Songless for a Decade, Va. Inches Toward a New Tune

In 2000, the General Assembly appeared ready to pick one of the eight finalists chosen by Hanger's group. But when allegations flew that Grammy Award-winning Jimmy Dean had used his sausage money and influence to buy the competition, lawmakers decided to put off the vote for a year.

"We needed to build consensus," Hanger said. So he sent CDs of the songs to radio stations and set up a Web site so residents could vote. "We were waiting for one of those songs to take root and really be popular," he said. He wanted something on par with "Georgia on My Mind," Connecticut's "Yankee Doodle Dandy," "My Old Kentucky Home" or the hit song from the musical "Oklahoma!"

But no clear favorite emerged, and Hanger moved on to more inviting crusades, such as tax reform. The commission was disbanded and lost the staff person who was keeping track of the votes. Now there are state song files all over the place -- in Hanger's office, in the archives somewhere at the state library and who knows where else.

Last year, one commission member tried to get "Shenandoah" designated the official "interim" state song. Things looked pretty good for a while, but lawmakers eventually voted it down -- once they realized the song actually has nothing to do with Virginia.

So this year, a couple of songwriters decided to short-circuit the dead-end commission process and sent their songs directly to their delegates or senators.

That's how Del. Dave W. Marsden (D-Fairfax) came to be a fan of Burke music teacher and songwriter Carol Boyd Leon's "Virginia, Ever Enshrined," with such lyrics as: "Virginia, where the rolling mountains capture the eye / Virginia, where the songbirds serenade the clear blue sky."

Thomas DeBusk, a Blacksburg lawyer and choir director, knows his first attempt at songwriting, "Cradle of Liberty," is a long shot. "My delegate told me it doesn't have a prayer of a chance," he said. "They say this is just fluff: 'We've got roads to build, important work to do, and this is not important. We'll do it later.' Well, it's been 10 years since we retired 'Carry Me Back.' It is later."

Upon request, he broke into song: "Oooh, more than life, give me liberty or gi-hi-hi-hi-hive me death."

Last summer, Del. Anne B. Crockett-Stark (R-Wythe) was at a bluegrass concert and heard Lester Ray Sears's song "Virginia," which is about missing both a girl and the state. She was convinced that it could make a great state song.

"We have a state bird, a state flower, we even have a state insect. We have a state dog, a state boat, a state shell," she said. "I think we need a state song."

Hanger pledges to give the new songs a listen. But the most he'll promise is that he'll figure out a new process for picking a song this session.

And what about the queen? What will she hear this summer?

Hanger mused. "Maybe we'll use the song that was the runner-up in the 1940 contest."