Songs (And Bands) With States In The Titles: Part 2 Of 5

Today's installment will include the next 10 U.S. states (alphabetically speaking), spanning from Hawaii to Maryland. If you missed Part 1 of this mini-series, you can view it here. Much like last time, I have included a video link for each song (or band) whenever possible. Also like last time, I had a hard time only picking one song with a couple of these, but I managed to narrow it down to just two. Enjoy!


11)  HAWAII:  Was there really any better choice for this tropical state than Elvis' "Blue Hawaii"? I mean, really!

12)  IDAHO:  And now for something completely different! Those quirky
B-52's singing their quirky song, "Private Idaho"...

13)  ILLINOIS:  This was one of the more difficult states to find a song for, but I was able to find one that was not an infamously weird Frank Zappa song. Here's Sufjan Stevens' "Come On! Feel The Illinoise!"...

14)  INDIANA:  Well, it's about time we had a Jackson 5 song in this mix! Am I right? Here, those famous siblings sing "Goin' Back To Indiana" during a concert in – where else? – Indiana, of course...

15)  IOWA:  A classic song from one of my favorite musicals, The Music Man. It's "Iowa Stubborn"...

16)  KANSAS:  This was a no-brainer. When there's a band as good as Kansas out there, why bother to look for a song with Kansas in the title? And so I didn't. Here's Kansas' enduring classic, "Dust In The Wind"...

17)  KENTUCKY:  There was no shortage of songs and bands to choose from that contain the word Kentucky in their titles, but I had to pick just two – one song and one band. First up, Emmylou Harris' "Blue Kentucky Girl"...

And secondly, "Walk Softly On This Heart Of Mine" by the Kentucky Headhunters...

18)  LOUISIANA:  There are also plenty of Louisiana songs to go around, but this John Lee Hooker blues classic, "Goin' To Louisiana," seemed sufficient to represent a state that's well-known for its jazz and blues music.

19)  MAINE:  Songs with Maine in the title are also pretty hard to come by. I did find a band called The Maine, which hails from – where else? – Tempe, Arizona! The song's called "Misery"...

As it turns out, The Maine were inspired to name their band thusly by the song "The Coast Of Maine" by another band called Ivory. Here's that one...

20)  MARYLAND:  Oddly enough, this is the only song in this batch simply titled the name of the state. Last but not least, Vonda Shepard's "Maryland"...