Sing Books with Emily, the Blog

When I started singing “Fifty Nifty States” last year, a few people suggested that a State Capitals Song would be great for the Sing Books repertoire as well.  I tucked the idea away and just recently pulled it out of the hopper again.  I was planning to write a song myself, thinking the “Can-Can” would be a good tune to use, when in searching for a list of state capitals online, I found a video with the song already written to the tune of “Turkey in the Straw” and then set about making a book for it.

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United States State Capitals Song
Traditional Words and Tune
Illustrated by Emily Leatha Everson Gleichenhaus

If you are interested in a copy of this book, please email: SingBooksWithEmily.att.net, or lave a comment to this post.

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My idea for the book is that when we start singing the states, I colored just the states mentioned in that line, for example:

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An animated video with the song (to the tune of “Turkey in the Straw”)
From Animaniacs, also called “Wakko’s America”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSvJ9SN8THE

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UNITED STATES STATE CAPITALS SONG
Sing to the tune of “Turkey in the Straw”

These are all the capitals there are!

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Indianapolis, Indiana,
And Columbus is the capital of Ohio
There’s Montgomery, Alabama south of Helena, Montana
Then there’s Denver, Colorado under Boise, Idaho

Texas has Austin, then we go north
To Boston, Massachusetts, and Albany, New York
Tallahassee, Florida, and Washington, DC
Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Nashville, Tennessee

Trenton’s in New Jersey, North of Jefferson, Missouri
You got Richmond in Virginia, South Dakota has Pierre
Harrisburg’s in Pennsylvania and Augusta’s up in Maine
And Providence, Rhode Island’s next to Dover, Delaware

Concord, New Hampshire, just a quick jaunt to
Montpelier which is up in Vermont
Hartford’s in Connecticut, so pretty in the fall
And Kansas has Topeka, Minnesota has St. Paul

Juneau’s in Alaska and there’s Lincoln in Nebraska
And it’s Raleigh out in North Carolina and then
There’s Madison, Wisconsin and Olympia in Washington
Phoenix, Arizona and Lansing, Michigan

Here’s Honolulu, Hawaii’s a joy
Jackson, Mississippi and Springfield, Illinois
South Carolina with Columbia down the way
And Annapolis in Maryland on Chesapeake Bay

Cheyenne is in Wyoming or perhaps you make your home
In Salt Lake City out in Utah where the buffalo roam
Atlanta’s down in Georgia and there’s Bismarck, North Dakota
And you can live in Frankfort in your old Kentucky home

Salem in Oregon, from there we join
Little Rock in Arkansas, Iowa’s got Des Moines
Sacramento, California, Oklahoma and its City
Charleston, West Virginia and Nevada, Carson City

That’s all the capitals there are!

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LIST OF USA STATES AND CAPITALS
In Alphabetical Order by State

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Addendum August 2012

Though it’s going to take me a while to master singing “The United States State Capitals Song,” I didn’t want to delay making a scratch track of the tune for friends who have the book and need a little help with the rhythms and spacing of verses.  I’d love to record this song in a studio sometime, but until then, here’s me singing into my little digital recorder,

http://soundcloud.com/singbookswithemily/us-states-capitals-song-eleb

The arrangement and piano you hear in the background were prepared for me by Paul of www.MyRehearsalPianist.com

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The Train of States
Written and Illustrated by Peter Sis
Though not singable, this book is an excellent companion to both Fifty Nifty States  and United States State Capitals Song. The states, each depicted as a train car are assembled in the order in which they were ratified. 

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11/7/2012

The NBC USA 2012 election map at Rockefeller Center makes a great visual for singing Fifty Nifty States and United States State Capitals Song.

It looked so great on TV, I just hope that NBC will put out a terrific picture of the empty map.  I would love to have been there to see the rink graphic in person and sing the songs loud and proud!

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Rockefeller Center Building Web Page for Democracy Plaza 2012:
http://www.rockefellercenter.com/events/2012/10/30/democracy-plaza/

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Rockefeller Center Building Web Page Describing Democracy Plaza 2012
http://www.rockefellercenter.com/events/2012/11/

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Another useful map for learning the names and locations of states and state capitals:

United States State Capitals Song
USA Map with Capital Stars for SBWE
Traditional Words and Tune
Illustrated by Emily Leatha Everson Gleichenhaus
To view or print this map, click here:
USA map with colors & capital stars SBWE

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Related Posts

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FIFTY NIFTY STATES, A SINGABLE PICTURE BOOK
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2011/08/19/fifty-nifty-states-a-singable-picture-book/

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EDUCATIONAL CONTENT
A list of SPBs with fun and sneakily educational content.  The kids won’t even know they’re learning!
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2011/08/15/singable-picture-books-with-sneaky-educational-content/

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FOURTH OF JULY AND OTHER HOLIDAYS CELEBRATING THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND HER CITIZENS AND HISTORY
A list of Singable Picture Books celebrating the Fourth of July
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2010/06/22/a-patriotic-list-of-singable-books-for-july-4th/

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PLACES EMILY LOVES
Singable Picture Books related to some of my favorite places on earth!
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2011/09/16/places-i-love-a-collection-of-links-to-spb-posts-featuring-some-of-my-favorite-places-on-earth/

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SONG/BOOK SETS
A page of links containing suggested sets of Singable Picture Books (usually 5-10) on a specific theme or subject.
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/songbook-sets/

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United States STATE CAPITALS Song
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2012/06/24/usa-state-capitals-song/

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SING ALONG RESOURCES AND PRINTABLE MATERIALS
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/sing-along-resources-2/