Back Home Again in Indiana
Encyclopedia
" Indiana" is a song composed by Ballard MacDonald
and James F. Hanley, first published in January of 1917. While it is not the official state song of the U.S.
state of Indiana
("On the Banks of the Wabash
"), it is perhaps the best-known song that pays tribute to the Hoosier State
.
pop-song of the time. It contains a musical quotation from the already well known "On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away", as well as repetition of some key words and phrases from the lyrics of the latter: moonlight, candlelight, fields, new-mown hay, sycamores, and of course the Wabash River.
In 1934, Joe Young, Jean Schwartz, and Joe Ager wrote "In a Little Red Barn (on a Farm down in Indiana)
", which not only incorporated all the same key words and phrases above, but whose chorus had the same harmonic structure as "Indiana". In this respect it was a contrafact of the latter (see "A jazz standard" below).
to be recorded by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, who released it as a Columbia 78, A2297, backed with "Darktown Strutters' Ball
". This lively instrumental version by the ODJB was one of the earliest jazz records issued and sold well. The tune became a jazz standard
. For years, Louis Armstrong
and his All Stars would open each public performance with the number.
Albert Nicholas
, clarinetist, with The Big Chief Jazz Band recorded it on Oslo August 29, 1955. Released on the 78 rpm record Philips P 53037 H.
Its chord changes undergird the Miles Davis
bop composition "Donna Lee
", one of jazz's best known contrafacts
(a composition that overlays a new melody over an existing harmonic structure). Other lesser known contrafacts include Fats Navarro
's "Ice Freezes Red" and Lennie Tristano
's "Ju-Ju".
automobile race. In most years since 1972, it has been sung by actor and singer Jim Nabors
, who erroneously substitutes "shining" with "burning", "all" with "out", "from" with "through", and "then" with "how". The singing is backed by the Purdue
All-American Marching Band
. It is performed immediately following "The Star-Spangled Banner
", the Invocation, and the rendering of "Taps
". The song is accompanied by a large balloon release near the end. The Indiana State Marching Sycamores also have a rendition of this song that is played at every event.
The song is also featured prominently at the Indiana State Museum
where a steam clock
plays the tune at the top of every hour. http://www.in.gov/ism/Exhibits_Collections/BuildingFeatures/stmclk.aspx
Since 1991 Indianapolis
TV station WISH-TV
used components of the song in their news themes; and since 1997 Fort Wayne
TV station WANE-TV
(WISH-TV's sister station owned by LIN TV
) has also used components of the song in their news themes. Stephen Arnold Music's Newsleader and "Counterpoint with Indiana" (aka WISH-TV News Music Package) and 615 Music's "In-Sink V.4" (aka "In-Sink with Indiana") are news music themes that have the "Back Home Again in Indiana" Signature.
It is also used to open every Little 500
bicycle race held at Indiana University.
IV iv I I II7 II7 V7 V7
I VI7 II7 II7 V7 III7 vi vi
I III7 vi II7 I-VI7 II7-V7 I I
Ballard MacDonald
Ballard MacDonald was a Tin Pan Alley lyricist.Born in Portland, Oregon, among his credits are:Beautiful Ohio, Rose of Washington Square, Second Hand Rose, Parade of the Wooden Soldiers, Back Home Again in Indiana, The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, Play That Barbershop Chord, Clap Hands, Here Comes...
and James F. Hanley, first published in January of 1917. While it is not the official state song of the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
state of Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
("On the Banks of the Wabash
On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away
"On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away" was among the best-selling songs of the 19th century in terms of sheet music sold. Written and composed by American songwriter Paul Dresser, it was published by the Tin Pan Alley firm of Howley, Haviland & Co. in October 1897. The lyrics of the ballad...
