Tennessee State Songs and Anthems

Tennessee might well hold the record for the greatest number of official state songs. While some states boast of numerous “state songs,” generally only one of them is deemed “official” while the others are honorary or specific to a genre (such as the official “state polka” or the official “state folk song”). As of 2022, the State of Tennessee lists ten official state songs on their webpage. 

Tennessee’s first official state song was “My Homeland, Tennessee,” so sanctioned in 1925. “When It’s Iris Time in Tennessee” (1935) and “My Tennessee” (1955) became the next two songs to be designated “official.” Three of the state songs have been major hits: “Tennessee Waltz” (canonized in 1965), “Rocky Top” (in 1982) and “Smoky Mountain Rain” (in 2010).

Also included in this section of the database are songs that might have been contenders for state songs as well as ones that pay homage to Tennessee schools and colleges.

My Homeland, Tennessee          When It’s Iris Time in Tennessee           My Tennessee           Tennessee Waltz           Rocky Top          Tennessee, by Vivian Rorie       

 

Pride of Tennessee             Tennessee Bicentennial Rap           Smoky Mountain Rain            Tennessee, by John R. Bean

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My Homeland, Tennessee (1925)

Tennessee Waltz (1965)

“Tennessee Waltz” is surely the most popular, most recorded, and most widely known of the state’s official state songs. It was written in 1946 by Pee Wee King and Redd Stewart during a drive to Nashville for an appearance on the Grand Ole Opry. King and Stewart had heard Bill Monroe’s “Kentucky Waltz” on the radio and were inspired to try their hand at a “Tennessee Waltz.” Since the song’s first release by Pee Wee King and His Golden West Cowboys in 1948, “Tennessee Waltz” has been recorded over three hundred times in styles as diverse as rhythm and blues, pop, jazz, bolero, rock, and even in a Yiddish parody version.The song enjoyed great popularity outside of the U.S. and one could even find sheet music for the waltz in Japan.

Patti Page’s recording of the song in 1951 was a colossal hit, leading Billboard Magazine to state in a front-page article in its May 19 issue from that year that “Tennessee Waltz” was “possibly the biggest song in the history of the modern pop song business.” The song has since become a favorite of university marching bands, including Middle Tennessee State University’s Band of Blue. “Tennessee Waltz” was adopted as the fourth state song of Tennessee in 1965.

Rocky Top (1982)

“Rocky Top,” like “Tennessee Waltz,” is a state song that has enjoyed wide popularity outside Tennessee. This bluegrass standard was written in only ten minutes 1967 by the husband/wife songwriting team of Felice and Boudleaux Bryant as a diversion from another writing assignment. “Rocky Top” began its journey to extraordinary popularity when Bobby and Sonny Osborne visited the Bryant’s in search of a song to fill out an album they were working on. The Osbornes quickly realized that the new song would work well as a bluegrass tune and recorded it the next day. Their recording was released on Christmas day in 1967 and became an instant hit. 

Since its release, “Rocky Top” has been recorded by many artists in many different styles and has also become a popular university fight song. The University of Tennessee’s bands, including the “Pride of the Southland” Marching Band, play “Rocky Top” at every Volunteers sporting event.

Many have wondered where “Rocky Top” is in Tennessee. Felice Bryant said that the song does not reference a specific mountain peak, but that there are a number of summits in the state that bear that common name. “Rocky Top” became an official state song in February 1982.

Tennessee, by Vivian Rorie (1992)

Vivian Rorie’s song was adopted as the official song of the 97th General Assembly in 1992. It became official when House Joint Resolution 744 of the 97th General Assembly was passed. Although “Tennessee” is listed as a state song, technically it is not: it is, rather, the “song of the 97th General Assembly”.   Listen to the text of “Tennessee” as read by Johnny Cash.

 
Pride of Tennessee (1996)

“The Pride of Tennessee,” written by Fred Congdon, T. Mike Vaughn, and Carol Elliot, is unique among the state songs in that it provides a history lesson about Tennessee. It comments on the eleven famous people featured in Tennessee’s official Bicentennial painting. The painting, created in 1990 by Tennessee artist-in-residence Michael Sloan, depicts Cordell Hull, James K. Polk, Anne Dallas Dudley, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, Davy Crockett, Sequoyah, W.C. Handy, Alvin York, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, and John Sevier. One of the song’s writers, Fred Congdon, tells how the song was written:

Tennessee Bicentennial Rap (1996)

The “Tennessee Bicentennial Rap” was written by poet Joan Hill Hanks of Signal Mountain, Tennessee. Mrs. Hanks had been writing poems since the 1970s and made it a practice to read her work “with a beat.” She stated later that she was “writing rap and didn’t know it.” In 1995 she wrote the poem that became the “Bicentennial Rap” as a fun and interesting way to teach students and citizens about the history of Tennessee. In January of 1996, State Senator David Fowler and State Representative Bill McAfee proposed that the poem should become Tennessee’s official “Bicentennial Rap,” and the work was so adopted later that year.

During Tennessee’s Bicentennial year, Mrs. Hanks performed her poem for school assemblies, on television, and before live audiences. If the occasion warranted, she would change the line about about “smooth whiskey” and replace it with “Rafting waters, swimming pools. Olympic medals. Cool, cool, cool.”

 Listen to the Joan Hill Hanks perform the “Tennessee Bicentennial Rap” 

Smoky Mountain Rain (2010)

On June 9, 2010, Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen signed Senate Joint Resolution 966, adding yet another official state song to the ever growing list. The new addition, “Smoky Mountain Rain,” had been a major, signature hit for singer Ronnie Milsap since the early 1980s. It was written by Kye Fleming and Dennis Morgan after being approached by producer Tom Collins to create a song that would honor Milsap’s home region of western North Carolina. Although inspired by the Carolina mountains, the song has come to stand for a region that embraces Tennessee. 

Tennessee, by John R. Bean (2011)

John Bean’s gentle tribute to the state,“Tennessee,” is a song that is stylistically quite different from the rest of his work, which could be characterized kindly as being in the jokester/prankster mode. Songwriter Stephen Hunley started the campaign to have “Tennessee” recognized as a state song, and in May of 2011 the State Senate voted to adopt “Tennessee” as the newest official state song.  Listen to “Tennessee” performed by John Bean