“Go straight to hell with your rebel yell …” ?

A state song is fine with me – although I recall singing a state song in school as a child – and this is an engaging song. But I would prefer not to extend the North/South conflict any longer than necessary and having this line in an official state song strikes me as our own version of a Confederate flag.

At some point we’re going to be able to recover from the damage done by the Civil War.

Perhaps we could find a way to “sing Maine’s praises” without slighting our Southern neighbors. In the meantime, “Grand State of Maine, proudly we sing.”

Dan Abbott
Portland