Florida's Official Song

The Swanee River is the official song of Florida. The song was written for a minstrel show. The song is a slave singing about his love of working on the plantation.

Way down upon de Swanee Ribber,
Far, far away,
Dere's wha my heart is turning ebber,
Dere's wha de old folks stay.
All up and down de whole creation
Sadly I roam,
Still longing for de old plantation,
And for de old folks at home.

CHORUS
All de world am sad and dreary,
Eb-rywhere I roam;
Oh, darkeys, *how my heart grows weary,
Far from de old folks at home!

People no longer want the song as the state anthem. Charlie Crist refused to have the song sung at his inauguration. Dennis Baxley maybe the only public official who stands behind the song.

"I am really bucking the tide on this whole thing of expunging Southern history from Florida. Our roots are Deep South. The state song is about slaves working. They built Florida's economy," Baxley told The Gainesville Sun.

I couldn't make someone ignorant and insensitive as Baxley if I tried.