Kansas State Song

"Home on the Range"

Writer: Brewster Higley

Composer: Daniel Kelley

Adoption: 1947

HISTORY

Brewster Higley was a pioneering physician in Kansas in the early 1870s who wrote a poem titled "My Western Home." It was set to music by a friend of Higley's, Daniel Kelley, and published in 1873. Its catchy refrain was picked up by settlers and cowboys, and the song spread across the country in various forms, quickly becoming the unofficial anthem of the American West. In the early 20th century it was arranged by Texas composer David Guion, who is often credited as the original composer. Kansas officially adopted the song on June 30, 1947. "Home on the Range" is often performed in concerts of American patriotic music, and it has frequently been used in Western films. The slogan "Home on the Range" has appeared on Kansas license plates since 2005. Apart from the state song, Kansas also has two state marches: "The Kansas March" by Duff E. Middleton, adopted in 1935, and "Here's Kansas" by Bill Post, adopted in 1992.  -World Trade Press

LYRICS

"Home on the Range"

Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam
Where the deer and the antelope play
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day
Home, home on the range
Where the deer and the antelope play
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day

How often at night where the heavens are bright
With the light of the glittering stars
Have I stood there amazed and asked as I gazed
If their glory exceeds that of ours

Home, home on the range
Where the deer and the antelope play
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day

Then give me a land where the bright diamond sand
Flows leisurely down to the stream
Where the graceful white swan goes gliding along
Like a maid in a heavenly dream

Oh I would not exchange my old home on the range
Where the deer and the antelope play
Where the seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day