Journalist: Dylan Davis (OSU)
On Saturday, Rep. Anderson Bell (TU) and Rep. Morgan Williams (TU) presented the
“Oklahoma Rock and Roll Unity Act” to the OIL House of Representatives. The bill aims to
reinstate the song “Do You Realize??” by the Flaming Lips, an Oklahoma City-based alternative
rock band, as the Oklahoma State Rock and Roll Song. The bill passed the House nearly
unanimously and is slated to be presented to the Senate on Sunday.
The song has over 100,000,000 streams on Spotify, has been nominated for numerous awards and is
certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in the United States. This kind of legislation is not unprecedented in Oklahoma. In fact, Oklahoma has adopted three different
official state songs since the state’s inception in 1907.
Firstly, in 1953, the official state song was designated as “Oklahoma!”, the title track
from the musical “Oklahoma!” by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.
Once more in 1988, Oklahoma passed more legislation regarding state songs. In this
legislation, “Faded Love” by Bob Wills, a famous radio host, country singer and Tulsa icon, was
designated as the state Country and Western Song.
Again in 2001, a State Folk Song was established. The song is “Oklahoma Hills” by the
notorious Dust Bowl era storyteller Woody Guthrie.
The authors of this bill cited these previous examples as precedent for this kind of
legislation while receiving questions from other representatives. The authors also said this could
show people outside Oklahoma that the state’s musical archive extends far beyond just folk and
country music.
Further supporting Bell and William’s case, an executive order regarding the song “Do
You Realize??” has previously been enacted in Oklahoma.
In 2009, Gov. Brad Henry signed an executive order to honor the song after over 10,000
Oklahoma residents signed a petition to draw attention to the issue. This executive order is no
longer effective because the governor who succeeded Henry, Gov. Mary Fallin, failed to
reapprove it.
The OIL Senate is expected to hear the bill later during its session on Sunday. If passed
by the Senate, the bill will go to the OIL Governor for signature. Oklahomans and Alternative
music fans alike will be watching intently as the legislation continues to make its way through
the legislature.