Episode 220: The Horse Race State Song Sing-along
7/14/22-- This week we divert from our regularly scheduled programming for the first ever musical episode of The Horse Race!
Jenn and Steve walk us through the seven official state songs one by one. Lenny Gomulka, writer and performer of "Say Hello to Someone From Massachusetts" joins the podcast to talk about the inspiration for the tune and how it came to be the official state polka.
Later Joyce Linehan, local punk rock enthusiast and former chief of policy and planning for Marty Walsh, stops by the pod. She helps unravel the saga of the unofficial state rock song, "Roadrunner" by the Modern Lovers. Will MA ever have an official state rock song?
Stay tuned until the end for a never before heard recording of the official state glee club song, "The Great State of Massachusetts" arranged and produced by Charlie Koczela and performed by Robert Goderich.
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Full show transcript:
Steve Koczela: [00:01:12] Welcome back to The Horse Race. This is where we usually promise your weekly look at politics, policy and elections in Massachusetts. But today, today and today only, we have a very special episode to bring you. I'm Steve Koczela here with my co-host, Jenn Smith. Jenn, what are we up to today? [00:01:29][17.1]
Jennifer Smith: [00:01:30] This episode has been quite literally years in the making, so I am extremely excited. This is the first ever musical episode of The Horse Race. And no, you will not be hearing us, your lovely co-hosts singing anything, but we will be digging into all of the wonderful and weird stories surrounding Massachusetts state songs. And you heard me correctly, songs, plural, because as we all know, The Horse Race have frequently discussed Massachusetts has a fairly staggeringly long list of official state stuff. [00:01:59][28.9]
Steve Koczela: [00:02:01] That's right, Jenn. We in Massachusetts have an official state flower, that's the mayflower and official state beverage, that's cranberry juice. We have a bird, an insect, a folk song, a historical rock, not to be confused with the Explorer Rock or the building and Monument Stone, a ceremonial march, patriotic song, bean berry dessert, cookie, peace statue, donut. I mean, I won't read you the whole list because it's easily three or four times that long, but let's just say we have a whole bunch of official state things. [00:02:32][31.2]
Jennifer Smith: [00:02:32] Absolutely. I was worried I was going to have to jump in and like viciously cut you off because that is not even close to the entire thing. Because today, though, we are going to be narrowing in just a little bit to a mere list of seven because we are all in on the music and our beloved Commonwealth has no less than seven official state songs. So we're going to dig into the history, a little, play some music. And again, I cannot emphasize this enough. We will not be doing any singing ourselves. Do not worry, do not turn off the podcast, do not pass go. [00:03:05][32.0]
Steve Koczela: [00:03:05] But at the end of this podcast as a special treat, we have an original recording commissioned by the Musical History Department here at Horse Race Global Media Headquarters, a recording of the State Glee Club song for which when we began this podcast, no recording existed anywhere on the internet. And believe me, we looked so Jenn seven songs to cover shall we ride? [00:03:26][21.1]
Jennifer Smith: [00:03:27] Let's Go. [00:03:27][0.3]
State Polka: [00:03:32] (Music) Say Hello to Someone in Massachusetts. [00:03:32][0.1]
Jennifer Smith: [00:03:38] As our loyal listeners will know. We, of course, have been talking about the state polka ever since Steve learned we had a state polka. Then that got us interested in other state songs. So here we are way back in 2019,. [00:03:50][12.0]
Jennifer Smith: [00:03:51] (Audio from 2019): But the majority landed on the same page as us in discovering, to our horror, slash shock, slash delight that we actually have a state polka song. [00:03:58][6.6]
Steve Koczela: [00:03:58] Yeah, we actually have seven state songs. It's a lot. [00:04:00][2.1]
Jennifer Smith: [00:04:01] No, I mean, yeah. [00:04:01][0.9]
Steve Koczela: [00:04:02] For us Anthem, a folk song, a ceremonial march, the road to Boston. We have a patriotic song, a glee club song. [00:04:08][6.1]
Jennifer Smith: [00:04:08] I love that. I love that we have an official state glee club song. [00:04:11][3.1]
Steve Koczela: [00:04:12] A state ode and a state polka. (End of audio from 2019). [00:04:14][2.3]
