Land of Magic

Based on the opening photo, there might be zero doubt what my post is about today for some of you. It's a pretty iconic building to say the least. I don't remember a ton about my first trip to Florida, but I do remember that EPCOT Center had just opened along side the Magic Kingdom at Disney World. It was pretty sparse to say the least, but the monorail was brand spanking new and pretty cool, and the stuff they did have done was really amazing.

I remember there was this area where they had some kind of big hydroponics lab and they were highlighting all of this sustainable stuff. Really, the main reason I remember it is because the song "How Deep Is Your Love" by the BeeGees was part of the soundtrack. It seems even back in the early 80's music was a huge part of my life.

Fast forward about twenty years and I got the chance to visit Florida/Disney again with my new wife, her sister, brother in law, mother, father, and our only two nieces at the time. It was an absolute blast, and even though the Disney World properties have expanded beyond belief, my favorite part of the place is still EPCOT. We happened to be there during the International Wine and Beer Festival and it was absolutely awesome.

Mind you, this was fifteen years ago and I haven't been back to Florida since.

As we continue our musical trip around the United States, this weeks #threetunetuesday post sponsored by @ablaze brings us to Florida (duh). In case you need a refresher, I am going through each state alphabetically and each week I am going to highlight three songs that have that state name either in the title or the lyrics of the song.

This was another tough one, kind of like Colorado. While there are tons of songs that mention places in Florida, there aren't a lot of songs that have the word Florida in the title or lyrics. More than some other states to be sure, but still kind of sparse. Heck, Miami alone probably has about a million songs out there. I can think of three easily off the top of my head, but that isn't the way this works, so it doesn't count.

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Of course it's only right that I would include the song "Florida!!!" by Taylor Swift and Florence + The Machine. Actually, this week I am sharing quite a few more current songs where as in the past I would normally share some golden oldies or classic country. The next song would probably be the one exception, but let's talk about Taylor first.

As I said, it was a bit hard to find songs that didn't just refer to places in Florida. As many songs as there are about Miami, I have never been there. In fact, between the two times I have been to Florida, I have never been much outside the general area of the Disney complex as well as Busch Gardens and Sea World back when those still existed. I think Sea World might still be around, but Busch Gardens is long gone. I remember when I was a kid I touched a boa constrictor at Busch Gardens. Something I would likely never do today!

We did drive to Florida when I was a kid, so I likely spent more time in the state than I actually realize, but I don't really remember it.

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I'm a pretty big Donald Fagen and Steely Dan fan, so while "Walk Between Raindrops" didn't immediately jump to mind when I was thinking of Florida, as soon as I saw it referenced the state in the lyrics, I knew I had to include it. If you have never listened to the album The Nightfly by Fagen, I highly recommend it. It's some pretty amazing stuff. It's potentially some of his best work outside of Steely Dan.

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Finally, I am going to leave you with a two-fer. Although Florida Georgia Line has the state in their group name, that wouldn't count for the way I am doing this. Thankfully, they reference the state in the lyrics, so I was able to give you "Cruise". I decided to go with the remix that includes Nelly instead of the original version which is what introduced the world to this amazing duo.

I would argue that up to this point there hadn't been a more successful duo in country music since Brooks and Dunn. Some might argue Dan and Shay, but I would flat out tell them they are wrong.

Whether you agree or not, those are my three tunes that all have Florida in either the name of the song or the lyrics. I hope you enjoyed them. I honestly don't know if I will ever make my way back to Florida again. @mrsbozz and I have talked about visiting the Keys (insert Kokomo by the Beach Boys here), but I don't know if that will happen. There is so much of the country we still haven't explored yet.

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