Songwriter H.R. “Stoney” Stoneback, left, and Christopher Paolini.
And now, for what may be the most obscure song in the 350 Jersey Songs series, but also the selection with the most perfect title …
As songwriter H.R. “Stoney” Stoneback, a veteran folksinger and English professor, explains in his introduction to this yearning ballad, which is performed by Christopher Paolini, he originally wrote it about Kentucky. But he felt there were enough songs about Kentucky already. And so he changed it to New Jersey, with some Garden State references added:
Won’t somebody sing a song about New Jersey?
Have you ever walked alone in the Jersey pines?
I’m just listening to the jukebox down in Georgia
And tonight I’ve got South Jersey on my mine
Check it out below, and skip to the 2:28 mark if you just want to hear the music, and not Stoneback’s introduction.
New Jersey celebrated its 350th birthday last year. And in the 350 Jersey Songs series, we are marking the occasion by posting 350 songs — one a day, for almost a year — that have something to do with the state, its musical history, or both. We started in September 2014, and will keep going until late in the summer.
If you would like to suggest any songs to be included, please let me know in the comments section underneath the video. And if you want to see the entire list, either alphabetically or in the order the songs were selected, click here.