Steve Koczela: [00:04:21] On October 1st, 1998, Say Hello to Someone from Massachusetts was approved as the official polka of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in a bill passed by the state legislature and signed into law by Governor Paul Cellucci. Jenn hunted down the state polka with the help of Deb O'Malley at the Secretary of the Commonwealth's Office. A huge feat and we were rightly proud of that heroic act of civic journalism. [00:04:43][22.0]
Jennifer Smith: [00:04:43] But today, today, dear listeners, we are beyond lucky to be joined by the musician behind the State Polka on the podcast. It's the man himself, Lenny Gomulka. Lenny is an American musician, singer, songwriter, bandleader, composer and publisher. He has been nominated for 12 Grammys. He has also been inducted into the International Polka Association Hall of Fame, and he joins us today on The Horse Race. Lenny, thank you so much for being here. [00:05:08][25.2]
Lenny Gomulka: [00:05:09] Pleasure's mine. Thank you very much. Good to be here. [00:05:11][1.8]
Jennifer Smith: [00:05:12] So let's start with our favorite question, because you are a Chicago native. So tell us, what is your Massachusetts connection? [00:05:19][7.4]
Lenny Gomulka: [00:05:21] Well, that's a very good question actually. Born and raised on the southwest side of Chicago in the former stockyards district. I was there my entire life and then back around 1990. Most of the work that I had with my band was the performances, and I was doing that full time at the time. Most of that work back in 1990 was on the East Coast, and my wife and I decided we were going to make a move somewhere. Well, my wife is from Staten Island, New York, and from Chicago. So how we met was also on performances, but getting past that. We decided that we would move someplace on the East Coast. We researched and looked and visited and we concluded that Massachusetts was the place we wanted to settle in Western Mass, particularly because, you know, it's not the metropolis here that Boston is or that Chicago was, which I was used to are New York City that my wife was used to. However, Western Mass, a nice laid back area, perfectly centrally located for everything I was doing at the time. I was playing much on the East Coast, Jersey, New York, you know, down the shoreline, down into Maryland and down to Florida or cruises. So that was the reason that we moved to Massachusetts. We kind of skated around western Massachusetts. We looked up in Hadley, Mass. We looked, you know, other places. And by happenstance, we found out through a friend of ours that there was a nice little townhouse that was available while we were playing this little Polish festival on a Sunday in July in Indian Orchard Massachusetts. And my friend said, you know, my aunt owns that little duplex right across the street and it's been open for a while. And she would love to have you guys take a look at it. Long story short is that's why we moved here and that's where we moved to. And we stayed there for about nine years. And then we built in Ludlow, Massachusetts, approximately around the year 1999. And that's where I'm at right now. [00:07:14][113.4]
Steve Koczela: [00:07:16] So tell us about the genesis of the song. You're from Chicago and you said your wife's from New York. And the song says a lot of nice things about Massachusetts, which, you know, where we all live here. It's not something we're always used to. You know, people from other places saying nice things about Massachusetts. So where did the song actually come from? What prompted you to write it? [00:07:35][19.1]
Lenny Gomulka: [00:07:36] Well, good question. And let me just perhaps start by saying, you know, there's some kind of sound psychology behind what you just said, Steve, about, you know, when you're in Massachusetts, you know, you don't see the things that are right before you. And I felt the same way when I lived in Chicago. I felt that the people in Chicago didn't have some of the qualities that my out-of-state friends gave it credit for. However, when I moved to Massachusetts, I look back at Chicago and I see, you know, people in Chicago were pretty nice. And when I come to Massachusetts, I slowly didn't recognize the things that I did when I lived in Chicago. So there's some kind of a psychology behind that. The real deal is that when I moved here, I was so happy. And, you know, if you gave me a paper and a pen and said, write me a song about, you know, a bowling ball in an hour, I probably couldn't do it. You know, it's got to be right timing, right place, right feeling, right energy. You know, something has to come about you that propels you to the next step. And sometimes it happens in a different place. And I happened to be riding, driving around in my car. I recall coming up with the lyrics to that song. The other question is what comes first? The lyrics or the melody? And I don't have the answer to that. You know, sometimes they come at the same time. Isn't that odd? But they do. And, you know, you come with a hook. You come Say Hello to Someone in Massachusetts. You know, that little phrase. [00:08:55][79.1]
