JOURNEY THROUGH AMERICAN MUSIC

Here are 10 songs that celebrate the beauty of America!

Image: Marius Masalar

It’s no surprise that "America the Beautiful" and its landscapes, oceans, and mountains have been recognized by countless works of art. Every state has inspired legendary musicians and songwriters with the many wonders they have to offer. From Frank Sinatra’s moonlit Vermont to Elvis's wild nights in Vegas, we remember some of these iconic composers with a selection of ten songs that celebrate U.S. states.

Image: ibuki Tsubo

We start this list with a timeless classic. Ray Charles sings a tender and moving love song to his home state, pining for a "road that leads back" to his sweet Georgia. You might be surprised to learn that this song wasn’t actually written by Ray Charles, but rather by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell, and first recorded by Carmichael in 1930.

Nevertheless, Ray Charles’ version is, without a doubt, the most iconic, so much so that it was declared Georgia’s official state song in 2006.

Image: Rusty Watson

As Dorothy Gale sings in The Wizard of Oz, "There’s no place like home." Who else but Dorothy herself could make you miss Connecticut with just a song? Judy Garland and Bing Cosby sing their praises of Connecticut in this 1944 tune written by Broadway legends Ira and George Gershwin. Garland’s happy-go-lucky voice lovingly describes this "land of dreams and moonlit streams" before declaring "Connecticut will always be my home, sweet home."

Image: Tyler Cordaro

This 1944 song has had many incredible versions (including legendary names like Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald), but perhaps Frank Sinatra’s version is the most well-known. The Sultan of Swoon’s dulcet tones line perfectly with the lyrics: an idyllic image frozen in time of a hypnotizing, dimly lit summer night in Vermont’s majestic mountains.

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Jimmy Buffet’s 1986 album Floridays, and the track of the same name, paint a lovely picture of the Sunshine State. The song’s narrator keeps "looking for better days", while apparently finding them on those Floridays filled with "blue skies and ultraviolet rays."

While the song has an unquestionable nostalgic feeling to it, one can’t help but picture cold beers and the sun setting over the Miami coastline while listening to this song. Fun fact: This was the last studio album to feature Jimmy Buffet’s trademark mustache since he shaved it by 1988’s Hot Water.

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Another tale of a version becoming more popular than the original, "Jersey Girl" was written by legendary composer and musician Tom Waits for his 1980 album Heartattack and Vine, and was first covered by Springsteen in 1981. You can tell how the Boss is truly one of New Jersey’s favorite sons in his live performance of this song at Meadowlands Arena: when he sings about riding "across the river to the Jersey side", the crowd erupts in deafening cheers.

Image: Joel Mott

While this is the first song in this list to reference a city rather than a whole state, Sufjan Stevens's 2005 concept album Illinois is a beautiful exploration of a state the songwriter describes as the "center of gravity of the American midwest." In that sense, "Chicago" is a sad but beautiful depiction of the Windy City. A powerful orchestra backs Steven’s melancholic voice in a song about love, mistakes, and driving back to Chicago while "all things go."

Image: Grant Cai

Another song named after a city, this iconic track is one of the King’s most popular songs. "Viva Las Vegas" (and the 1964 film of the same name) have become synonymous with the Entertainment Capital of the World. Elvis's energetic lyrics about the city that would be his home five years later describe the frenzy and enjoyment this "bright light city" has to offer.

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We could have easily included Diamond’s powerful patriotic song "America" in this list, but this ode to the Bluegrass State was too good to pass. Diamond sings about a strong-willed gal who "shines with her own kind of light," and that seems to incarnate all the qualities that Kentuckians take pride in. Many are more familiar with Deep Purple’s rock cover, filled with drum fills and electric guitar solos, but Diamond’s acoustic ballad is a classic love letter to a whole state.

Image: Karsten Koehn

John Denver’s songs are known for their acoustic guitar chords and lyrics filled with praise for nature and disdain for city life. This melancholic ballad to the Cowboy State is no exception. The song that Wyoming sings for Denver’s narrator (a lonesome cowboy tired of riding) is comprised of the sounds of a moonlit prairie, filled with the "cottonwood whispers" and the wild melodies of nightbirds and coyotes.

