Lots of folks have tried to capture the state's spirit via song. Nat King Cole's "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66" captures our restless energy, even if it's slightly campy. With "Tune Out," The Format nailed that mix of unassuming romance and the anxiety of life in perpetual motion. Glen Campbell, meanwhile, managed to make our capital seem like some glamorous place with the classic "By the Time I Get to Phoenix." Even the Eagles wrote about Arizona, forever casting it as some roadside attraction with "Take It Easy." And that's not even touching on the slew of other songs, like George Straits' "Ocean Front Property," Rex Allen, Jr.'s "Arizona," Dan Fogelberg's "Tucson, Arizona (Gazette)," Authority Zero's "Mesa Town," Gordon Lightfoot's "Carefree Highway," Damien Jurado's "Yuma, AZ," Johnny Cash's "The Ballad of Boot Hill," and Aerosmith's "Sedona Sunrise" — enough odes to fill a veritable jukebox.
But as quaint as those songs may prove to be, they’re only really telling half the truth. As much as we’re a place for scenic drives and tourist hangs, Arizona can also feel unwelcoming to those who are only just stopping by. While our place in the sun has some inherent romance attached, living here also means grappling with some rather regressive socio-political elements. And for all the charm in the imagery of cowboys, our state is just so much more rich culturally. (Also: Having so many songs about Arizona, especially ditties that only capture that narrow image, feels like a distinctly Arizona problem.) It takes more than ballads about plucky ranch hands, or duets about life on the open road, to really dive into Arizona at its multifaceted core. In fact, it takes songs that have nothing to with Arizona in the first place.
Because the truth of Arizona is that it’s both everything it’s played out to be in those songs and also so much more entirely. By building up a rich library of songs, we can use the power of music to both understand and celebrate the diversity and uncertainty that is Arizona. So, we’re adding to that playlist with 14 songs in honor of our state’s birthday that have zero to do with Arizona. These songs offer up just as many truths of our chosen home, and what it’s really like to truly live here. By pure accident, or maybe by cosmic machinations, these artists have presented insights about the people, the culture, and the vibes of Arizona. Because that’s something worth celebrating about Arizona: More than endless sunshine and desert vistas, we’re defined by how we feel and the world those sentiments help forge around us.
Now, grab your mini-state flag and get ready to celebrate. Arizona, we love you (mostly).