State Polka: [00:08:56] (Music): Start to talk and walk the walk in Massachusetts. Soon they all will know and call you by your name, say hello to someone in Massachusetts. (Music ends). [00:09:08][11.7]
Lenny Gomulka: [00:09:08] And you play around with it. You know, you move some syllables and you and then, you know, then you just get this melody in your head. And and if you're in the mood, in the right mood, and there's happiness going on, things just come and the idea comes in, you know, you don't want to write a song about something and get too busy and tell the whole story really complicated with tons of words that no one will remember, catch on to. But you want to write a song as simple as possible, but that gives the perception as though you're telling a long story. And I think that song sort of does it. To me it does, and gratefully, I'm happy to say that a radio disc jockey here at UMass in Amherst thought the same way. And you know, Lenny, you know, you really should do something that's a great state polka. He said Massachusetts doesn't have a state polka, hardly any states have a state polka. I don't think any of the time, they have a state was a state dance. And now Connecticut followed after us many years later. So I said, Well, that's an awesome idea. But we're you know, I'm a musician. I'm a trumpet, sax player, clarinet, singer. I'm not a politician. I don't know protocol and where to go and how to start it. So he took the bull by the horns and contacted a local congressman by name of Paul Caron. What I think is retired now, the guy who lives out here in Springfield area and Paul Caron took it to the next level. You know, he proposed he just got a movement going and it pretty much took off and I don't want to take credit for saying I'm going to write a song and it's going to be the state polka that never happened. It's just that I wrote a song and it was nice song for Massachusetts and many people in Massachusetts enjoyed it and we put it on our CD and so on. And that's about 1998, I would say. And next thing I know, jeez, we're in Boston at the State House and you know, we're proposing to the state house you know why we think our song qualifies for state polka. What attributes does it have, and so on. [00:11:08][120.3]
Jennifer Smith: [00:11:09] And so kind of getting into the nuts and bolts of the song itself. What were you pulling specific inspiration from? You mentioned that you had kind of bopped around Western Mass a bit. What was it that was kind of popping into your head that ended up making it into the polka? [00:11:25][16.7]
Lenny Gomulka: [00:11:26] Absolutely. And yes. And it was a beautiful time of year. It was like this time of the year, weather was nice, greenery was all in, the landscape was beautiful. And I'm driving around thinking myself, this is so different, so beautiful out here. And I'm happy and in a happy mood. And things came into my head and I can't remember exactly what my thought process was, you know, just clicked something off and I just kind of put little phrases together. And back then I would carry, you know, I use my iPhone for those things. Very, very little transposor like a dictator. And I'd get an idea and I'd say, Ah, you know something? And they're like, Check this melody out. Di da da da da da da da da. And then I would say scenery, I would see mountainsides, business or pleasure or certain things, reasons to come to Massachusetts. And I would put little ideas in my head. And as I drive around, I'm thinking of these different things just maybe over a couple of days in this area, but somehow, someway, that's always going to be about Massachusetts. So when I compared my notes and I kept myself motivated, out comes a song, you know? [00:12:26][59.5]
Jennifer Smith: [00:12:26] So any plans to write state polkas for other places, or does Massachusetts have a lock on your on your writing talents? [00:12:32][5.5]
Lenny Gomulka: [00:12:33] Nah. I mean, you know, there was a bandleader in Connecticut and he went by the name of Ray Henry, Ray Henry Orchestra. And he made a song called A Ballroom Polka. It was an instrumental. It wasn't a song, it didn't have words. It was a little older style, old fashioned, more traditional. There's an element of people in Connecticut that thought since Ray was known for that song and many of the traditionalists from that era knew that song would be a good state polka, and they got it through. Which is great. Which is great. I mean it you know, it's promoting polka music and it's promoting good fellowship in the different states. [00:13:07][34.0]
