In 1975 a band called Northern Lights recorded the hit song “Minnesota.” You might recall some of the lyrics.
“Minnesota, I can almost smell the air. I can feel her hand, and my feet in the sand in the lakes under trees back home.
“Minnesota, how I miss those sail-on days. I miss the stormy nights and the Northern Lights in the starry skies back home.”
I’ve updated some of the lyrics for 2021.
“Minnesota, there is tension in the air. I hear the demands, and the fear in the land in the streets under curfew back home.
“Minnesota, how I dread these lock-down days. I dread riots at night and the flares and the lights in the smoke-filled skies back home. …
OK, I’m not a songwriter, but the memories of our beloved state conveyed in the song “Minnesota” seem to be fading.
We are still the state of lakes and trees (and of course, corn and soybeans in our region) but we’ve also become the state of shootings, riots and way too much national news coverage.
I’ve begun asking the question, “What does it mean to be Minnesotan?”
The first thing that comes to mind, of course, is our accent and funny phrases. “You betcha!”
But how accurate is our picture of ourselves? The state at one time was inhabited by natives, then the French, Germans, Dutch, Irish and Norwegians.
The Hmong joined us in the 1970s. Along came Hispanics, southern Blacks, Africans and other Asians.
Do the Lutheran jokes, the “uff dahs!” and the “oh for Pete’s sakes!” really sum up who we are?
Do others have new stories to add to ours but perhaps we’re not listening?
I don’t know.
But here we are, some of us looking at others of us down the barrels of guns.
Some of us pray for peace while others plan to riot.
Is there a way to find common ground that we are all Minnesotan? That we share a beautiful place with “northern lights and starry skies?”
Or do we really need to burn the whole place down and start over?
I guess that’s up to us.