Jessai Flores
Pleasant, persistent and pleasurable. These are the characteristics of any earworm: a song, tune or melody that reverberates constantly in one’s mind. An earworm can have a catchy beat, a rhythm in step with one’s daily routine or a sentimental allure. Regardless, an earworm serves as the broken record of the soundtrack of your day. And for me, this tune — my earworm — is “Georgia on My Mind.”
A jazz standard written by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell in 1930, the song has encountered nothing but universal fame and recognition in the nine decades it has spent gracing the ears of countless generations. As a part of the musical canon, it has been recorded by many luminaries of the music industry from Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald and Willie Nelson.
Those who know me well understand my deep appreciation and love for the Great American Songbook, yet out of the multitude of songs in that collection, “Georgia on My Mind” has always had a special place in my heart since it reminds me of my home. There is a catch, however; I am not from Georgia. I haven’t even been to the state. I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. So, this obviously begs the question: why would a song about Georgia remind a Californian of home?
Upon an initial listen, “Georgia on My Mind” is an ode to Georgia and how her song “comes as sweet and clear as moonlight through the pines.” There is no mention of the shores of the Pacific, sun-kissed vineyards or towering redwoods that would remind me of California. My appreciation for this song, however, is rooted in the way it conveys one’s love for home. In my mind, “Georgia on My Mind” transforms from a song about the Peach State to a declaration of love for home: a universal sentiment that transcends geographical bounds. The song is not popular simply for the sake of it being a standard. The very nature of the song’s timelessness endures in the way that it encapsulates beautifully in its sentimental melody and poetical lyrics, the enduring human appreciation for home.
As a first year, it is my first time studying and staying at a place far from home. Needless to say, California has been on my mind as I transition to life in New Haven. And unlike some of my peers who can take a short train ride home, I am three time zones away from mine. The distance is tangible, yet made negligible by a song as powerful and evocative as “Georgia on My Mind.”
Indeed, the song has followed me from California to Connecticut. It was a constant fixture on beach trips the summer before moving to Yale, but I have found, to my great surprise, that it is a favorite tune on campus. At a Camp Yale talent show I heard “Georgia.” At my residential college’s first-year welcome dinner, I heard “Georgia.” At an a-cappella rehearsal, I heard “Georgia.” It is not only an earworm that serenades the movement of my mind’s thoughts, but one whose melody caresses the ears of our very own community.
“Georgia on My Mind” is a perfect example of the way music bridges distance and brings home ever nearer to the heart of a wayward and wandering traveler on any of the roads of life. I cannot personally relate to the love one singer has for Georgia, but I can empathize with the singer’s love for home in the same way it encourages me to reminisce of mine. In the end, “Georgia on My Mind” is “just an old sweet song” that is special to both those who call Georgia home, and indeed to those who truly love their own.