Replacement For 'Maryland, My Maryland' Written By Lawmaker

Silver Spring MD

27 August, 2020

5:55 PM

Description

SILVER SPRING, MD — U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat representing Maryland's 8th Congressional District, has proposed a new state song that would eliminate the original pro-Confederate lyrics of "Maryland, My Maryland." According to The Baltimore Sun, Raskin's song, "Maryland, My Maryland (The Free State Song)," mentions the Chesapeake Bay and the state's Black abolitionists, and gets rid of the original song's controversial lyrics and "O Christmas Tree" melody. "Maryland is a state all about freedom, democracy," Raskin told The Sun. "Why do we have a pro-Confederate anthem that was sung by Robert E. Lee's troops?" Raskin co-wrote the song with the D.C. Labor Chorus' musical director, Steve Jones. The song was published to the Jamie Raskin For Congress YouTube channel. It is sung by vocalist London Mevaa, a rising senior at Northwestern High School in Hyattsville.