{"id":67834,"date":"2026-07-03T13:24:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T13:24:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/03\/50-songs-for-50-states\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T13:24:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T13:24:29","slug":"50-songs-for-50-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/03\/50-songs-for-50-states\/","title":{"rendered":"50 Songs For 50 States"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/p>\n
\n
To honor America\u2019s 250th birthday, we pick a favorite song for every state in the Union<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n\t\t<\/p>\n
\n
\n\tHappy birthday, America! To celebrate our nation\u2019s semiquincentennial, the editors of Rolling Stone<\/em> got together and selected one song for every state. Some of these tunes are by homegrown heroes; other picks are just great songs that mention a state or happen to be set there or that evoke the place in some special way. Our list has rock classics, hip-hop anthems, country gems, and more, and it covers decades of great American music. Think of it as our playlist love letter to the U.S. of A.<\/p>\n
\n
Photographs in Illustration:<\/p>\n
Rick Diamond\/Getty Images; Raymond Boyd\/Getty Images, 2; CBS\/Getty Images; Blair Caldwell; George Rose\/Getty Images; Fotos International\/Getty Images; Griffin Lotz<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n\n
Alabama:\u00a0Drive-By Truckers, \u2018Let There Be Rock\u2019\u00a0 (2001)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Tim Mosenfelder\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\n
\n\tOn this three-guitar haymaker of an anthem, Muscle Shoals native Patterson Hood sings about growing up doing \u201ccrazy stupid shit\u201d in high school, and seeing just about every big Seventies rock band that comes through the state \u2014 except Lynyrd Skynyrd, whose plane goes down right before he gets the chance. It\u2019s the centerpiece of the Truckers\u2019 excellent 2001 album, Southern Rock Opera.<\/em> If you\u2019ve ever been pulled over in Rogersville, Alabama, with a half ounce of weed and a case of Sterling big mouths, this one\u2019s for you. <\/p>\n
\n\tHonorable mention:<\/strong> Lynyrd Skynyrd, \u201cSweet Home Alabama\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\tInspired by a summer hiking trip in Alaska, singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers channeled the incredible natural beauty she witnessed \u2014 \u201cicy streams that took my breath away\u201d \u2014 into a lovely pop song about using the expanse around her to transcend the burden of a failed relationship. \u201cAlaska\u201d caught the ear of super-producer Pharrell Williams when he visited a music class Rogers was taking at NYU, and the song became a viral hit. She nailed the essence of the state so well that Alaska\u2019s most famous songwriter, Jewel, covered \u201cAlaska\u201d in 2022. <\/p>\n
California:\u00a0Tupac feat. Dr. Dre, \u2018California Love\u2019\u00a0(1995)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Nitro\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\n
\n\tWith the help of a vocoder hook from veteran funkmaster Roger Troutman of Zapp, Tupac and Dre spread love from San Diego to the Bay. Having recently been released from prison, Pac wanted his debut single for Death Row to be as splashy as possible, and he came through with a Number One hit in the summer of 1996. \u201cCalifornia Love\u201d gets props for being more pan-Californian than any other California anthem \u2014 shouting out Oaktown and Compton and Inglewood (where they\u2019re up to no good). They even have something nice to say about Sacramento, the boring state capital. Now that\u2019s love. Honorable mention:<\/strong> Joni Mitchell, \u201cCalifornia\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\n
Colorado:\u00a0Joe Walsh, \u2018Rocky Mountain Way\u2019 (1973)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: ABC Photo Archives\/Disney General Entertainment Content\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\n