Steve Koczela: [00:13:07] So tell us about the title, Say Hello to Someone from Massachusetts. Where did the inspiration for the title and just the overall idea for the song come from? [00:13:15][7.7]
Lenny Gomulka: [00:13:17] I mean, that's where it came from. It came from my heart, from my soul, from driving around, seeing beautiful people, beautiful scenery. And, you know, I interacted with all the people here in Massachusetts who all, you know, were very friendly and warm and hospitable and so on. And I, you know, those words just came to me. And something that came about I don't want to say was in my DNA. I wanted to say it. You know, it's just kind of serendipity, you might say. But the phrase escaped me in the phrase also came to me because it fit into that lead line of the song, the melody of the song, the chorus that repeats itself. So that was it, Steve. I mean, that's you know, there's no there's no big science behind the song. I wish I could say, Well, I got my laptop out and I put a bunch of words together that rhyme. Then you've got my song sheets and the chord progressions together, and I changed them and it took some algorithms from 20 years ago. It just didn't work that way. It just kind of, you know, nowadays everything is scientific, but. [00:14:15][58.3]
Steve Koczela: [00:14:16] All right. Well, Lenny Gomulka of the Chicago Push, author of The Massachusetts State Polka. Say Hello to Someone from Massachusetts. Thank you so much for taking the time today. [00:14:24][8.5]
Lenny Gomulka: [00:14:25] Thank you for giving me an opportunity to voice my background on a song. You're all been very, very lovely and caring. Wonderful. Have a great day. Stay well. Be safe. [00:14:35][9.5]
State Polka: [00:14:37] (Music): Shake a hand, you'll make a friend in Massachusetts. That New England old time custom can't be beat. (Music ends). [00:14:37][0.0]
Jennifer Smith: [00:14:49] The polka is just one of the seven state songs. So what else have we got, Steve? [00:14:53][3.8]
Steve Koczela: [00:14:54] Well, as it turns out, there's also an Ode to Massachusetts written by Joseph Nelson and designated as the official Ode of Massachusetts on November 16th, 2000. [00:15:03][9.1]
Jennifer Smith: [00:15:05] I mean, this is going to haunt me for a while, but what makes an ode? An ode, Steve? [00:15:10][4.9]
Steve Koczela: [00:15:11] Well, Jennn, I'm glad you asked. According to the script, it's defined as, quote, a lyric poem in the form of an address to a particular subject, often elevated in style or manner and written in varied or irregular meter. Or a poem meant to be sung. So let's listen. You're won't find way. [00:15:28][17.3]
State Ode: [00:15:36] (Music): You're one by land, and two by sea, help set our country free. You can't get better Massachusetts. You'll always be sweet home to me. (Music ends). [00:15:43][7.5]
Jennifer Smith: [00:15:45] We've also got an official state folksong named Massachusetts by Arlo Guthrie, and it was originally released and Guthrie's 1976 album, Amigo. It was adopted by the legislature in July 1981 as the official folk song for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. [00:16:02][16.8]
State Folk song: [00:16:06] (Music):There ain't lots of other places in this world that still remain, beautiful and unchanged. But they're just not the same. Now if you could only see, I know you would agree, there ain't nowhere else to be like Massachusetts. (Music ends). [00:16:06][0.0]
Steve Koczela: [00:16:30] The official state patriotic song called Because Your Land Is Free by Bernard Davidson is not available on the state website and nowhere else on the Internet that we can find. It may take your expert abilities to track it down because otherwise we have to sing. [00:16:45][14.4]
Jennifer Smith: [00:16:47] I will do my best to avoid that outcome. [00:16:49][1.8]
Unofficial state rock song: [00:16:50] (Music): One, two, three, four. Roadrunner, roadrunner. Going faster miles an hour. Gonna drive to the Stop 'n' Shop. (Music fades). [00:16:51][1.2]
Jennifer Smith: [00:17:00] We're going to divert for a moment from official state songs to talk about an unofficial one. We have to talk about the ongoing, I don't know, battle effort? To make Roadrunner by the Modern Lovers, the official state rock song. Today, we're joined by Joyce Linehan, a punk rock enthusiast and former chief of policy and planning for Mayor Marty Walsh. Welcome, Joyce. [00:17:20][20.5]
