Official Song of the State of Ohio

Beautiful Ohio

Written by Ballard MacDonald

special lyrics by Wilbert B. McBride

Composed by Mary Earl

I sailed away;

Wandered afar;

Crossed the mighty restless sea;

Looked for where I ought to be.

Cities so grand, mountains above,

Led to this land I love.

Chorus

Beautiful Ohio, where the golden grain

Dwarf the lovely flowers in the summer rain.

Cities rising high, silhouette the sky.

Freedom is supreme in this majestic land;

Mighty factories seem to hum in tune, so grand.

Beautiful Ohio, thy wonders are in view,

Land where my dreams all come true!

Original Chorus as written by Ballard MacDonald

Drifting with the current down a moonlit stream

While above the Heavens in their glory gleam

And the stars on high

Twinkle in the sky

Seeming in a paradise of love divine

Dreaming of a pair of eyes that looked in mine

Beautiful Ohio, in dreams again I see

Visions of what used to be.

"Beautiful Ohio" became the state song in 1989.

The music was composed by Mary Earl,

and the original lyrics were written

by Ballard MacDonald.

In 1989, the Ohio legislature adopted

an amendment

to section 5.09 of the Ohio Revised Code

that changed the words of the state song.

The new lyrics are the work of

Youngstown attorney

Wilbert McBride. Ohio Revised Code

describing the state song:

(1989 S 33, eff. 11-6-89; 1989 H 457)

source: Ohio Public Library Information Network

(OPLIN)

Myra

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Xenia

MARGE

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Cleveland

Jean

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Cincinnati

Carole

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Madison