OK, now having got that noted, there is a song by Trapper Schoepp with the same title, the melody of which has a slight resemblance to the melody of the anthem (if that is the right word) above. And it has lyrics written in part or full by Bob Dylan.
The Dylan lyrics come from one of Dylan’s notebooks – a notebook of the type that was used for the New Basement Tapes series.
These lines which consist of three verses have the same title as the state song, including the comma, and were written in 1961, so not too long after he first signed for Columbia. Apparently the lyrics in their original form were offered at auction in 2017, but then were sold privately. However Trapper Schoepp saw the lyrics and then created the song, with a reference back to the state anthem.
Speaking of this he said, “I imagined this drifter being rocked to sleep in a train car to this three-four waltz rhythm. And he’s just hearing this song in his head ‘On, Wisconsin’ that’s bringing him back home.
“The words are playful and bring to mind some early Woody Guthrie lyrics and other folk songs Dylan might have been listening to in his early 20s. I have to give a nod to Quinn Scharber, who played the clean jazzy lead guitar parts, which puts the song in the ’50s ballad territory.”
There is on line a copy of the notebook lyrics – reproduced here. I’m sorry they are not clear – that is the best I can do with my limited technical ability.
Schoepp then recorded the song and forwarded it to Bob Dylan’s publishing company. He reports what happened then as…
“So I’m laying in bed one night, and my manager sends me an email that simply reads, ‘Dylan has it now.’ I immediately got pretty excited about that.”
The management team had, it seems, given the ok to the song and forwarded to Bob for final approval. He gave it meaning the record could be released as a co-written song.
It now appears on Primetime Illusion – an album that focuses on modern city life.
Here’s a live version with a spoken introduction about the origins.
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It’s a lovely little track. Great lyrics but I imagine Dylan would have presented it much differently for some reason. Here is Dylan’s lyric in full:
Wisconson is the dairy state
I guess you all know well
I was in Wow Wow Toaster there
The truth to you I’ll tell
It’s milk & cheese & cream
I’ve known ’em all my days
I’m going back to my hometown I’m leaving right aways
***
I’m a heading out Wisconson ways
2000 miles to go
Madison, Milwakee set’s my heart aglow
I’m a coming to that dairy state
My heart’s a beating fast
I’ll jerk my banjo gently there
And twiddle my mustache
***
There’s thoughts I left there long ago
One a coming now it seems
I’ll tune my banjo in the hills
And feast on milk and cream
And stamp my foot all thru the grass
And never know a care
My homes in Wow Wow Toaster
And I’m a going there
***
These people with you city ways
Are driving me insane to drink
My home’s in Wisconson it’s a better place I think
I’ve been in California
My home’s in Wisconson
And I’m gonna own the town
“On Wisconsin” is the state song, but it’s better known as the University of Wisconsin’s fight song. What a “fight song” is might take some explaining, but basically it’s what the band plays after a touchdown.
I think what Schoepp did with the song is rather sweet, and it was a nice touch to add the “On Wisconsin” chorus–corny, but in a good way.
What Dylan writes as “Wow Wow Toaster” is actually Wauwatosa, a suburb of Milwaukee. Presumably he didn’t actually think it was spelled that way, but didn’t have a clue how he should spell it. It’s one of those names that only the locals know how to spell (I’m not a local; I looked it up).
It’s pretty broad-minded of a Minnesota kid to write an ode to Wisconsin. The two states aren’t exactly enemies; they’re more like brothers who hate being told how much they resemble each other. Two hundred miles may be a number he picked out of a hat, but it happens to be the distance to Wauwatosa from the Minnesota border, if you go by way of La Crosse, as someone coming from Minneapolis would. (Not from Hibbing, though.)
Judging by the date at the top of the notebook page we can tell the exact date this was written!
11/20/61 or 20/11/61 for us Brits!!
Thank you for that. Your eyes are better than mine.
Of course, Canadians use both systems. All very confusing. What if Dylan had written it on 11/12/61 ?
Or a historical date is referred to as 10/11/12 ?
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