Beautiful Ohio

Here's the words to Ohio's state song, courtesy of the Ohiohistorycentral.org blog. Since it was adopted after I finished school in Ohio, that could explain why I don't remember ever hearing it or even seeing it in print. The new lyrics adapted in 1989 seem much better suited than the 1969 version.

Ohio's State Song - Beautiful Ohio

In 1969, the Ohio legislature adopted "Beautiful Ohio" as Ohio's state song. Mary Earl, whose real name was Robert A. "Bobo" King, composed the music, while Ballard MacDonald wrote the original lyrics. In 1989, with the permission of the Ohio legislature, Wilbert B. McBride altered the lyrics.

In his version, MacDonald describes a rather fanciful view of Ohio, describing it as a "paradise," where two people fell in love.

MacDonald's lyrics:

Long, long time ago
Someone I know
Had a little red canoe,
In it room for only two.
Love found its start
Then in my heart,
And like a flower grew.

CHORUS:

Drifting with the current down a moonlit stream,
While above the Heavens in their glory gleam,
And the stars on high
Twinkle in the sky,
Seeming in a paradise of love divine,
Dreaming of a pair of eyes that looked in mine.
Beautiful Ohio, in dreams again I see
Visons of what used to be.
McBride also described Ohio in a stellar light, using terms like "majestic," "beautiful," and "lovely." In addition, He provided a more accurate portrayal of the state by referring to the state's industries, cities, and farmland, deleting MacDonald's lovers from the song.

I sailed away;
Wandered afar;
Crossed the mighty restless sea;
Looked for where I ought to be.
Cities so grand, mountains above,
Led to this land I love.

CHORUS:

Beautiful Ohio, where the golden grain
Dwarf the lovely flowers in the summer rain.
Cities rising high, silhouette the sky.
Freedom is supreme in this majestic land;
Mighty factories seem to hum in tune, so grand.
Beautiful Ohio, thy wonders are in view,
Land where my dreams all come true!

From Ohio History Central.