Joyce Linehan: [00:17:22] Hi. Thanks for having me. [00:17:23][1.1]
Jennifer Smith: [00:17:24] Of course. So let's start from the beginning here. How did this get started? Who first said we need a state rock song? And also Roadrunner should be it? [00:17:32][8.2]
Joyce Linehan: [00:17:33] Well, it starts in 2013 and I read an essay that was actually published in 2007, and I think I probably read it back then as well. But for some reason it crossed my desk again in early 2013. And it's by a British writer named Laura Barton in The Guardian. And she basically makes the case that Roadrunner is the kind of song that that should have the legendary status of, say, you know, Route 66 or Highway 61 or the Chelsea Hotel. Or it's just a song about a place that that that holds a very special place in history and in rock music history. And that got me thinking. That's right. And not only that, but it's about where I live. And so, you know, what could we do to honor the song that is just sort of, you know, quintessential Massachusetts? And so the idea was born that we would name it the official song of the Commonwealth. But then, of course, when I went to look and see if there was an official song of the Commonwealth, I found that there were lots of official songs of the Commonwealth, some broken down into different kinds. And so I settled on the notion that it should be the official rock song of the Commonwealth. And I took it to my friend State Representative Marty Walsh and said, Would you introduce this legislation if, you know, would you introduce this legislation? And he said, Yeah, sure. Without listening or anything. And and he did. So I wrote a piece of legislation that made the case for this. And the piece of legislation I wrote was pretty elaborate. It had lots of lots of references. I think it was kind of a work of art. It had lots of references to why it should be the state rock song. In the end it was what was file ended up being a sentence or two that said nothing about the why but just about the what. And and then away we went on this, you know, strange odyssey that had me talking to the BBC and Japanese newspapers and all kinds of all kinds of crazy press. It was it was a lot of fun. [00:19:38][125.3]
Steve Koczela: [00:19:39] So for those less familiar with that full list of reasons, what does make the song quintessentially Massachusetts? [00:19:44][4.6]
Joyce Linehan: [00:19:45] Well, I mean, it has I'm in love with Massachusetts right in the song. I mean, it doesn't get any better than that. I think that for for those of us who are fans of Jonathan Richman, you know, so so you know Jonathan Richman, that or this work is what I would call a proto punk piece of work. And and and Jonathan Richman was really interesting in that at a time when music was kind of angry, or at least my kind of music was kind of angry, Jonathan had this sort of this joyful presence to him, this just this hopefulness that was really, really engaging and compelling. And Roadrunner is that I mean, Roadrunner is about driving around in the dark on Route 128 and reveling in in all that is great about Massachusetts. So it just it made perfect sense that that was something that we should do. [00:20:32][46.8]
Jennifer Smith: [00:20:33] And we have to, of course, touch on this kind of tumultuous journey ever since 2013 to see if Roadrunner can make it into our hallowed books here. There have been a few runs at it. So walk us through why, in your view and memory it didn't come through in 2013 and what's happened to the effort since then? [00:20:56][22.7]
Joyce Linehan: [00:20:57] Yeah, well, I want to back up a little bit to to point out that this is the only piece of bipartisan legislation that I've ever been involved in in my entire life. So. So Marty Walsh got Bob Hedlund to sign on. He was a rock fan and mayor Hedlund, he's now the mayor of Weymouth. And he told me at one point that he had earlier tried to do something like this with a class. This is a the the process for getting something made an official something of the state is a really interesting class project. Right. And that's why we see like I think we have an official muffin. We have all kinds of official bird, we have all kinds of official things. And I think it's used as a teaching tool, which is really, really remarkable. And that's probably why we have official things where we don't really have an official rock song because, you know, punk rockers are not a recognized voter constituency where where perhaps kids in classrooms are. That just makes a lot of