There’s only one Miss America, but there’s plenty of other kinds of American girls. From the warm Cali beaches to some sweet Georgia peaches, check out these songs about girls and the states they’re proud to hail from!
“Georgia Peaches” — Lauren Alaina
“American Idol” runner-up Lauren Alaina is known for her sweet pop country act– and the second single from her debut album is all about how sweet she is. Alaina, who’s from Roswell, Georgia, sings “Ain’t nothin’ sweeter than us Georgia peaches,” before informing us that “There’s a reason why the boys pick the Georgia peaches.” We’ll take a bushel, please!
“California Gurls” – Katy Petty
Decades after the Beach Boys made California girls famous, Katy Perry made them cool. In 2010 the Santa Barbara native paid tribute to her home state — and to her fave rapper. The pop singer doted on her Cali girls’ “Daisy Dukes” and sandy stilettos — and she also gave Snoop Dogg a shout-out! (He returned the favor by rapping on her record.) Now, can we just get the spelling of “girls” right? Must be all that gin and juice.
“Valley Girl”-Moon Unit Zappa
Okay, so like The Valley is in Cali too-but it’s like a world of its own, y’ know? Moon Unit Zappa’s 1982 collaboration with her dad, Frank Zappa, was totally sung in “Valspeak” — as in, if you didn’t live in the San Fernando Valley it was like a foreign language. Still, this song was anything but grody. Fourteen-year-old Zappa helped nab her dad his only U.S. Top 40 hit. Fer sure!
“Mississippi Girl”– Faith Hill
The country music superstar went back to her Star, Mississippi roots with this 2005 song, which had her reminding us that “a Mississippi girl don’t change her ways” just because she’s gained a little fame. Shortly after Hurricane Katrina, Faith Hill told CNN’s “Larry King Live,” “I have always been proud of the state of Mississippi. But after that happened and I had the single out ‘Mississippi Girl’…. it’s meaningful. It brings new meaning to it.”
“Texas Pride”– Miranda Lambert
These days she’s the pride of Texas, so no wonder country music queen Miranda Lambert decided to sing about her own Texas pride. With lyrics like, “I can rope a steer, drink a keg of Lonestar beer,” Miranda is one twangy tough cookie, who reminds us once again that you just don’t mess with Texas.
“NYC Girls” – Joey McIntyre
The former Backstreet Boy knows a thing about girls-especially New York City girls! In McIntyre’s world, the NYC girls are the “P.Y.T.s of the world” (that’s “pretty young things,” in Michael Jackson -speak.) McIntyre may be worldly, but he makes it clear about his penchant for New Yawkers: “All the girls I found come from all around, but the best I’ve had come from this here town.”
“Minnesota Girl” – Green Day
It was Green Day front man Billie Joe Armstrong’s ode to his wife Adrienne, when he sang about his “Minnesota girl…with faraway eyes.” In an interview with the Mankato Free Press, Armstrong’s real-life Minnesota girl said that Green Day’s abundance of early shows in Mankato may have had a little something to do with her. Adrienne said of her then-sometime-boyfriend, Billie Joe: “He booked a mini tour that started in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and then came through Mankato, Minneapolis, to Beloit, Wisconsin. So yes, to see me. Very romantic.”
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