough to make it a bumpy road to having a new state song.
Even though House Bill 825 (which was accompanying Senate Bill 1558) to change the state song to "Florida, Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky" was unexpectedly voted favorably upon, there was still a long way to go.
Now, seemingly, the public was reflecting more and more on changing their state song, and were starting to like "Old Folks at Home" even more than before, especially those who lived where the Suwannee River flowed.
"This is history," said Senator Stephen Oelrich, whose district was surrounded by the Suwannee. "I'm not in favor of changing the song, and neither are my constituents."
Sen. Oelrich's Chief of Staff, Micheal Preston, said that the Senator has received "Hundreds of calls from people saying 'Don't change the song.' We haven't had any calls in support of changing it. People have a sense of heritage with the song. They grew up around the Suwannee."
After much debate on the issue, a compromise was finally reached between the House and Senate revising Senate Bill No. 1558, keeping Florida's current state song (with revised lyrics) and designating "Florida, Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky" as the official state Anthem:
Florida State Legislature
"An act relating to official state designations; creating s. 15.0326, F.S.; designating the song "Florida, Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky" as the official state anthem; creating s. 15.0327, F. S.; designating the song "Old Folks at Home," revised lyrics, as adopted by the Center for American Music, Stephen Foster Memorial, at the University of Pittsburgh, as the official state song; providing an effective date.
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
Section 1. Section 15.0326, Florida Statutes,
is created to read:
15.0326 State anthem. --The song "Florida, Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky," music and lyrics written by Jan Hinton, is designated as the official anthem of the State of Florida.
Section 2. Section 15.0327, Florida Statutes, is created to read:
15.0327 State song.--The song "Old Folks at
Home.
revised lyrics, as adopted by the Center for American Music, Stephen Foster Memorial, at the University of Pittsburgh, is designated as the official song of the State of Florida.
Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2008."
-SB 1558, revised.The bill was then sent to Governor Charlie Crist for signature, and, on June 30th, 2008, he reluctantly signed the bill, and referring to "Old Folks at Home" said, "I didn't have it played at my inauguration for a reason," and commented that the agreement made the state look "confused."
Even after making these comments, Governor Crist signed the bill.
Conclusion
Although Florida's state anthem is loved and sung by many, it definitely took a long process to get it into place. Even today, there are those who say that they understand the state wanting to choose a new song, but could they not have chosen a better one? Yes, maybe they could. I, personally, however, believe FMEA made a wise decision in nominating the top 3 songs, since if all 243 were left to public discretion, none of the songs would get the required amount of votes, making it more difficult than it ever was during the process. "Florida, Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky" is one of my all-time favorites, and I'm sure it's popularity will grow.
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