sense. So. Anyway, Representative Walsh and Senator Hedlund filed this legislation in it was like midpoint of the 2013-2014 legislative session. I think people know that it runs in two year increments. So right in the middle. And then very quickly after this was filed, two representatives from the South Shore decided that that was not good, that Roadrunner should not be the official rock song of the Commonwealth, and that instead that honor should go to Aerosmith with that with the song Dream On, which I'm sure everybody knows, which I have listened to more times, if I never hear that song again in my life. And that's not to say that it's not a good song. It's it's fine, but it's still don't know what it's about. And as opposed to the song that, that I and my friends were offering up, which is clearly about Massachusetts. So they decided that honor should go to Aerosmith. And it started this absurd thing where it was like a battle between Roadrunner and Aerosmith. [00:22:52][115.1]
[00:23:05] ( music interlude) [00:23:05][0.0]
Joyce Linehan: [00:23:05] Early in the early in this whole thing, a writer by the name of James Reid, who was at the time at The Boston Globe, reached out to Jonathan Richman, who, you know, if you know anything about Jonathan Richman, you know, he's a peculiar character. And he said, he wrote snail mail. He doesn't do e-mail. He doesn't doesn't have a cell phone. He sent James a snail mail letter saying that Roadrunner was not good enough to be the official song of anything. I was so excited about that because that just added to the story because it's so Jonathan and I was trying to explain to people that I appreciate that and I respect that. But I feel like the song kind of transcends Jonathan himself. And, you know, there's a whole conversation to be had in there about like when you unleash a piece of art into the world, you know, I know you technically own it. You own copyrights in whatever it is. But do you own the way that people interact with that song? Right. So I felt like there was this transcendence to this song that that made me resolve to plow on anyway, even though Jonathan was kind of saying no. But anyway, so we have this this Aerosmith versus Jonathan Richman thing, which is not what it was supposed to be. Jack Hamilton wrote an amazing piece in Slate about how he makes the case that this is the most Massachusetts fight ever. And it's really, really brilliant. And I urge you, if you're interested in this saga at all, I don't know why you would be, but if you are, you know, go read Jack's piece. It's really remarkable. So then we went off on kind of a tangent where it turned into a battle, which was absurd. And eventually in Massachusetts legislative tradition, the two representatives who were Representative Cutler and representative oh, his name just just get in. He now works for Senator Markey. He's the staff guy for Markey. It'll come to me anyway. These two representatives and I run into him all the time, too, and he says he apologizes all the time, but they they filed their bill and and Hedlund and Walsh and they all start to talk and they come up with a compromise. I forget what it was that that dream on would be the heavy metal song and and Roadrunner would be the official rock song. And I'm like, I don't want I don't want to get involved in any of this except, you know, Roadrunner Official Rock. And so it made it out. I think it made it into third reading or something. I went to the state house. I testified a bunch of people testified. It was like it was a great show. You know, if if we know how to do anything, it's put on a show,. [00:25:27][141.6]
Joyce Linehan: [00:25:28] (Clip from Joyce's testimony): It's a false equivalent. And if those who support the other bill can't see that, then I can't really argue with them. They're both songs, but that's where it ends. The other song is a great song by a great band who've been great citizens of our great Commonwealth. They've been generous to charity and ambassadors of our state around the world. But this isn't about that. This isn't really about the artists who created or performed the song at all. This is about a song that I believe captures the very essence of the spirit of Massachusetts. And with that, I give you 17 reasons why Road Runner should be the official rock song of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I'll be fast, I swear. (End clip). [00:26:00][31.6]
