Not Safe For Patriotism

Here's an interesting piece in The Hollywood Reporter this July 4th weekend.  It features a map showing each state's most patriotic song.

Well, sort of.  Here's how it was compiled:

[C]onducted by Paul Lamere, director of developer platform for Spotify subsidiary The Echo Nest. He looked at data from the Fourth of July 2013 to determine what song the residents of each state listened to most compared with the previous week.

Throughout the Midwest and South there is an awful lot of Lee Greenwood.  West Virginia likes Tom Petty ("American Girl.").  Hawaii likes the Beach Boys ("Surfin' U.S.A.").  South Dakota likes Neil Young ("Rockin' In The Free World.") Massachusetts likes Chuck Berry ("Back In The U.S.A."). And for some reason, Maine, New Hampshire and North Dakota like Miley Cyrus ("Party In The U.S.A.")

There are surprises.  New York ("4th Of July, Asbury Park") and Connecticut ("Born In The U.S.A.")--but not New Jersey--prefer Springsteen. Washington, Mississippi and Illinois--but not Indiana--prefer John Mellencamp ("R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A,").

Sometimes you get traditional songs, such as "America The Beautiful," as sung by Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert (where's Ray Charles?), in Vermont and North Carolina.  In Pennsylvania they love "The Star-Spangled Banner" as sung by Whitney Houston.  Guess which state prefers that same song but by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir? Nope, not Utah--which favors "Off We Go Into The Wild Blue Yonder" by the U.S. Air Force Reserve Band--but Colorado.

But I'm proud to be in California, where, with Florida and New Jersey, we share the most patriotic song of all: