State Song

California’s State Song, “I Love You California,” is a musical celebration of the state. Songwriter F. B. Silverwood and composer A. F. Frankenstein, both of Los Angeles, wrote the song in 1913. After being first sung by opera star Mary Garden, the song went on to be performed on the first ship to pass through the Panama Canal and at the San Francisco World’s Fair in 1915.

While it was under copyright, all proceeds from the sale of the song went to charitable organizations. In 1951, it was designated the State Song by the Legislature, and was later given statutory recognition in 1988, after the copyright had expired. Its lyrics celebrate California’s many natural wonders – Yosemite, redwoods, flowers, valleys, mountains and ocean.

(Added to Statutes, Chapter 87, 1951)

“I Love You, California”

Lyrics by Francis Beatty Silverwood, Music by Abraham Franklin Frankenstein

I love you, California, you’re the greatest state of all.
I love you in the winter, summer, spring and in the fall.
I love your fertile valleys; your dear mountains I adore.
I love your grand old ocean and I love her rugged shore.

Where the snow crowned Golden Sierras
Keep their watch o’er the valleys bloom,
It is there I would be in our land by the sea,
Every breeze bearing rich perfume.

It is here nature gives of her rarest, it is Home Sweet Home to me,
And I know when I die I shall breathe my last sigh
For my sunny California.

I love your redwood forests, love your fields of yellow grain.
I love your summer breezes and I love your winter rain.
I love you, land of flowers; land of honey, fruit and wine.
I love you, California; you have won this heart of mine.

I love your old gray Missions, love your vineyards stretching far.
I love you, California, with your Golden Gate ajar.
I love your purple sunsets, love your skies of azure blue.
I love you, California; I just can’t help loving you.

I love you, Catalina, you are very dear to me.
I love you, Tamalpais, and I love Yosemite.
I love you, Land of Sunshine, half your beauties are untold.
I loved you in my childhood, and I’ll love you when I’m old.

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