From the recording State of Dreams
It always amazes me, and disappoints me, that folks think they’ve been to Florida when they’ve been down to Daytona Beach or Disney World or the resort areas in the southeast part of the state. The real Florida is comprised of vast, lush cypress, pine and oak hammocks, farm land, cattle ranches, citrus groves and beautiful rivers and lakes. This is my Florida, the Florida I grew up in and that I love so much. It’s the Florida that Gamble Rogers told endless stories of and about which Will McLean and Steve Blackwell sang so passionately. State of Dreams celebrates this largely ignored and unsung Florida that so few even know exists.
Lyrics
When you see the Suwannee lying bright and black by the light of a winter’s moon,
When you see the sunrise out across Payne’s Prairie with the spoonbills and the loons,
When you smell the orange blossoms in the springtime and you know that the honey crop’s gonna taste so good,
Then you know that you’re livin’ in a land of sunshine and a state of dreams.
When there’s Zellwood corn lined up in rows just as far as your eye can see,
When the strawberry farms down around Plant City are growing thick and green,
When you’re catchin’ bass out on Okeechobee and redfish in the Gulf around Cedar Key,
Then you know that you’re livin’ in a land of sunshine and a state of dreams.
Way down upon the Suwannee River, never that far away,
That’s where my cracker heart will live forever, all my tomorrows and my yesterdays.
When the whips of the cracker cowboys pop and echo out in the scrub,
When the hot sandy soil beneath your feet seems to seep right into your blood,
When you see those thunderclouds come rollin’ and the wind in the Spanish moss just feels so good,
Then you know that you’re livin’ in a land of sunshine and a state of dreams.
Way down upon the Suwannee River, never that far away,
That’s where my cracker heart will live forever, all my tomorrows and my yesterdays.
When you can hear the notes ringin’ loud and clear out of Gamble’s old guitar,
When you’re singin’ the songs of Will and Steve just remember where you are,
And take a moment in grateful silence to be thankful for the greatest gift by far,
To be livin’ down here in the land of sunshine and the state of dreams.
Don’t you know that you’re livin’ in the land of sunshine and the state of dreams.