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A Tennessee State Song

Rocky Top

words and music by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant

    Wish that I was on ol’ Rocky Top,
    Down in the Tennessee hills;
    Ain’t no smoggy smoke on Rocky Top,
    Ain’t no telephone bills;.
    Once I had a girl on Rocky Top,
    Half bear, other half cat;
    Wild as a mink, but sweet as soda pop,
    I still dream about that.

   CHORUS:
    Rocky Top, you’ll always be home sweet home to me;
    Good ol’ Rocky Top,
    Rocky Top, Tennessee;
    Rocky Top, Tennessee.

    Once two strangers climbed ol’ Rocky Top,
    Lookin' for a moonshine still;
    Strangers ain’t come down from Rocky Top;
    Reckon they never will;
    Corn won’t grow at all on Rocky Top;
    Dirt’s too rocky by far;
    That’s why all the folks on Rocky Top
    Get their corn from a jar;

   CHORUS:

    I’ve had years of cramped-up city life
    Trapped like a duck in a pen;
    All I know is it’s a pity life
    Can’t be simple again.

   CHORUS:

Adoption of State Song

It had been 17 years since Tennessee had added a state song and some thought it was time for a another state song. This time the General Assembly chose a lively number by a couple of successful popular song writers. With its adoption, "Rocky Top" joined, as the Nashville Banner noted, "the formerly sedate coterie of official state songs."

If you've been to a University of Tennessee football or basketball game, you've heard "Rocky Top" at its most powerful! As a rable-rousing, spirited, get out and win number, the bands at UT played "Rocky Top" for years before the state decided to adopt it as an official song; the fifth official state song!

The song was written in 1967 by Felice (1925-2003) and Boudleaux (1920-1987) Bryant a couple who know a little about song writing. Their compositions were performed by a wide range of performers from the Osborne Brothers to the Beatles and from the Everly Brothers to Bob Dylan to the Bangles.

The song, "Rocky Top", by Boudleaux and Felice Bryant, was adopted as an official song of Tennessee on February 15, 1982, by Chapter 545 of the Public Acts of 1982.

Tennessee Code

The following information is excerpted from the Tennessee General Statutes, Title 4, Chapter 1, Part 3, Section 302. The words are not included within the statute.

TITLE 4. STATE GOVERNMENT
CHAPTER 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS
PART 3. STATE SYMBOLS
SECTION 302.

4-1-302. State songs. The official songs of this state shall be as follows:

(1) "My Homeland, Tennessee" by Nell Grayson Taylor and Roy Lamont Smith, as adopted by House Joint Resolution 36 in 1925;

(2) "When It's Iris Time In Tennessee" by Willa Mae Waid, as adopted by Acts 1935, chapter 154;

(3) "My Tennessee" by Francis Hannah Tranum, as adopted by Senate Joint Resolution 35 in 1955, as the official public school song in Tennessee;

(4) "The Tennessee Waltz" by Redd Stewart and Pee Wee King, as adopted by Senate Joint Resolution 9 in 1965; and

(5) "Rocky Top" by Boudleaux and Felice Bryant, as adopted by Acts 1982, chapter 545.

[Acts 1935, ch. 154, §§ 1, 2; mod. C. Supp. 1950, §§ 107.1, 107.2; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 4-107; Acts 1982, ch. 545, § 1.]

Source: Tennessee State Web Site, (http://www.state.tn.us), December 5, 2004
Source: Tennessee General Assembly, (http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/), December 5, 2004
Source: Tennesee Blue Book, (http://www.state.tn.us/sos/bluebook/index.htm), December 5, 2004
Source: Tennessee State Symbols, by Rob Simbeck, Copyright 1995
Source: State Names, Seals, Flags, and Symbols by Benjamin F. Shearer and Barbara S. Shearer, Copyright 2002
Source: State Songs America, Edited by M.J. Bristow, Copyright 2000

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