Southern State of Mind

I have LOTS of "favorite" country musicians....Tim, Kenny, Brad, Blake.... I am sure my list has many of the same names as most lists of country faves. However, my list has a name on it that I would venture to say does NOT appear on most list... DARIUS.  Darius Rucker, the former lead singer of Hootie and the Blowfish, is, in my opinion, a BREATH OF FRESH AIR to the country music scene. He takes us back to what country music is known for doing...telling real stories...talking about real people....talking about real lives.... 

I love just about every single song he sings (as evidenced by my Spotify playlists!), but right now my favorite is a song that I am quite certain he wrote JUST FOR ME. It really expresses how I feel being a Texan girl in a very non-Texan kind of environment.... and how the things that, to me are so normal and second-nature, are often seen as odd here....  I wish I could play this song for every person I meet in DK....just to help them understand a little bit more why I am as I am..... So when I say BLESS YOU when you sneeze, or when I greet you with a HI (2 syllables, of course!) as we pass each other on the street or in the hall or when I turn down your offer of a glass of red wine with my dinner, it's not because I am strange.... I am just in a Southern State of Mind... 

Thank you, Darius! 

(If you want to "get" me a little more, take a listen....)

I was up in New York City,

just the other week.
You shoulda seen the waitress' face when I ordered sweet tea.
She said "we don't have that here"
and I apologized, I said "Please forgive me,
I'm in a southern state of mind."

And those girls out in California,
they don't understand.
They don't like it when I hold the door,
when I say yes ma'am.
They act like I've done something wrong,
and they give me the evil eye.
I say "honey, I'm sorry,
I'm in a southern state of mind."

I could be anywhere
in my heart I'm always there.
Where they drink sweet tea and they raise you to be polite.
No changin' who I am,
that's they way I've always been.
No matter what state I'm in,
I'm in a southern state of mind.

I'm always walkin' 'round
tellin' everybody hi.
Justa wavin' at the strangers
in the cars passin' by.
Some people may look at me
and say that boy just ain't right.
Hey ya'll I ain't crazy,
I'm in a southern state of mind.

I could be anywhere
in my heart I'm always there.
Where you know every body and if you don't then you're still polite.
No changin' who I am,
that's they way I've always been.
No matter what state I'm in,
I'm in a southern state of mind.

You can see it in the clothes I wear,
you can hear it when I talk.
Ballcap boots and jeans and a little southern draw.
I can be up in Ohio or back home in Caroline.
No matter what state I'm in, I'm in a southern state of mind.
Don't matter what state I'm in, I'm in a southern state of mind.