Can you name the Michigan State Bird? Robin. Easy, right? How 'bout the Michigan State Stone? Petosky. That's pretty easy too. The State Flower? Apple Blossom. Ok, you're pretty good. How about The Official Michigan State Song? Uh-huh, that's what I thought. Why don't you know the Michigan State Song? Well, what if I told you there really isn't one, but there may be two?
There really isn't one song designated by the Michigan State Legislature as The Official State Song. "What? How did this happen? How did The Great Lakes State end up tuneless in the 21st Century?"
It's a long, complicated story - but since you ask...
I'm sure some of you are saying, "Wait a minute. You're crazy. I used to sing the state song when I was snapping Becky Fendergrast's training bra back in grade school!" And I believe you. But just like they didn't tell you your forefather's were slave-trading, mulatto-spawning, indian-slaughtering aristocrats whose business interests became synonymous with The American Way, you didn't get the whole story junior. Let me lay it down for you.According to The Michigan Historical Center the song you probably butchered in grade school was "Michigan, My Michigan," a snappy little number written by Douglas Malloch back in 1902 at the request of The Michigan State Federation of Woman's Clubs in Muskegon. These fine ladies were about to have their annual convention and wanted to sing the state song - or at least, what was considered the state song up until that point.
But there was a little problem, ya see. The lyrics. They were just, well, so depressing! (Everybody's a critic - even then!) The original lyrics, written by Mrs. (Winifred Lee Brent) and Mr. Henry Lyster of Detroit in 1862 were about (are you ready class?) "The Civil War" - name of the first state-sanctioned oxymoron.
The second most depressing and nasty job during The Civil War was being Mrs. Henry Lyster. Mrs. Lyster (i.e Winifred Lee Brent) had to wash the blood, guts and indescribable ooze off Mr. Lysters clothes, pretend she didn't notice when he broke into tears while she carved the dinner turkey and try to get some sleep when Henry woke up screaming, "No! Horace!" in the middle of the night. Needless to say, our dear Winifred needed a distraction. So, one day, when Mr. Lyster came home from a particularly nasty battle known as The Battle of Fredricksburg (17,929 dead in one battle! And you thought Vietnam was bad), she decided to write the lyrics to what would become known as our state song - instead of comforting Mr. Lyster in the usual fashion, with two bottles of absinthe and a ball-pean hammer. (O.k. so I made that last bit up. In fact, I don't even know if Mr. Lyster was at Fredricksburg, but by that time he didn't know either. It is recorded history, however, that she was inspired by this particular battle)
Anyway, Mrs. Lyster wasn't particulaly gifted in the music department, which of course never prevented anybody from writing lyrics. So she set the words to the tune of "Oh Tannenbaum, Oh Tannenbaum" which Mr. Lyster liked to sing while dancing naked around a shrubbery in the back yard.
So that's how "Michigan, My Michigan" was originally written by Mr. & Mrs. Henry Lyster, in 1862 - or at least the way I like to imagine it.
So let's go back to our ladies in Muskegon who wanted to sing the state song at their upcoming convention in 1902. Like I said, the original words were too depressing for our girls. Besides, The Civil War was long over, peace reigned over the land and everything was hunky-dory (at least if you were a white, middle-class woman). The Lyster's version of the song was all about sending your boys off to die in bloody pools and muddy fields and all the othe nasty details Mr. Lyster whispered in his sleep. The Muskegon girls wanted a "New & Improved" version as women are often wont to do.
In comes Douglass Malloch, a lyricist hired by Michigan State Federation of Woman's Clubs to brighten, tighten and generally whiten the lyrics of history so the girls wouldn't be too depressed to cheer on prohibition, christian values, women's suffrage and equal rights (bet they wish they could take that one back, eh?) And Dougie did a dandy job too; not one word about blood, gore, death or war. His lyrics were all about lakes, rivers, trees, devotion and other feel-good themes a girl could really get her corset into a bunch over. Doug even hired his friend W. Otto Miessner to spruce up the melody a bit but it didn't really stick.
But best and maybe more importantly, Malloch shortened the original song from ten dreary war stanzas to four snappy verses, so it was easy to remember too. In fact, they knew the song so well that these very Muskegon women (who often quadrupled as teachers, mothers, wives and sisters) brought the song into our homes and schools without anyone being the wiser. Before you knew it, the kids were singing "Michigan, My Michgan" by Douglas Malloch at their school musicals and patriotic plays - having never known it was originally about blood and guts spilled over cotton, tobacco and slaves.But for whatever reason (fear of being wrong and ejected by ballot I'd guess) The Michigan Legislature never adopted "Michigan, My Michigan" as The Official State Song. Probably because nobody they knew proposed the legislation. But they did adopt a song in 1937 written by Giles Kavanagh (lyrics) and H. O'Reilly Clint (music) called "My Michigan." Catchy title, huh? Coincidentally, I'm sure, Giles Kavanaugh sat on the Michigan Court of Appeals. You see how things get done in this state? (He also later spawned the Hon. Thomas Giles Kavanagh (1917-1997), Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, 1969-1985.)
Lucky for us, Michigan politicians couldn't write a catchy lyric any better than they could fix a road and the song disappeared into obscurity faster than Stevens T. Mason (who? - The first governor of Michigan!). They did, however, manage to slip this tune past the legislature in Concurrent Resolution No. 17 (1937), but not before the Michigan Senate got their sweaty little hands on it and changed the wording from "the official state song" to "an official state song." Even they didn't want to commit to "My Michigan" forever. So "My Michigan" by Giles Kavanagh sits in a dustry drawer somewhere at The Library of Michigan and another copy at The Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan.
So there you have it kids; that's why we don't have THE Official State Song of Michigan. Don't you feel a whole lot smarter now?
- Mitch Phillips
Source: You can get the whole skinny on our state songs at the Michigan Historical Center. The original words to "Michigan, My Michigan" are available as well as the original language to Concurrent Resolution 17 in PDF format.
The Un-Official Michigan State Song...but the one that at least some people knowThis popular state anthem is sung to the tune of "O Tannenbaum?" (i.e. "Oh Christmas Tree"). You'd like to think our foremothers would go for something a little more original but I suppose it's easy to remember. And besides, we are one of the largest producers of Christmas trees in the nation. So without further ado, here's the upbeat 1902 lyrics in case you suddenly feel the urge to get all misty about our great state. Michigan, My MichiganWritten by: William Otto Miessner & Douglas M. Malloch Sung to the tune "Oh, Tannenbaum" A song to thee, fair State of mine, Michigan, my Michigan; But greater song than this is thine, Michigan, my Michigan; The whisper of the forest tree, The thunder of the inland sea; Unite in one grand symphony Of Michigan, my Michigan. I sing a State of all the best, Michigan, my Michigan; I sing a State with riches blest, Michigan, my Michigan; Thy mines unmask a hidden store, But richer thy historic lore, More great the love thy builders bore, Oh, Michigan, my Michigan. How fair the bosom of thy lakes, Michigan, my Michigan; What melody each river makes; Michigan, my Michigan; As to thy lakes the rivers tend, Thy exiled children to thee send Devotion that shall never end, Oh, Michigan, my Michigan. Thou rich in wealth makes a State, Michigan, my Michigan; Thou great in things that make us great, Michigan, my Michigan; Out loyal voices sound thy claim Upon the golden roll of fame Our loyal hands shall write the name Of Michigan, my Michigan. |