"Home on the Range" is the state song of the American state of Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

. Dr. Brewster M. Higley (1823–1911) originally wrote the words in a poem called "My Western Home" in the early 1870s in Smith County, Kansas

Smith County, Kansas

Smith County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. The county's population was 3,853 for the 2010 census. Its county seat is Smith Center. It is named in memory of Maj. J. Nelson Smith, who was part of the 2nd Colorado Cavalry, killed in action at the Battle of Westport on October 21,...

. The poem was first published in a December 1873 issue of the Smith County Pioneer under the title "Oh, Give Me a Home Where the Buffalo Roam". The music was written by a friend of Higley's named Daniel E. Kelley

Daniel E. Kelley

Daniel E. Kelley was a musician and entertainer, who after moving to Kansas in 1872, wrote the music for "Home on the Range", which became the state song. Kelley played violin with his brothers-in-law in the Harlan Brothers Band, but was primarily a carpenter by trade. He married Mary E....

. Higley's original words are similar to those of the song today but not identical. The song was adopted by settlers, cowboys, and others and spread across the USA in various forms. During the early 20th century, it was arranged by Texas composer David Guion

David Guion

David W. Guion , Texan composer, was best known for his arrangements of cowboy tunes, African American spirituals, and original compositions often inspired by the soundscape of west Texas.-Early life:...

 (1892–1981) who is often credited as the composer. It was officially adopted as the state song of Kansas on June 30, 1947, and is commonly regarded as the unofficial anthem of the American West

Western United States

.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...

.

"Home on the Range" is often performed in programs and concerts of American patriotic music

American patriotic music

American patriotic music is a part of the culture and history of the United States since its founding in the 18th century and has served to encourage feelings of national unity. These songs include hymns, military themes, national songs, and music from stage and screen, as well as songs adapted...

, and is frequently used in plays and films. These include the 1948 film Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House is a 1948 American comedy film directed by H.C. Potter and starring Cary Grant and Myrna Loy. The film was written and produced by the team of Melvin Frank and Norman Panama...

 (sung by both Cary Grant

Cary Grant

Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...

 and Myrna Loy

Myrna Loy

Myrna Loy was an American actress. Trained as a dancer, she devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. Originally typecast in exotic roles, often as a vamp or a woman of Asian descent, her career prospects improved following her portrayal of Nora Charles...

), the 1967 off-Broadway musical You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown is a 1967 musical comedy with music and lyrics by Clark Gesner, based on the characters created by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz in his comic strip Peanuts...

 (sung by the cast as a glee club rehearsal number), the 1980 film Where the Buffalo Roam

Where the Buffalo Roam

Where the Buffalo Roam is a 1980 American semi-biographical comedy film which loosely depicts Hunter S. Thompson's rise to fame in the 1970s and his relationship with Chicano attorney and activist Oscar Zeta Acosta. Art Linson directed the picture, while Bill Murray portrayed the author and Peter...

 (sung by Neil Young

Neil Young

Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...

 over the opening credits), the 2009 film The Messenger

The Messenger (2009 film)

The Messenger is a 2009 war drama film starring Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson, Steve Buscemi, Jena Malone, and Samantha Morton. It is the directorial debut of Oren Moverman, who also wrote the screenplay with Alessandro Camon....

 (sung by Willie Nelson over the closing credits), and in the 1946 western

Western (genre)

The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...

 film Colorado Serenade (sung by actor Roscoe Ates

Roscoe Ates

Roscoe Ates was an actor and musician in primarily western films and television.-Early years:Ates was born in the rural hamlet of Grange, Mississippi, northwest of Hattiesburg. Grange is no longer included on road maps...

). The song has naturally also made its way into screen shorts for children and adults, as in the 1954 Looney Tunes

Looney Tunes

Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...

 cartoon, Claws for Alarm

Claws for Alarm

Claws for Alarm is a 1954 Merrie Melodies cartoon, directed by Chuck Jones and produced and released by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was the second of three cartoons teaming Porky Pig and Sylvester the cat in a spooky setting where only Sylvester is aware of the danger the pair are in...

, in which it is sung by Porky Pig

Porky Pig

Porky Pig is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his star power, and the animators created many critically acclaimed shorts using the fat little pig...

.

"Home on the Range" has been featured as the state slogan on Kansas vanity license plates since 2005.

An arrangement of "Home on the Range" is played by the University of Kansas

University of Kansas

The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...

 Marching Jayhawks at the end of all home football games in Memorial Stadium.

Major versions compared

Dr. Brewster Higley (1876)	William and Mary Goodwin (1904)	John A. Lomax (1910)
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 sky is not cloudy all day. Chorus Refrain A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song... A home! A home! Where the Deer and the Antelope play, Where seldom is heard a discouraging word, And the sky is not cloudy all day. Oh! give me a land where the bright diamond sand Throws its light from the glittering streams, Where glideth along the graceful white swan, Like the maid in her heavenly dreams. Chorus Oh! give me a gale of the Solomon vale, Where the life streams with buoyancy flow; On the banks of the Beaver, where seldom if ever, Any poisonous herbage doth grow. Chorus How often at night, when the heavens were bright, With the light of the twinkling stars Have I stood here amazed, and asked as I gazed, If their glory exceed that of ours. Chorus I love the wild flowers in this bright land of ours, I love the wild curlew's shrill scream; The bluffs and white rocks, and antelope flocks That graze on the mountains so green. Chorus The air is so pure and the breezes so fine, The zephyrs so balmy and light, That I would not exchange my home here to range Forever in azures so bright. Chorus	Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam, Where the deer and the antelope play; There seldom is heard a discouraging word And the sky is not cloudy all day. Chorus A home, a home Where the deer and the antelope play, There seldom is heard a discouraging word And the sky is not cloudy all day. Yes, give me the gleam of the swift mountain stream And the place where no hurricane blows; Oh, give me the park where the prairie dogs bark And the mountain all covered with snow. Chorus Oh, give me the hills and the ring of the drills And the rich silver ore in the ground; Yes, give me the gulch where the miner can sluice And the bright, yellow gold can be found. Chorus Oh, give me the mine where the prospectors find The gold in its own native land; And the hot springs below where the sick people go And camp on the banks of the Grande. Chorus Oh, give me the steed and the gun that I need To shoot game for my own cabin home; Then give me the camp where the fire is the lamp And the wild Rocky Mountains to roam. Chorus Yes, give me the home where the prospectors roam Their business is always alive In these wild western hills midst the ring of the drills Oh, there let me live till I die. Chorus	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. Chorus 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. Where the air is so pure, the zephyrs so free, The breezes so balmy and light, That I would not exchange my home on the range For all of the cities so bright. Chorus The red man* was pressed from this part of the West He's likely no more to return, To the banks of Red River where seldom if ever Their flickering camp-fires burn. Chorus How often at night when the heavens are bright With the light from the glittering stars Have I stood here amazed and asked as I gazed If their glory exceeds that of ours. Chorus Oh, I love these wild prairies where I roam The curlew I love to hear scream, And I love the white rocks and the antelope flocks That graze on the mountain-tops green. Chorus Oh, give me a land where the bright diamond sand Flows leisurely down the stream; Where the graceful white swan goes gliding along Like a maid in a heavenly dream. Chorus Some replace the controversial term "red man" with "first men" or "first people" and change the rest of the verse accordingly .

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