Kansas is big and broad and flat like an area rug with all the smell of cattle. Like any state we’ve visited, you have to know where to look to keep yourself entertained. But the distance between those locales need some road music. Here’s three songs for the Sunflower State. And, no, I am not including anything by the band Kansas.
Seven Nation Army: I’m going to Wichita / far from this opera forevermore. It’s hard to believe this song is damn near twenty years old. That’s several cars ago for me. I used to roll into my job as a short order cook blaring this song in my Jeep Wrangler stereo. Back then Jack White was new on the scene and no one knew he would go on to be in 4,327 different bands. What makes this song so great? Beats me; it just is.
Wichita Lineman: Miracle hates hates hates this song, but I love it. Maybe it’s the timbre of Glen Campbell’s voice (which I love), maybe it’s the completely dated sound (which I love). It’s corny in all the right ways for a state filled to the brim with feed corn.
Union Sundown: They used to grow food in Kansas. It’s not a great Dylan song, but from what I can scour, it is his one mention of Kansas in his song catalog and therefore gets on the list here.
On the Road with Adie 
You need to come back through playing Dylan’s “Wichita Blues (Going to Louisiana)” on The Freewheelin’ (VW Bus on the jacket) outtakes.
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How have I never heard of this one? And, for what it’s worth, I wrote and scheduled this blog entry before seeing the Flint Hills.
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To be fair, I think the outtakes are a bootleg copy of songs not officially released.
Sent from my iPhone
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How could you not include Seger? The heart of rock n roll, the heart of rock n roll is Topeka.
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My love for Seger runs deep, but alas it does not run wide enough to include this ditty, which is a mere trifle.
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