South Carolina 
SC Facts & Firsts SC State Symbols, Nicknames SC State Songs
Carolina
Acting on the memorial of the South Carolina Daughters of the American Revolution that the patriotic song "Carolina," written by Henry Timrod, South Carolina's most beloved poet, set to music by Miss Anne Custis Burgess, be made "legally the State Song." The General Assembly, on February 11, 1911, adopted Senator W.L. Mauldin's Concurrent Resolution that it "be accented and declared to be the State Song of South Carolina."
Call on thy children of the hill,
Wake swamp and river, coast and rill,
Rouse all thy strength and all thy skill,
Carolina! Carolina!
Hold up the glories of thy dead;
Say how thy elder children bled,
And point to Eutaw's battle-bed.
Carolina! Carolina!
Thy skirts indeed the foe may part,
Thy robe be pierced with sword and dart,
They shall not touch thy noble heart,
Carolina! Carolina!
Throw thy bold banner to the breeze!
Front with thy ranks the threatening seas
Like thine own proud armorial trees,
Carolina! Carolina!
Girt with such wills to do and bear,
Assured in right, and mailed in prayer,
Thou wilt not bow thee to despair,
Carolina! Carolina!
South Carolina on My Mind
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South Carolina on My Mind – Listen at Last!
"South Carolina on My Mind," written and recorded by Hank Martin and Buzz Arledge, native South Carolinians, was designated by Act No. 302, 1984, as an official State Song.
At the foot hills of the Appalachian chain,
Down through the rivers, to the coastal plain,
There's a place that I call home,
And I'll never be alone,
Singin' this Carolina love song
I've got South Carolina on my mind
Remembering all those sunshine Summertimes,
And the beauty of the Autumns when the leaves turn to gold
Touches my heart and thrills my soul to have South Carolina on my mind,
With those clean snow-covered mountain Wintertimes
And the white sand of the beaches and those Carolina peaches,
I've got South Carolina on my mind.
I'm grown now with a family of my own
In a place that all my kids are callin' home.
And I love this life I'm livin',
And thank God for all He's givin',
But my heart sings a Carolina love song
I've got South Carolina on my mind
Remembering all those sunshine Summertimes,
And the beauty of the Autumns when the leaves turn to gold
Touches my heart and thrills my soul to have South Carolina on my mind,
With those clean snow-covered mountain Wintertimes
And the white sand of the beaches and those Carolina peaches,
I've got South Carolina on my mind.
Carolina When I Die
2026 was quite the year for Camden-raised Patrick Davis. In March,
Governor Henry McMaster selected Davis as
SC Poet Laureate then on May 18, McMaster signed Bill R260, H5168 designating Davis' "Carolina When I Die" as South Carolina's third official state song. The official state version is sung by Davis and features native South Carolinians Darius Rucker and Edwin McCain.
Well, I've rambled all around this world, seen the Northern Lights
I have sang for kings and queens, but I was barely gettin' by
I've been lost up in Alaska, laid low in Ohio
But when the good Lord comes a-callin'
Let me tell you where I'll go
Take me back to Carolina when I die
Take me back to Carolina when I die
No, I don't believe that heaven is only in the sky
Take me back to Carolina when I die
Yeah, I've seen tornadoes twistin' across the Texas plains
And I've watched the palm trees swayin' above the angels in L.A.
But there's nothin' like a crescent moon peekin' through the pines
Take me back to Carolina when I die
So take me back to Carolina when I die
Take me back to Carolina when I die
No, I don't believe that heaven is only in the sky
Take me back to Carolina when I die
Well, I hear there are golden streets, mansions in the air
And my friends and my family and my dogs will all be there
Yeah, I hope that I can make it, but I'll only stay a while
'Cause I'm goin' to Carolina when I die
So take me back to Carolina when I die
Take me back to Carolina when I die
No, I don't believe that heaven is only in the sky
Take me back to Carolina when I die
No, I don't believe that heaven is only in the sky
Take me back to Carolina when I die
Take me back to Carolina when I die
Take me back to Carolina when I die
Written by: Patrick Davis, Levi Lowrey, Wyatt Durrette, and Kevin Mac