\n\tOhio native Joe Walsh was living in Boulder, Colorado, during the early 1970s and apparently psyched as hell about it \u2014 at least if you go by this talk-box-heavy 1973 banger, which he laid down at the local Caribou Ranch recording studio. He was inspired by looking up from mowing his lawn one summer day and seeing the snowcapped Rockies. \u201cAnd it knocked me back because it was just beautiful,\u201d he later recalled. Honorable mention:<\/strong> Warren Zevon, \u201cThings to Do in Denver When You\u2019re Dead\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\n
Connecticut:\u00a0Fountains of Wayne, \u2018Laser Show\u2019 (1999)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: James Keivom\/NY Daily News Archive\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\n
\n\tPower-pop heroes Fountains of Wayne are mainly associated with New Jersey, but they really rep the culture of the whole tristate area. On \u201cLaser Show,\u201d from 1999\u2019s Utopia Parkway,<\/em> they sing about kids from Bridgeport, Westport, and Darien heading down to the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York to space out to Pink Floyd and Metallica, then getting back on the Long Island Expressway to get home to the cozy safety of the Nutmeg suburbs. Honorable mention:<\/strong> Carly Simon, \u201cThe Wives Are in Connecticut\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\n
Arizona: The Eagles, \u2018Take It Easy\u2019 (1972)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Henry Diltz\/Corbis\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\n
\n\tThe idea to mention Winslow, Arizona, in the song that eventually became the Eagles\u2019 debut single occurred to the song\u2019s co-author Jackson Browne when his car broke down driving through Arizona in 1970. His buddy Glenn Frey came up with the line \u201cIt\u2019s a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford, slowing down to take a look at me.\u201d Today, you can visit Standin\u2019 on the Corner Park in Winslow, featuring a flatbed red Ford and a statue of a guy holding a guitar. <\/p>\n
\n\tHonorable mention:<\/strong> Meat Puppets, \u201cUp on the Sun\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\n
Arkansas: Johnny Cash, \u2018Daddy Sang Bass\u2019\u00a0(1968)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Oscar Abolafia\/TPLP\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\n
\n\tJohnny Cash was raised in Dyess, Arkansas, a resettlement community set up as part of FDR\u2019s New Deal to aid poor farmers. Written by his Sun Records buddy Carl Perkins, this 1968 classic is one of the Man in Black\u2019s most beloved songs, an ode to growing up in Arkansas and how it\u2019s not so bad being poor because you\u2019ve got family and faith and music all around \u2014 and how we\u2019ll all be joined together again with Daddy on bass and Mama on tenor. <\/p>\n
\n\tHonorable mention:<\/strong> Big Bill Broonzy, \u201cGoing Back to Arkansas\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\n
Delaware:\u00a0George Thorogood and the Destroyers, \u2018Delaware Slide\u2019 (1977)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Richard McCaffrey\/ Michael Ochs Archive\/ Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\n
\n\tA proud son of Wilmington, George Thorogood moved out to the West Coast in the early 1970s but returned home to form the Delaware Destroyers. They made their self-titled debut on Rounder Records in 1977, and closed it out with \u201cDelaware Slide,\u201d a nearly eight-minute blues boogie showcase for Thorogood\u2019s searing slide-guitar skills. The Delaware Destroyers is also the name of a semipro baseball team \u00ad\u2014 Thorogood played second base in his younger days, with Destroyers drummer Jeff Simon in center field. Honorable mention:<\/strong> Drop Nineteens, \u201cDelaware\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\n
Florida: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, \u2018American Girl\u2019 (1976)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Richard McCaffrey\/ Michael Ochs Archive\/ Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\n
