Rising to Our State of Sufjan

By now, unless you’re just a pure pop culture addict or living in an NPR free world, you’ve heard of Sufjan Stevens.  Moreover, you likely know that he’s on a quixotic mission to write an album about each of the 50 states.  He’s written of Michigan and his record about Illinois is masterful.  What if Sufjan Stevens decided to skip New Jersey and Oregon and instead focus on writing an Album about Georgia right now?  What would his titles be?
Here are some possibilities:

  1. Oh Great Land of Granite Outcrop (parsing the stones)
  2. The war of Northern Aggression or how big a fire can there really be before God gets nervous?
  3. What if we are all Wayne Williams?
  4. A brief recognition of how important Howard Finster was to making people realize that more important than looking at art was actually making it for yourself and letting other people see it until they understood (38 seconds)
  5. I Can See 7 States From Here:  Lookout Mountain
  6. Time to bury the dead.
  7. Decatur or, Round of Applause for your Stepmother
  8. One last Hoorah for President Jimmy Carter
  9. Atlanta
  10. Martin Luther King- a day lost
  11. To the workers who died building the Olympic Stadium
  12. That Church is so Beautiful
  13. Squares - a Savannah Song
  14. The lost jellyfish of Lake Allatoona
  15. Why did they put the temple in the big box store?
  16. The Great Goddess of DragonCon
  17. Atrium
  18. I see nothing but the Lord, I-75, and Waffle House… then Valdosta.
  19. The rising Phenix
  20. Howyermomenem?
  21. Riffs and harmonies that Robert Shaw would have thought of if he were alive today and John Portman has commissioned him to make an opera of the music of REM if he were really nervous

2 Responses to “Rising to Our State of Sufjan”

  1. Joe Says:

    That must be the most unflattering possible angle of the Holy Spirit church. Then again, any picture of a building that includes its parking lot is likely going to be unflattering.

  2. Greg Says:

    An album about Georgia? The superb German label, Bear Family Records, has done just that. They recently put out a few “various artists” compilations that are each devoted to vintage country and hillbilly songs about a specific state. I think they did one for Texas, Alabama, and Tennessee. Most importantly, however, they did one for Georgia. It’s called Greeting From Georgia, The Peach State. Here is what it offers.

    1. Georgia On My Mind - Frankie Laine
    2. Sweet Georgia Brown - Pat Boone
    3. It’s A Long, Long Way To Georgia - Don Gibson
    4. Georgia Camp Meeting - Chet Atkins
    5. Rainy Night In Georgia - Wynn Stewart
    6. Georgia Sunshine - Dean Martin
    7. Watermelon Time In Georgia - Lefty Frizzell
    8. Poor Red Georgia Dirt - Stonewall Jackson
    9. Devil Went Down To Georgia, The - Charlie Daniels
    10. Burn, Georgia Burn - Tompall Glaser
    11. Cedartown, Georgia - Waylon Jennings
    12. Columbia Stockade Blues - Willie Nelson/Shirley Collie
    13. Miller’s Cave - Hank Snow
    14. All Over Hell And Half Of Georgia - Jerry Lee Lewis
    15. Tennemonk, Georgia - Carl Mann
    16. Marching Through Georgia - Joe Maphis
    17. If I Ever Get Back To Georgia - Hank Snow
    18. Georgia Boogie - Curley Williams
    19. Wild Georgia Boys - Jim & Jesse
    20. Georgia Piney Woods - The Osborne Brothers
    21. Bringin’ In The Georgia Mail - Flatt & Scruggs
    22. My Little Georgia Rose - Bill Monroe
    23. Peach Pickin’ Time In Georgia - Jimmie Rodgers
    24. Atlanta, Georgia - Jimmie Davis (recorded 1946)
    25. Sweet Georgia Brown - Country All Stars

    And here is a link to where you can “buy it now” on eBay. (I do not know or have any affiliation with the seller….just thought it would be of interest.)

    http://cgi.ebay.com/Greetings-From-Georgia-25-GA-Themed-songs-BEAR-FAMILY_W0QQitemZ4753625565QQcategoryZ307QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

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