Joyce Linehan: [00:26:01] So that was great. But then it got stuck. My sense was that Speaker DeLeo at the time didn't wasn't interested in moving this. I think maybe there was a little bit of like it maybe seeming frivolous. And, you know how the legislature likes to, you know, let everything go until the last minute. So everyone's sitting there in July waiting for July 31st, like, where's my bill? Where's my bill? And when you're debating, I don't know, education reform. I didn't feel like I could get in there and say, hey, Marty, go make sure the speaker gets this to the floor so it never got there. So it so it died in committee and then it gets introduced every new legislative session. I sort of I went up and testified again when it was filed the second time in the 20. So that would be the 2015-16 session would have been the second time Representative Linsky files it because he is he represents Natick and Jonathan Richman is from Natick. So I went up and did it the second time and then he, God bless him, has introduced it every session since. So I think we're up to the fifth time now. I believe it's still alive. I believe I don't know where it is in this session, but and I'm sure it's going to die again. And and my feeling about this, that is that it just adds to the story. I mean, I'm used to used to working with the underdog and Jonathan Richman is nothing if not an underdog. And the fact that we could never get this thing that so obviously should be done, done just adds to the legend. [00:27:26][85.1]
Steve Koczela: [00:27:27] So there is a new music venue in Boston called Roadrunner, and rumor has it that it's named after the song. So is that the closest we get to having the song represented here, or will this bill someday become law? [00:27:39][11.7]
Joyce Linehan: [00:27:41] So I think I'm not the right person to ask about whether the bill will become law. I hope that Representative Linsky or whoever, you know, succeeds him, I'm sure someday he'll retire. Whoever succeeds him in representing Natick will continue to do that, because I think it's a really great native son kind of thing. I'm glad the venue is named Roadrunner. When that was happening, when the naming was happening, Josh Body came to visit me. I was in the mayor's office at the time and said, we came up with the perfect name. And, you know, he says, Route 128, you know, driving by the Stop and Shop. And I was like, Oh my God, that is the perfect name. So it's great that we have that. I don't know how many people are making the connection between the the the place and the song because, you know, I'm old and people. I mean, Roadrunner was recorded in 1972 and released in 1976. So before a lot of people who might be patronizing Roadrunner at this point were born. But I'm glad they named it that. I think it's very fitting. [00:28:34][53.4]
Jennifer Smith: [00:28:34] And I think the last one is, do you have any other Massachusetts song recommendations for us? [00:28:39][4.9]
Joyce Linehan: [00:28:40] I'm more of the person you ask about songs that shouldn't be official, Massachusetts, anything. [00:28:44][3.4]
Jennifer Smith: [00:28:44] That I mean, that's also a great answer. [00:28:46][1.6]
Joyce Linehan: [00:28:48] When we were having this debate, you know, like people are like it should be Dirty Water. I'm like, that's about a mugging on the Charles River by a band from Los Angeles and the Beegees, Massachusetts, which is one of my very favorite songs. But I read that the original name of it was San Francisco. So it's about the number of the number of syllables. It's not about the state. You know, I hear shipping up to Boston all the time. That's about, you know, longshoreman with the peg leg. I don't know. You know, and there's you know, there are others that I just that just don't really fit the bill. And then there's a whole, you know, kind of unseen history of Boston music that I feel like the, you know, the the R&B scene in the seventies and eighties and even the early nineties was really, really strong and doesn't get a lot of attention. And I'm, you know, kind of sensitive to the discussion that we need to be having about diversity and representation and and all of that. So I think there's you know, we have a really rich musical history that we should all, you know, know about and and revel in. But yeah, I think there's no other song besides Roadrunner that in my mind should be the official rock song of the Commonwealth. [00:29:54][65.9]
Jennifer Smith: [00:29:55] All right. Well, I think we have to leave it there. Joyce Linehan, thank you so much for joining us today on The Horse Race to talk through this saga. [00:30:01][6.2]
Joyce Linehan: [00:30:02] Thank you very much. I'm happy to be the Roadrunner expert. [00:30:04][2.2]
Jennifer Smith: [00:30:07] The Booster. [00:30:07][0.2]