\n\tTom Petty is the greatest musician ever to come out of Florida, and he\u2019s referenced the Sunshine State in songs like \u201cGainesville\u201d and \u201cSouthern Accents.\u201d His greatest hit, \u201cAmerican Girl,\u201d shouts out U.S. Highway 441, which runs through Petty\u2019s hometown of Gainesville. For years it was rumored that the girl in the song was inspired by a University of Florida student who died by throwing herself out of her dorm room onto the highway, but that\u2019s totally untrue. \u201cThe girl was looking for the strength to move on,\u201d Petty said, \u201cand she found it.\u201d Honorable mention:<\/strong> Rick Ross, \u201cHustlin\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\tOutKast shifted hip-hop\u2019s focus from the coasts to the Dirty South in the mid-Nineties with a sound steeped in their red-clay roots. \u201cThe Atlanta pride was there, because we believed it,\u201d Andr\u00e9 3000 later said of the Southernplayalistic sound they perfected on \u201cATLiens,\u201d a silky smooth and deeply funky statement of pride in their home turf that put Georgia on the mind of every rap fan in the world. Honorable mention:<\/strong> Ray Charles, \u201cGeorgia on My Mind\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\n
Hawaii:\u00a0Kamakawiwo\u2018ole, \u2018Somewhere Over the Rainbow\/What a Wonderful World\/Israel \u2018IZ\u2019 (1988)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Youtube\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\n
\n\tA beloved figure in the history of Hawaiian music and a proud advocate for Hawaiian rights, singer and ukulele player Israel \u201cIZ\u201d Kamakawiwo\u2018ole found international success with this beautiful, smilingly sung medley of Judy Garland\u2019s \u201cSomewhere Over the Rainbow\u201d and Louis Armstrong\u2019s \u201cWhat a Wonderful World\u201d \u2014 which he knocked out fooling around at the end of a 1988 recording session. The song was a global hit at the time, and it\u2019s been a soundtrack staple for years. Honorable mention:<\/strong> Bad Bunny, \u201cLo Que Le Pas\u00f3 a Hawaii\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\n
Idaho:\u00a0Built to Spill, \u2018Twin Falls\u2019 (1994)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Jim Steinfeldt\/Michael Ochs Archives\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\n
\n\tUsually musicians from smaller states tend to decamp to the nearest hip large city \u2014 in the case of Built to Spill\u2019s Doug Martsch, that would\u2019ve been Seattle or Portland, Oregon. But the Twin Falls native has stayed in Idaho for most of his adult life, recording nine albums of indie-rock guitar epics. This bittersweet ode to his hometown is a highlight of BTS\u2019 1994 classic, There\u2019s Nothing Wrong With Love.<\/em> Honorable mention:<\/strong> Paul Revere and the Raiders, \u201cHim or Me \u00ad\u2014 What\u2019s It Gonna Be?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\tIn 2005, folk artist Sufjan Stevens released Illinois,<\/em> a double album in which the Land of Lincoln becomes the backdrop for a meditation on human frailty, American history, hope, faith, devotion, and loss. It peaks with \u201cChicago,\u201d a sweeping song about found freedom and lost innocence on a coming-of-age road trip. Stevens\u2019 ability to evoke the hulking expanse of Chicago is up there with the novels of Theodore Dreiser and Saul Bellow. Honorable mention:<\/strong> Cheap Trick, \u201cSurrender\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\n
Indiana: The Jackson 5, \u2018Goin\u2019 Back to Indiana\u2019 (1970)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: ABC Photo Archives\/Disney General Entertainment Content\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\n
\n\tThe Jackson family lived on 2300 Jackson St. in Gary, Indiana, before the Jackson 5 made the leap to Motown and took over the world. \u201cGoin\u2019 Back to Indiana\u201d kicks off Side Two of the Jackson 5\u2019s 1970 LP Third Album<\/em> with a high-energy blast of nostalgia driven by Michael\u2019s ebullient lead vocal. The following year, the Jacksons would return home to play Gary\u2019s West Side High School for a TV concert special, also titled Goin\u2019 Back to Indiana.<\/em> Honorable mention:<\/strong> John Cougar Mellencamp, \u201cSmall Town\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\tThe nine masked nu-metal evildoers in Slipknot got together in Des Moines in the mid-Nineties. The local chamber of commerce isn\u2019t likely to put the psycho-sludge title cut from the band\u2019s 2001 album, Iowa,<\/em> on any local tourism ads, but visitors to the city can check out the Slaughterhouse, a haunted house inspired by the band. Honorable mention:<\/strong> Tom T. Hall, \u201cIt Sure Can Get Cold in Des Moines\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\tWichita\u2019s the Embarrassment were one of the great Midwestern punk bands, forming in 1979 with a killer psychedelic garage sound and self-deprecating nard-chic look years ahead of its time. \u201cTwo-Week Vacation\u201d is about a dude on a budget with time off from work and no idea what to do with it. They repeat \u201cWhere can I go?