The Empire State has “I Love New York.” The Peach State has “Georgia On My Mind.”
And Pennsylvania?
A Montgomery County lawmaker, Rep. Joe Ciresi (D-Royersford), who has a degree in voice performance, is behind the push to find a new ditty to replace the dull, old-fashioned state song adopted in 1990 that some have likened to “a Russian dirge.”
Ciresi is joined in his legislative quest by Rep. Russell Diamond (R-Lebanon), a former punk rocker, who has gone so far as to write his own tune.
The bill would allow Pennsylvania residents to vote on contenders for the new song, just like “American Idol,” said Ciresi. A new, upbeat song would be “great for tourism,” he said. It could be played on commercials touting the pleasures of visiting Pennsylvania.
“It will bring pride,” Ciresi said. “Pennsylvania is great.”
The bill to replace “Pennsylvania” by Eddie Khoury and Ronnie Ronner, HR25, is now two sessions old and passed in the last session with bipartisan support. But Ciresi and Diamond think the time for a new tune is now.
Some people think a new state song is frivolous but “it would have an economic impact,” said Ciresi, who enjoys Broadway show tunes and classical music.
Ciresi said he’s driving his staff nuts, making them find the state song for all 50 states. Maybe famous Pennsylvania musicians like Taylor Swift, Hall and Oates or Patti LaBelle might write new melodies for their native state, he mused.
Diamond came up with his Pennsylvania song contender “in a couple of days” after a line came to him, “Pennsylvania: The Keystone of My Heart”—now the song’s title.
He was in a hard-rock band called Bashful in his 20s, before he became a businessman and then ran for office.
He was loath to criticize the current song, saying, “I don’t think there’s any bad music.” But he thinks the state could do better.
And if his song does not win, he is on board with whichever song the public picks.
“I’m not sure my song is the state song,” said Diamond. “Somebody could write a better one.”
He would like to see a song that kids and adults would enjoy singing along with and that “makes people proud of our state.”
He hopes the bill for a new song will pass the House State Government Committee and the state Senate will take it up. He plans to lobby Sen. Chris Dush, chair of the Senate State Government Committee.
“I love music, and I love Pennsylvania,” said Diamond.
