State Songs #4 - Arkansas

What'd I Say - Ray Charles

If you're familiar with this song, and I dare say many people are, you might wonder if the only reason I have decided to dedicate it to the state of Arkansas, is the line

Tell your mama, tell your pa
I'm gonna send you back to Arkansas

Well, yes. That's basically the reason. That line, as far as I can tell, is the only thing that connects 'What'd I Say' to Arkansas. I think that's OK because, when you think about it, how many times have you heard the name of a location in a throwaway lyric? Probably heaps of times. I reckon that experience is part of many Australians' relationship with the USA. The reason I've heard of places like Arkansas, is not because I took extensive geography classes at school, it's because Ray Charles refers to it once in a classic song. While that's a little bit ignorant, I don't think I should be too ashamed to admit that I know next to nothing about Arkansas (only that its pronunciation is inconsistent with that of 'Kansas' and that Johnny Cash comes from there). Why should I? It doesn't seem a very significant state, and unless you live in Australia (or have friends here) you're probably not going to know too much about Tasmania. But American cities and states are so often mentioned in songs for no apparent reason, it gives us a weird sense of the familiar for something we know nothing about. For the record, I don't think that's a bad thing. It's kind of cool.

I also chose this song because it's great and Ray Charles is awesome. It was literally made up on the spot, at a concert in the late 50s, where Charles ran out of songs and decided to improvise, telling his back-up singers "whatever I say, just repeat after me".