\/What can I do?\u201d like it\u2019s a bored Midwestern mantra over guitars that buzz like pissed-off crickets. Honorable mention:<\/strong> Kansas, \u201cDust in the Wind\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\t\u201cI remember Daddy coming home in his hardshell cap, all you could see was the whites of his eyes,\u201d Loretta Lynn recalled. \u201cHe\u2019d have coal dust all over him. I learned from it.\u201d She called on her memories of growing up one of eight kids in a cabin on a hill in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky \u00ad\u2014 her daddy working in the Van Lear coal mines at night and farming corn in the day, her mommy scrubbing clothes until her fingers bled. A Number One country hit in 1970, it might be the greatest song ever about taking pride in where you\u2019re from. Honorable mention:<\/strong> Bill Monroe, \u201cBlue Moon of Kentucky\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\tNew Orleans musical ambassadors the Meters based this joyous 1974 song on a chant heard at Indian parades during Mardi Gras that means \u201cGet out of our way,\u201d mixed in some second-line swing, and gave it a jolt of funk. It\u2019s a highlight of their classic album Rejuvenation,<\/em> co-produced by Crescent City soul architect Allen Toussaint, himself a student of Fats Domino and Professor Longhair. You can hear all of that history in the Meters\u2019 groove. Honorable mention:<\/strong> Lil Wayne, \u201cLa La La\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\n
Maine:\u00a0Mountain Goats, \u2018Going to Maine\u2019 (1993)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Steven Dewall\/Redferns\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\n
\n\tOver the decades, John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats has created a series of \u201cGoing to\u2009\u2026\u2009\u201d songs, desperate escapist reveries like \u201cGoing to Scotland\u201d and \u201cGoing to Lebanon 2.\u201d The people in \u201cGoing to Maine\u201d are an adulterous couple running for Maine like it\u2019s a magical place where sins are washed and dreams reborn. For Darnielle, who grew up in California, it kind of was: \u201cWhen I would think of Maine, and like the whole \u2014 just the term \u2018the East Coast,\u2019 this was like Shangri-La.\u201d Honorable Mention:<\/strong> Jackson Browne, \u201cNothing But Time\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\n
Maryland:\u00a0Fleetwood Mac, \u2018Silver Springs\u2019\u00a0(1976)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Michael Ochs Archives\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\n
\n\tThis outtake from Rumours<\/em> \u2014 arguably the most intense breakup song in the entire Fleetwood Mac catalog \u2014 rocketed to the top of the Fleetwood Mac canon after Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham\u2019s devastating performance of the song on their 1997 reunion tour. The inspiration came to Nicks when the Mac passed through Silver Spring, Maryland, on tour in the 1970s. \u201cIt sounded like a pretty fabulous place to me,\u201d she recalled. \u201cIt\u2019s a whole symbolic thing of what [Lindsey] could have been to me.\u201d Honorable mention:<\/strong> Nina Simone, \u201cBaltimore\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\n
Massachusetts: The Modern Lovers, \u2018Roadrunner'(1976)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Gems\/Redferns\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\n
\n\tJonathan Richman sings about driving down Route 128 \u2014 America\u2019s Technology Highway \u2014 in love with suburban trees and suburban speed and the Fifties rock & roll on his radio until he finally gives in to the magic and literally yells, \u201cI\u2019m in love with Massachusetts!\u201d A student of the Velvet Underground, who transplanted their urban guitar roar to New England, Richman showed much love for his hometown on the Modern Lovers\u2019 classic debut, from the Museum of Fine Arts to the Government Center. Honorable mention:<\/strong> The Bee Gees, \u201cMassachusetts\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\n