"), it is perhaps the best-known song that pays tribute to the Hoosier State
Hoosier
Hoosier is the official demonym for a resident of the U.S. state of Indiana. Although residents of most U.S. states typically adopt a derivative of the state name, e.g., "Indianan" or "Indianian", natives of Indiana rarely use these. Indiana adopted the nickname "Hoosier State" more than 150...
.
Origin and influence
The tune was introduced as a Tin Pan AlleyTin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley is the name given to the collection of New York City music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century...
pop-song of the time. It contains a musical quotation from the already well known "On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away", as well as repetition of some key words and phrases from the lyrics of the latter: moonlight, candlelight, fields, new-mown hay, sycamores, and of course the Wabash River.
In 1934, Joe Young, Jean Schwartz, and Joe Ager wrote "In a Little Red Barn (on a Farm down in Indiana)
In a Little Red Barn (on a Farm down in Indiana)
"In a Little Red Barn " was a popular song written by Joe Young, Jean Schwartz, and Milton Ager in 1934. It used the same harmonic structure as the 1917 "Back Home Again in Indiana"...
", which not only incorporated all the same key words and phrases above, but whose chorus had the same harmonic structure as "Indiana". In this respect it was a contrafact of the latter (see "A jazz standard" below).
A jazz standard
In 1917 it was one of the current pop tunes selected by Columbia RecordsColumbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
to be recorded by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, who released it as a Columbia 78, A2297, backed with "Darktown Strutters' Ball
Darktown Strutters' Ball
"Darktown Strutters' Ball" is a popular song by Shelton Brooks, published in 1917. The song has been recorded many times and is considered a popular and jazz standard....
". This lively instrumental version by the ODJB was one of the earliest jazz records issued and sold well. The tune became a jazz standard
Jazz standard
Jazz standards are musical compositions which are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive list of jazz standards, and the list of songs deemed to be...
. For years, Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
and his All Stars would open each public performance with the number.
Albert Nicholas
Albert Nicholas
Albert Nicholas was an American jazz reed player.Nicholas's primary instrument was the clarinet, which he studied with Lorenzo Tio in his hometown of New Orleans. Late in the 1910s he played with Buddy Petit, King Oliver, and Manuel Perez...
, clarinetist, with The Big Chief Jazz Band recorded it on Oslo August 29, 1955. Released on the 78 rpm record Philips P 53037 H.
Its chord changes undergird the Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
bop composition "Donna Lee
Donna Lee
"Donna Lee" is a bebop jazz standard composed by Miles Davis. It was written in A flat and is based on the chord changes of the traditional jazz standard " Indiana". One unusual feature of the tune is that it begins with a half-bar rest...
", one of jazz's best known contrafacts
Contrafacts
In jazz, a contrafact is a musical composition consisting of a new melody overlaid on a familiar harmonic structure. Contrafact can also be explained as the use of borrowed chord progressions....
(a composition that overlays a new melody over an existing harmonic structure). Other lesser known contrafacts include Fats Navarro
Fats Navarro
Theodore "Fats" Navarro was an American jazz trumpet player. He was a pioneer of the bebop style of jazz improvisation in the 1940s. He had a strong stylistic influence on many other players, most notably Clifford Brown.-Life:Navarro was born in Key West, Florida, to Cuban-Black-Chinese parentage...
's "Ice Freezes Red" and Lennie Tristano
Lennie Tristano
Leonard Joseph Tristano was a jazz pianist, composer and teacher of jazz improvisation. He performed in the cool jazz, bebop, post bop and avant-garde jazz genres. He remains a somewhat overlooked figure in jazz history, but his enormous originality and dazzling work as an improviser have long...
's "Ju-Ju".
An Indiana signature
Since 1946, it has been an annual tradition for the chorus of the song to be performed at the Indianapolis 500Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...
automobile race. In most years since 1972, it has been sung by actor and singer Jim Nabors
Jim Nabors
James Thurston "Jim" Nabors is an American actor and singer. Born and raised in Sylacauga, Alabama, Nabors moved to Southern California because of his asthma. While working at a Santa Monica nightclub, The Horn, he was discovered by Andy Griffith and later joined The Andy Griffith Show, playing...
