Oklahoma (song)

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"Oklahoma" is the title song from and the finale to the Broadway musical Oklahoma!

The music and lyrics were written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The melody is reprised in the main title of the 1955 film version and in the overtures of both film and musical productions.

After Curly and Laurey are married, Curly begins to sing the song and is soon joined by the entire cast as a chorus. The lyric describes the landscape in positive language and emphasizes the pleasant aspects of rural life, against the overtly stated formal backdrop of the territory's impending admission to the Union in the first decade of the 20th century.

The state of Oklahoma officially adopted the song as its state song in 1953.^[1] State Representative George Nigh, who later served as the state's Governor was the principal author of the legislation designating the state song. [1]

[edit] Arrangements

The Pride of Oklahoma Marching Band regularly uses two arrangements of the song. "Fanfare and Oklahoma", the first part of the Pride's pregame performance, begins and ends with the melody of "Boomer Sooner". A second, shorter arrangement is closer to the original Broadway version.

The Oklahoma State University Cowboy Marching Band plays a version of the song at sporting events. It is tradition to yell "State!" at the end of the song to show school pride. The school has received permission from Rodgers and Hammerstein to change the ending of the song to include the word "state."^{[citation needed]}