Something for the weekend.  The State Song of Illinois with scenes from my alma mater, the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. My wife and I took our son down for his freshman orientation this week, some 35 years after I went through it.Â
Another rendition sung on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield.
Illinois is a wonderful state that has been long cursed with one of the most corrupt state governments in the nation. Past time for the voters of the Land of Lincoln to correct this disgrace.
Illinois
Written by C.H. Chamberlain
Composed by Archibald Johnston
By thy rivers gently flowing, Illinois, Illinois,
O’er thy prairies verdant growing, Illinois, Illinois,
Comes an echo on the breeze.
Rustling through the leafy trees, and its mellow tones are these, Illinois, Illinois,
And its mellow tones are these, Illinois.
From a wilderness of prairies, Illinois, Illinois,
Straight thy way and never varies, Illinois, Illinois,
Till upon the inland sea,
Stands thy great commerical tree, turning all the world to thee, Illinois, Illinois,
Turning all the world to thee, Illinois.
When you heard your country calling, Illinois, Illinois,
Where the shot and shell were falling, Illinois, Illinois,
When the Southern host withdrew,
Pitting Gray against the Blue, There were none more brave than you, Illinois, Illinois,
There were none more brave than you, Illinois.
Not without thy wondrous story, Illinois, Illinois,
Can be writ the nation’s glory, Illinois, Illinois,
On the record of thy years,
Abraham Lincoln’s name appears, Grant and Logan, and our tears, Illinois, Illinois,
Grant and Logan, and our tears, Illinois.
My dad lives outside Springfield. It is a truly beautiful state. He worked for the state until Blago’s stupidity pushed him to early retirement.
I hear ya there Aleighanne. My husband was in the Navy at one time and traveled all over the world, and he said the one thing he missed most when he was away from central Illinois were the sunsets. Of late we have also been getting a lot of really photogenic thunderstorms, lightning and tornadoes (unfortunately some have been destructive).
As bad as Blago was, believe it or not, he was NOT the worst or crookedest governor ever, and he was not the first to be arrested while in office. That dubious distinction belongs to Len Small, a Republican from Kankakee, who was governor during the 1920s, was a good friend of Al Capone and the Ku Klux Klan (then at the height of its political power), pardoned or commuted prison sentences for hundreds of Capone mobsters, and stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from the state and its taxpayers.
I encourage all Illinois political and/or history junkies to get their hands on a copy of “Len Small: Governors and Gangsters” by Jim Ridings, available through Amazon. After reading it, you realize that as bad as things are now, they have been, and could be, a whole lot worse.
Len Small was a crook plain and simple:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Len_Small
Then we have Frank L. Smith, Dwight’s local boy gone bad, a cohort in crime of Len Small, who has the distinction of the US Senate refusing to seat him twice, due to his manifest corrupt practices in obtaining the seat.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_L._Smith
http://books.google.com/books?id=DxupZ6O0p64C&pg=PA305&lpg=PA305&dq=dwight+,illinois+us+senate&source=bl&ots=et2EwsjVgJ&sig=FnDjDPV7V0EWqVeNVa33ZcAUdtE&hl=en&ei=T-0cTILyI5KeMv_nxJIF&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=11&ved=0CDgQ6AEwCg#v=onepage&q=dwight%20%2Cillinois%20us%20senate&f=false
Speaking of lame-duck Senators, the 7th Circuit (federal) appeals court ruled a couple of days ago that Illinois should have had a special election to fill Obama’s former Senate seat. Moreover, the judges state that there is still time to rectify this omission with a special election — even though at this late date it would have to coincide with the Nov. 2 general election, and the person elected (if it’s someone not already on the general election ballot) would only serve for a few weeks, if that long!
for more illinois, check out Sufjan. All songs about or inspired by Illinois.
http://www.amazon.com/Illinois-Sufjan-Stevens/dp/B0009R1T7M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1277114000&sr=8-1
If Sufjan Stevens intends to record an album in honor of each of the 50 states, he’s got a ways to go yet 🙂