HOME ON THE RANGE
Words by Dr. Brewster M. Higley / Patrick H. Bellringer
HOME ON THE RANGE
Oh, give me a home---
(not a tent or an old car or a park bench or even the city mission)
Where the buffalo roam---
(with tall prairie grass and flowers, not over-grazed and burned up and eroded range land)
Where the deer and the antelope play---
(no road kill, or sports hunters with high-powered rifles with scopes, all-terrain vehicles and helicopters)
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word---
(not the harsh cries of riot police and screaming media, nor lies of politicians and painful cries of starving children)
And the skies are not cloudy all day---
(no chemtrail-polluted and smoke-filled skies of ghastly grey and eye watering odors)
Surely, Dr. Higley was hallucinating, or speaking of a place other than Shan, the planet of tears. Maybe he was a true prophet giving us a glimpse of what could be or is to be – a bit of hope!
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Home on the Range
"Home on the Range" is the state song of the American state of Kansas. Dr. Brewster M. Higley (1823–1911) originally wrote the words in a poem called "My Western Home" in the early 1870s in Smith County, Kansas.
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History of the song
The poem was first published in a December 1873 issue of the Smith County Pioneer under the title "Oh, Give Me a Home Where the Buffalo Roam". The music was written by a friend of Higley's named Daniel E. Kelley. Higley's original words are similar to those of the song today but not identical. The song was adopted by settlers, cowboys, and others and spread across the USA in various forms. During the early 20th century, it was arranged by Texas composer David W. Guion (1892–1981) who is often credited as the composer. It was officially adopted as the state song of Kansas on June 30, 1947, and is commonly regarded as the unofficial anthem of the American West.
In contrast to the lyrics, no actual antelope species is native to the Americas, the pronghorn is often called an antelope, however.
Modern usage
"Home on the Range" is often performed in programs and concerts of American patriotic music, and is frequently used in plays and films. These include the 1948 film Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (sung by both Cary Grant and Myrna Loy), the 1967 off-Broadway musical You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (sung by the cast as a glee club rehearsal number), the 1980 film Where the Buffalo Roam (sung by Neil Young over the opening credits), the 2009 film The Messenger (sung by Willie Nelson over the closing credits), and in the 1946 western film Colorado Serenade (sung by actor Roscoe Ates). The song has naturally also made its way into screen shorts for children and adults, as in the 1954 Looney Tunes cartoon, Claws for Alarm, in which it is sung by Porky Pig. It was also used in a Season 4 episode of Cheers (Fools and their money), where the bar-owner Sam Malone sings it along with his employee, Woody Boyd.
"Home on the Range" has been featured as the state slogan on Kansas vanity license plates since 2005.
An arrangement of "Home on the Range" is played by the University of Kansas Marching Jayhawks at the end of all home football games in Memorial Stadium.
Major versions compared
This article does not cite any references or sources. (March 2011) |
Dr. Brewster Higley (1876) | William and Mary Goodwin (1904) | John A. Lomax (1910) |
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_on_the_range