Unofficial state rock song: [00:30:09] (Music): I'm in love with Massachusetts and the neon when it's cold outside. And the highway when it's late at night with the radio on. (Music fades). [00:30:09][0.0]
Steve Koczela: [00:30:18] All right. Next up, we have the official state march. It's called The Road to Boston or sometimes march to Boston and began as a Revolutionary War fife march. The original composer is unknown, but it's been played now for centuries on everything from the fife and drums to the fiddle. And even as a polka. (Instrumental music plays). [00:30:36][18.1]
Jennifer Smith: [00:31:04] The official state song, though All Hail to Massachusetts by Arthur J. Marsh was written in 1954 by Marsh, a Wellesley music teacher and adopted as the official song of Massachusetts in 1966, later codified in 1981. It was first performed in August of 1954 at Nantasket Beach in Hull. There were three attempts, count them three to make it the official song in the fifties and sixties. And the song mentions Massachusetts essentials like the Bean and the Cod. [00:31:35][30.5]
Official MA state song: [00:31:38] (Music): All hail to Grand Old Bay State, the home of the bean and the cod. Where pilgrims found a landing and gave their thanks to God. (Music ends). [00:31:53][15.3]
Jennifer Smith: [00:31:54] When Deb O'Malley came through with the polka recording, it prompted us to ask the question, "Well, okay then what about the state Glee Club song?" That was also missing from the state's website. And Deb replied, "Sadly, our file doesn't have a recording for the Glee Club song either. We do have music and lyrics, though. So I suppose you can make your own recording". [00:32:14][20.0]
Steve Koczela: [00:32:15] And that is what we did. Well, not we, Jenn and I, thank goodness. But tasked my brother Charlie, who's a musician to record the official state glee club song. We have it now and will be playing it for your enjoyment right here on The Horse Race for the very first time. Before we do, though, we have to share a bit of history about the State Glee Club song because it wouldn't be an episode of The Horse Race without some wonky state trivia. [00:32:38][22.8]
Jennifer Smith: [00:32:39] That is right, Steve. The Great State of Massachusetts, words by George Wells and Music by J. Earle Bligh was designated as the State Glee Club Song of Massachusetts on November 24th, 1997. Fun fact on my fifth birthday. So reportedly, the deal behind this song is the convention band at the 1960 Democratic National Convention. Couldn't find a song that, you know, connected John F Kennedy of Massachusetts with his home state, Massachusetts. So on his way home, Wells wrote The Great State of Massachusetts. And then it was just designated the State Glee Club song later. So we love that. We love when a kind of weird, awkward convention mishap missing instance leads to a glee club song. A very common set of circumstances, I assume. [00:33:31][52.3]
Steve Koczela: [00:33:32] And so, without further ado, here is the State Glee Club song of Massachusetts, performed by my brother Charlie Koczela. [00:33:38][6.2]
State Glee Club song: [00:33:40] Up in the corner of New England, is the land of Paul Revere. It's where The Patriots planned for, this freedom we hold so dear. It's the great state of Massachusetts. Home land for you and me. It's the Bay state of Massachusetts. Birth place of the free. From here the great ships first sailed outward to make this nation known. From here the rockets first shot upward to know the great unknown. It's the great state of Massachusetts, pace setter for the rest. It's the Bay state of Massachusetts, all the 50 it's the best. [00:34:45][65.5]
Steve Koczela: [00:35:05] I think our next goal should be to get an actual glee club to perform the song, which I have to confess, I actually don't know what a glee club is, so I don't know how we would do that. But anyway, there you have it. All seven of the Massachusetts State songs. We hope you enjoyed this musical departure from our usual content. [00:35:21][16.7]
Jennifer Smith: [00:35:22] I certainly did. We will be back to politics and all of that later. I mean, there was a fair share of politics in this one, in our defense, but that is all the time we have for today. I'm Jennifer Smith, signing off with Steve Koczela. Our producer is Libby Gormley. Our intern is Elena Eberwein. Don't forget to give The Horse Race a review. Wherever you're hearing us now, subscribe to our beloved co-host, Lisa Kashinsky's Massachusetts Politico playbook and reach out to the MassINC Polling Group if you need polls done. Thank you all for listening. We'll see you next week. [00:35:22][0.0]
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