Image: Jonathan Mast

While they might be more well-known for writing the quintessential soundtrack to New York’s disco scene, the Bee Gees’s 1973 "South Dakota Morning" is a slow-paced, melodic ballad about the "Mount Rushmore" State. The Gibb brothers sing a sad but beautiful tale about a rainy South Dakota morning, and about laying down "on the South Dakota grass."

We just know that we know nothing

12 facts that people often get wrong

No one can claim to know everything, but most people go through life confident about certain things. However, some of these widely held beliefs are not actually correct, despite their popularity. Let’s have a look at some "facts" you might have gotten wrong!

The idea that insects—particularly mosquitoes—are not animals is widespread, but it’s also incorrect. In fact, insects are the most diverse group within the Animal kingdom, with more than a million species described and representing more than half of the animal population of the planet.

The mistake comes from not considering that "fruit" is not only a culinary term but also a botanical one. Botanically, a fruit is the part of a plant that develops from a flower and contains seeds. This makes tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, eggplants, and many other foods that we call vegetables actually fruits in the scientific sense.

Countries have a political delimitation, while continents are divided according to geographical criteria. The Russian Federation is the largest country on Earth, bordering fourteen other countries and extending across eleven time zones. It spans across a good part of Eastern Europe, but also across the Ural mountains—one of the recognized borders between Europe and Asia—and stretches deep into northern Asia.

While cold weather isn’t harmless, it is not the direct cause of illnesses like the flu, which are caused by viruses. In colder months, people tend to spend more time indoors and often avoid ventilating rooms, creating conditions that make it easier for viruses to spread and cause illness.

Bats might not prefer to be out during bright daylight, but this does not mean that they are blind. In fact, many species have excellent eyesight, though it is adapted to low-light or nighttime conditions. On top of that, bats also use echolocation, which allows them to navigate and hunt with remarkable precision in complete darkness.

The belief that you must wait a full day before reporting someone missing is a myth popularized by movies and TV shows. In reality, the law does not require a waiting period. In fact, law enforcement agencies stress that the first 24 hours are often the most critical, so a missing person should be reported immediately.

Some man-made structures are visible from space without magnification, but despite popular belief, the Great Wall of China is not one of them. While it is quite long, being over 13,000 miles long, it is relatively narrow, and its earthy colors blend in with the surrounding landscape, making it nearly impossible to spot with the naked eye from orbit.

This one is tricky: Mount Everest is the highest mountain on Earth (29,032 feet)… if you measure the distance from sea level to peak. For the actual tallest mountain, the answer might vary depending on how you measure. Measured from base to summit, Mauna Kea in Hawaii is the tallest at 33,474 feet—though much of it is underwater. Mount McKinley (Denali) in Alaska rises about 18,000 feet from its base to the peak, making it the tallest mountain entirely above sea level. And Ecuador’s Mount Chimborazo, while shorter in height, is the farthest point on Earth from the planet’s center due to the equatorial bulge.

The Earth is tilted on an axis, which causes the amount of sunlight each hemisphere receives to change as it orbits the Sun. Because of this tilt, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun and experiences summer, the Southern Hemisphere is tilted away and experiences winter—and vice versa. This is why the Southern Hemisphere celebrates Christmas during summer.

Standard medical advice is to gently guide a sleepwalker back to bed rather than waking them, but not because waking them is inherently dangerous. People tend to sleepwalk during deep sleep, so waking them up might startle them or cause confusion and disorientation.

Hair color and thickness are determined by genetics, not by shaving. Hair naturally gets thin at the ends, so when you shave it, the hair shaft appears to be thicker and darker because of the blunt cut. But it's just an optical illusion; the natural size of the shaft remains unchanged.

Coffee is a natural diuretic, meaning it can increase trips to the bathroom. However, the water in brewed coffee still contributes to your hydration and offsets its mild diuretic effect. If you consume coffee in moderation—3 to 5 cups a day, depending on your tolerance—you should be alright. However, drinking extra water on the side is never a bad idea.