Georgia on My Mind
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"Georgia on My Mind" is a song written in 1930 by Stuart Gorrell (lyrics) and Hoagy Carmichael (music). It is the official state song of the U.S. state of Georgia. The lyrics of the song are written ambiguously enough as to refer to the state or to a woman named "Georgia." Carmichael's 1965 autobiography, Sometimes I Wonder, records the origin: a friend suggested: "Why don't you write a song called `Georgia?' Nobody lost much writing about the South."
The song is best known as sung by Ray Charles, who first recorded the song in 1960. It became Georgia's state song in 1979.
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[edit] Versions
At the beginning of World War II, the song was used for a short time by Lord Haw-Haw on the English-language German radio; it is possible that it was a recording of musician and singer Jack Teagarden.
The song has been covered by many artists, significant among them: James Brown, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, The Band, Django Reinhardt, Priya Mahendra, Wes Montgomery, Willie Nelson, Michael Bolton, Widespread Panic, David Bromberg, Kurt Hartel, Van Morrison, and the British groups Coldplay and the Spencer Davis Group (with Steve Winwood on vocals) among others.
[edit] Ray Charles
It was not until Ray Charles' 1960 recording on The Genius Hits the Road that the song became a major hit. On March 7, 1979, in a mutual symbol of reconciliation after conflict over civil rights issues he performed it before the Georgia General Assembly. After this performance, the connection to the state was firmly made, and the Georgia General Assembly officially adopted one month later as the state song on April 24, 1979. This version of the song is played with a video montage each time that Georgia Public Television goes off the air (now generally only late on Sunday nights, instead of nightly).
The song was used as the theme song to the CBS sitcom Designing Women, initially as an instrumental (performed by Doc Severinsen), and later in a recording by Ray Charles. Charles' version was also sampled for rap group Field Mob's 2005 single, "Georgia", featuring Jamie Foxx and Ludacris.
Sometime after 2000, Ray invited the Italian singer Giorgia to sing the song with him after learning that she was named in honor of the song.
[edit] Cultural significance
In 2003, Rolling Stone named "Georgia on My Mind" the 44th greatest song of all time.
The song is referenced in The Beatles' "Back in the USSR", with the line "Georgia's always on my mind" referring to Soviet Georgia.
The song is strongly featured in the Stone Mountain Laser Show that runs each summer outside Atlanta.
[edit] Lyrics
The lyrics to this song appear in the Georgia Code under license.
[edit] External references
| Preceded by "I Want to Be Wanted" by Brenda Lee |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single (Ray Charles version) November 14, 1960 |
Succeeded by "Stay" by Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs |
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