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The Kansas State Song

Home On the Range

words by Dr. Brewster Higley, music by Dan Kelly

   VERSE 1
    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 clouded all day.

   CHORUS
    A home, a home where the deer and the antelope play,
    Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
    And the sky is not clouded all day.

   VERSE 2
    Oh, give me the gale of the Solomon vale,
    Where life streams with buoyancy flow,
    On the banks of the Beaver, where seldom if ever
    Any poisonous herbage doth grow.

   VERSE 3
    Oh, give me the land where the bright diamond sand
    Throws its light from the glittering stream
    Where glideth along the graceful white swan,
    Like a maid in a heavenly dream.

   VERSE 4
    I love the wild flowers in this bright land of ours;
    I love too the wild curley's scream,
    The bluffs and white rocks and antelope flocks
    That graze on the hillsides so green.

   VERSE 5
    How often at night, when the heavens are bright
    With the light of the glittering stars,
    Have I stood here amazed and asked as I gazed
    If their glory exceeds this of ours.

   VERSE 6
    The air is so pure, the breezes so free,
    The zephyrs so balmy and light,
    I would not exchange my home here to range
    Forever in azure so bright.

The original title of "Home On the Range" was "My Western Home." Dr. Higley wrote the words in 1871 or 1872. There seem to be many different versions of this song around. Perhaps this is what the Kansas Legislature was concerned about when it wrote "...as originally written..." into the law. The words provided here are as they are written into law (see below).

Kansas Statutes

The following information is excerpted from the Kansas Statutes, Chapter 73, Article 1, Section 01. The words are included within the statute.

Chapter 73.--SOLDIERS, SAILORS AND PATRIOTIC EMBLEMS
Article 13.--STATE SONG
SECTION 01

73-1301. Home on the Range. The song "Home on the Range" as originally written with words by Dr. Brewster Higley and music by Dan Kelly is hereby established as the Kansas state song. The words to such song shall be:

    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 clouded all day.

    Chorus:

    A home, a home where the deer and the antelope play,
    Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
    And the sky is not clouded all day.

    Oh, give me the gale of the Solomon vale,
    Where life streams with buoyancy flow,
    On the banks of the Beaver, where seldom if ever
    Any poisonous herbage doth grow.

    Oh, give me the land where the bright diamond sand
    Throws its light from the glittering stream
    Where glideth along the graceful white swan,
    Like a maid in a heavenly dream.

    I love the wild flowers in this bright land of ours;
    I love too the wild curley's scream,
    The bluffs and white rocks and antelope flocks
    That graze on the hillsides so green.

    How often at night, when the heavens are bright
    With the light of the glittering stars,
    Have I stood here amazed and asked as I gazed
    If their glory exceeds this of ours.

    The air is so pure, the breezes so free,
    The zephyrs so balmy and light,
    I would not exchange my home here to range
    Forever in azure so bright.
    
    History:   L. 1947, ch. 433, § 1; June 30.

Source: Kansas Legislature Web Site, (http://www.kslegislature.org), November 25, 2004
Source: State Names, Seals, Flags, and Symbols by Benjamin F. Shearer and Barbara S. Shearer, Copyright 2002
Source: State Songs America, Edited by M.J. Bristow, Copyright 2000

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