Michigan:\u00a0Martha and the Vandellas, \u2018Dancing in the Street\u2019\u00a0(1964)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Echoes\/Redferns\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\n
\n\tHas any structure erected by human hand ever been the source of as much great music as 2648 W. Grand Blvd. in Detroit, a.k.a. Hitsville USA? Not likely. \u201cDancing in the Street\u201d is the ultimate Motown anthem, a party record that doubles as a protest call to arms, co-written by Marvin Gaye, who also played drums on it, delivering one of the hottest snare-drum shots ever fired. \u201c\u2009\u2018Dancing in the Street\u2019 was what we did in our neighborhood,\u201d Martha Reeves recalled years later. \u201cWhat was in my spirit was our neighborhood, our next-door neighbor who would put their record players on.\u201d Honorable mention:<\/strong> Bob Seger, \u201cNight Moves\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\n
Minnesota: Prince, \u2018Purple Rain\u2019 (1984)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Ross Marino\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\n
\n\tWhen Prince died in 2016, thousands of people gathered outside First Avenue, the iconic Minneapolis club where he filmed the concert scenes in his 1984 biopic, Purple Rain.<\/em> They all sang \u201cPurple Rain\u201d together in a moving act of grief and pride. In 2025, a group of bipartisan state lawmakers proposed making it the state song, alongside Bob Dylan\u2019s \u201cGirl From the North Country.\u201d It\u2019s pretty nuts that the greatest songwriter and greatest pop artist of all time both come from the same frostbitten little state. Honorable mention:<\/strong> The Replacements, \u201cSkyway\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\tYou could make the case that every other song on this list has roots in the Delta blues that Robert Johnson perfected on the spellbinding recordings he made in 1936 and 1937. The crossroads where Johnson was alleged to have sold his soul in exchange for his musical genius is commemorated by the state of Mississippi with a famous three-guitar roadside monument outside of Clarksdale, where U.S. Highway 61 meets Highway 49. Honorable Mention:<\/strong> Bob Dylan, \u201cMississippi\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\n
Missouri:\u00a0Nelly, \u2018Country Grammar (Hot Shit)\u2019 (2000)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Tim Roney\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\n
\n\tNelly came out of St. Louis leading a local crew of high school buddies called the St. Lunatics, and broke out with his smash hit \u201cCountry Grammar (Hot Shit).\u201d His sound was influenced by Southern rap like OutKast, but he gave it his own welcoming, laid-back Midwestern feel and playful flavor, rolling down your street in his Range Rover and going multiplatinum with his 2000 debut, Country Grammar.<\/em> Honorable mention:<\/strong> Wilco, \u201cHeavy Metal Drummer\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\n
Montana:\u00a0Merle Haggard, \u2018Big City\u2019\u00a0(1982)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Paul Natkin\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\n
\n\tA country classic about getting out of dirty, old smog-clogged L.A. and relocating to Montana. Hag was searching for the right place to move to in the song, and asked his old buddy and longtime tour-bus driver Dean Holloway, who suggested \u201csomewhere in the middle of damn Montana.\u201d Haggard loved the line and used it nearly verbatim, and it became the title track of his 1982 album, Big City,<\/em> and a Number One country hit. Honorable mention:<\/strong> Frank Zappa and the Mothers, \u201cMontana\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\n
Nebraska:\u00a0Bright Eyes, \u2018Land locked Blues\u2019\u00a0(2005)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Lex van Rossen\/MAI\/Redferns\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\n
\n\tIn the early 2000s, Omaha spawned one of America\u2019s coolest new rock scenes, producing bands like Cursive, the Faint, and Bright Eyes, fronted by resident genius songwriter Conor Oberst. This intimate highlight from Bright Eyes\u2019 2005 album I\u2019m Wide Awake, It\u2019s Morning<\/em> is just Oberst and his acoustic guitar, perfectly capturing the restless feeling of wintry Plains states isolation. Honorable mention:<\/strong> 311, \u201cDown\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\n
