Minnesota, That’s Me

Minnesota, That’s Me was underwritten by the Minnesota Voices program of the American Composers Forum, with generous support from Target, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Katherine B. Andersen Fund, the Warner Foundation, and the Wenger Foundation, and financed in part with funds provided by the State of Minnesota through the Minnesota Sesquicentennial Commission’s Grants Program. Minnesota, That’s Me was premiered by the Arrowhead Chorale, the Bemidji Chorale, the Minneapolis Youth Chorus, the Minnesota Valley Chorale, the Prairie Arts Chorale, and the Rochester Choral Arts Ensemble at the 2008 Minnesota State Fair under the musical direction of Kathy Saltzman Romey.

Minnesota, That’s Me
Whether I was born here
Or crossed the land and sea
To shout out my name
In a country wide and free,
In woods and glassy cities,
Across prairieland I roam,
Minnesota my home.

(Chorus:) Where Ole and Lena
Meet White Elk and Migina,
Meet Jose and Martina,
Meet Hakim and Adina,
Minnesota, you see?
Minnesota, that’s me!

Pull a chair up to the table,
I’ll fill you up a plate,
I got hot dish, got papaya,
I got fry bread. No, wait!
You want chile relleno?
Stew of goat or wild rice?
Come, sit close,
I’ll show you Minnesota nice.

(Chorus:) Where Ole and Lena
Meet Hakim and Adina,
Meet Ismail and Amina,
Meet Jose and Martina,
Meet White Elk and Migina,
Meet See Sing and Yong Yee,
Minnesota, you see?
Minnesota, that’s me!

I got ten thousand lakes,
Ninety-thousand miles of shore.
The world’s biggest ball of string.
Got slate and iron ore.
I grow oats and corn and soybeans.
I got Post-It notes galore.
You can have some
For a small fee.
Minnesota, that’s me!

(Chorus:) Where Ole and Lena
Meet White Elk and Migina,
Meet Hakim and Adina,
Meet Jose and Martina,
Meet Ismail and Amina,
Meet See Sing and Yong Yee,
Minnesota, you see?
Minnesota, that’s me!

We know floods, we know droughts,
We know tornadoes,
And once we get ‘em planted
We gotta dig potatoes.
Below zero,
The wind chills freeze.
And some of us get sick
On milk and cheese.

Still…

Whether we were born here
Or crossed the land and sea
We shout out our names
In a country wide and free,
In woods and glassy cities,
Across prairieland we roam,
Minnesota our home.

(Chorus:) Where Ole and Lena
Meet White Elk and Migina,
Meet Hakim and Adina,
Meet Jose and Martina,
Meet Ismail and Amina,
Meet See Sing and Yong Yee,
Minnesota, you see?
(Ya, you betcha!)
Minnesota, that’s me!
–Marisha Chamberlain