‘Where the Columbines Grow’ draws a Rocky Mountain sigh

“Where the Columbines Grow” is the Rodney Dangerfield of state anthems: It gets no respect.

Colorado’s official state song, written by A.J. Fynn and published in 1911, is so anonymous that hardly anyone in the state has heard of it. Forget asking someone to sing it. Coloradans have tried and failed for more than 90 years to remove the plodding ditty as Colorado’s state song.

Now a lawmaker wants the song to make room for another — John Denver’s folk ballad “Rocky Mountain High.”

“John Denver was a great Colorado citizen, and this resolution would honor his memory (Denver died in 1997) and the lyrics he put forth,” said Sen. Bob Hagedorn, D-Aurora, in a recent news release.

The fact that most Coloradans have actually heard Denver’s song is a bonus.

Hagedorn doesn’t want to replace “Where the Columbines Grow” with “Rocky Mountain High,” merely have the two share equal billing. Eliminating “Columbines” has proved nigh impossible in the past. Detractors have wanted it removed since 1916, the year after the “official” sticker was first slapped on the song.

It has beaten off all comers, however, including “Rocky Mountain High,” “If I Had a Wagon” and a military march called “Hail Colorado!” — a ditty that has nothing to do with Colorado’s unique weather patterns.

If “Columbines” did get booted, it’s debatable how many people would notice.

“I don’t know the state song,” said Richard Stamey, director of the Garden of the Gods Visitor Center gift shop. “But I know what the state mineral (Rhodochrosite) is.”

Stamey said “Rocky Mountain High” would be a better state song than “Where the Columbines Grow.”

“Whenever I think Colorado I think ‘Rocky Mountain High,’ anyway, so that would be appropriate,” he said. “And I know the words.”

“It’s a beautiful song,” said Marilyn Gibbons, visiting the Garden of the Gods from Southern California. “On top of it, it’s John Denver. He’s a great artist.”

Not everyone is so eager to jump on the “Rocky Mountain High” bandwagon, though.

“John Denver’s not the way to go,” said Andrew Schnell of Denver.

Schnell recently moved from Tennessee, a state that has seven state songs — including “A Tennessee Bicentennial Rap,” adapted in 1996. His favorite Tennessee state song is “Rocky Top.”

“I could probably dance to it,” he said.

Compared with Tennessee, Colorado is tune-deprived. There aren’t a lot of great songs about Colorado to choose from, and some people think Colorado can last a little longer without fretting over another state song.

“Who really cares?” said Paul Furman — one of the few who has heard “Where the Columbines Grow.” “Frankly, legislation has better things to be doing than worrying about a secondary anthem.”

Besides, Furman is partial to Joe Walsh’s “Rocky Mountain Way.”

STATE SONGS?

“Where the Columbines Grow” was selected as Colorado’s state song in 1915. Are there others that should be considered? Here’s a partial list of Colorado-themed songs and their composers or notable performers:

- “The Skies are Blue in Colorado” (J.S. Ramey, c. 1916)

- “Hail Colorado!” (Russell J. Brown, 1930)

- “When It’s Springtime in the Rockies” (Gene Autry, 1938)

- “The Colorado Trail” (traditional)

- “If I Had a Wagon (I Would Go to Colorado)” (David Allen and Paul Colwell, 1967)

- “Rocky Mountain High” (John Denver, 1972)

- “Rocky Mountain Way” (Joe Walsh, 1973)

- “Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead” (Warren Zevon, 1995)