, who erroneously substitutes "shining" with "burning", "all" with "out", "from" with "through", and "then" with "how". The singing is backed by the Purdue
Purdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...
All-American Marching Band
Purdue All-American Marching Band
The Purdue "All-American" Marching Band is the marching band of Purdue University. The Purdue "All-American" Marching Band is the primary source of auxiliary entertainment for Purdue University football games...
. It is performed immediately following "The Star-Spangled Banner
The Star-Spangled Banner
"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from "Defence of Fort McHenry", a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, Francis Scott Key, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy ships...
", the Invocation, and the rendering of "Taps
Taps
"Taps" is a musical piece sounded by the U.S. military nightly to indicate that it is "lights out". The tune is also sometimes known as "Butterfields Lullaby", or by the lyrics of its second verse, "Day is Done". It is also played during flag ceremonies and funerals, generally on bugle or trumpet...
". The song is accompanied by a large balloon release near the end. The Indiana State Marching Sycamores also have a rendition of this song that is played at every event.
The song is also featured prominently at the Indiana State Museum
Indiana State Museum
The Indiana State Museum is a museum located within White River State Park in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. The museum houses exhibits on the history of Indiana from prehistoric times up to the present day. It has one of the four IMAX theaters in the state of Indiana.-History:The museum was started...
where a steam clock
Steam clock
A steam clock is a clock which is fully or partially powered by a steam engine. Only a few functioning steam clocks exist, most designed and built by Canadian horologist Raymond Saunders for display in urban public spaces...
plays the tune at the top of every hour. http://www.in.gov/ism/Exhibits_Collections/BuildingFeatures/stmclk.aspx
Since 1991 Indianapolis
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
TV station WISH-TV
WISH-TV
WISH-TV, virtual channel 8, is the CBS-affiliated television station for Central Indiana licensed to Indianapolis. Owned by the LIN TV Corporation, WISH-TV is part of a duopoly with MyNetworkTV affiliate WNDY-TV and the two share studios on North Meridian Street at the north end of Indianapolis'...
used components of the song in their news themes; and since 1997 Fort Wayne
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in the US state of Indiana and the county seat of Allen County. The population was 253,691 at the 2010 Census making it the 74th largest city in the United States and the second largest in Indiana...
TV station WANE-TV
WANE-TV
WANE-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for Northern Indiana licensed to Fort Wayne. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 31 from a transmitter at studios on West State Boulevard in Northwest Fort Wayne/Tower Heights section of the city. The station can also be...
(WISH-TV's sister station owned by LIN TV
LIN TV
LIN TV Corporation is an American holding company that operates 31 television stations.-History:LIN TV's roots trace back to the founding of its former parent, LIN Broadcasting Corporation, in 1961. LIN Broadcasting was engaged in radio, television, direct marketing, information and learning, music...
) has also used components of the song in their news themes. Stephen Arnold Music's Newsleader and "Counterpoint with Indiana" (aka WISH-TV News Music Package) and 615 Music's "In-Sink V.4" (aka "In-Sink with Indiana") are news music themes that have the "Back Home Again in Indiana" Signature.
It is also used to open every Little 500
Little 500
The Little 500 , is a bicycle race held annually at Bill Armstrong Stadium on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana...
bicycle race held at Indiana University.
Chords
I VI7 II7 II7 V7 V7 I I7IV iv I I II7 II7 V7 V7
I VI7 II7 II7 V7 III7 vi vi
I III7 vi II7 I-VI7 II7-V7 I I
External links
- Song lyrics on WikisourceWikisourceWikisource is an online digital library of free content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Its aims are to host all forms of free text, in many languages, and translations. Originally conceived as an archive to store useful or important historical texts, it has...
- When Jim Nabors Sings: "Back Home Again in Indiana"