Nevada,\u00a0Elvis Presley, \u2018Viva Las Vegas\u2019 (1964)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Michael Ochs Archives\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\n
\n\tBright lights, big city, baby! Never has losing at gambling sounded so awesome. Vegas was still in its Moe Green\/Rat Pack era when the King cut \u201cViva Las Vegas\u201d in 1964. The song and the Elvis\/Ann-Margret movie it was tied to helped rebrand the city as a glamorous vacation spot for everyday Americans, where night and day were flipped and the normal rules of life didn\u2019t apply. Sixty-two years later, the Las Vegas Golden Knights play it every time they score.\u00a0 Honorable mention:<\/strong> The Killers, \u201cSam\u2019s Town\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\n
New Hampshire:\u00a0Okkervil River, \u2018Down Down the Deep River\u2019 (2013)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Gary Miller\/FilmMagic\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\n
\n\tIndie-rock singer-songwriter Will Sheff grew up in Meriden, New Hampshire, and formed Okkervil River in the 1990s. He returned to his roots for his seventh album,
![\"Mike](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/alabama-drive-by-truckers.jpg?w=300\")
![\"Alaska:\u00a0Maggie](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
![\"Alaska:\u00a0Maggie](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/alaska-maggie-rogers.jpg?w=300\")
![\"From](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/california-dre-tupac.jpg?w=300\")
![\"IN](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/colorado-joe-walsh.jpg?w=300\")
![\"UNITED](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/connecticut-fountains-of-wayne.jpg?w=300\")
![\"March](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/arizona-the-eagles.jpg?w=300\")
![\"American](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/arkansas-johnny-cash.jpg?w=300\")
![\"SAN](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/delaware-george-thorogood-.jpg?w=300\")
![\"SAN](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/florida-tom-petty.jpg?w=300\")
![\"Georgia:](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/georgia-outkast.jpg?w=300\")
![\"Hawaii:\u00a0Kamakawiwo\u2018ole,](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/hawaii-Braddah-IZ.jpg?w=300\")
![\"American](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/idaho-built-to-spill.jpg?w=300\")
![\"UNITED](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/illinois-sufjan-stevens.jpg?w=300\")
![\"GOIN'](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/indiana-jackson-5.jpg?w=300\")
![\"UNITED](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/iowa-slipknot.jpg?w=300\")
![\"Kansas:\u00a0The](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/kansas-the-embarrassment.jpg?w=300\")
\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n![\"CIRCA](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/kentucky-loretta-lynn.jpg?w=300\")
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/louisiana-the-meters.jpg?w=300\")
![\"UNITED](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/maine-mountain-goats.jpg?w=300\")
![\"CIRCA](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/maryland-fleetwood-mac.jpg?w=300\")
![\"UNSPECIFIED](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/massachusetts-roadrunner.jpg?w=300\")
![\"UNSPECIFIED](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/michigan-dancin-in-the-street.jpg?w=300\")
![\"DETROIT,](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/minnesota-prince.jpg?w=300\")
![\"Mississippi:\u00a0Robert](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/mississippi-robert-johnson.jpg?w=300\")
![\"American](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/missouri-nelly.jpg?w=300\")
![\"Singer](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/montana-merle-haggard.jpg?w=300\")
![\"(NETHERLANDS](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/nebraska-bright-eyes.jpg?w=300\")
![\"LAS](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/nevada-elvis-presley.jpg?w=300\")
![\"AUSTIN,](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/new-hampshire-Okkervil-River.jpg?w=300\")