Celebrating songs of Leelanau: The Accidentals’ “Michigan and Again”
From staff reports
Our story series celebrating songs inspired by Leelanau County and the Sleeping Bear Dunes continues with The Accidentals’ ballad “Michigan and Again” — a love song for the band’s home state. The song’s music video (which you can view below) features footage of the Sleeping Bear Dunes along Lake Michigan.
“I started writing ‘Michigan and Again’ in the backseat of the van when I was probably 19 or 20 years old,” band member Sav Madigan told the Sun. “I remember thinking to myself, ‘Great state, what state am I in?’ and writing that down in a little notebook I always kept in my jacket. A few minutes later I thought, ‘Michigan and again and again and again and again …’ and realized that the two lines kind of rhymed.
“Coincidentally a few weeks later, we set up our IndieGoGo campaign which was meant to help us get to our first-ever SXSW showcase. Mark from Ludington donated to the bracket that would have me write a song about a topic of Mark’s choice, and Mark chose Michigan! I sat down and wrote in a very stream-of-consciousness way about the fluctuation of travel and home, how home is always calling to you no matter where you go.
“I sent Mark a demo of the song thinking no one else would ever hear it, but our manager Amber heard it and said, ‘Oh, no, this one is for the world.’ A few weeks later we recorded and released it as a single, and it blew up while we were still recording the rest of the Parking Lot EP in Wimberly, Texas, at Blue Rock Studios. It was so cool to see the song touch so many people’s hearts, and no matter where we go in the country we always get requests for it—so it feels like home is always with us.
“I grew up near the Sleeping Bear Dunes and used to go there all the time with my family,” said Madigan. “Some of my earliest Michigan memories take place there. A lot of my songwriting is inspired by nature and where I grew up. I loved being able to grow up somewhere you could still see the stars at night, and where some of the trees never lost their green. Any time you hear me talking about nature in songs, you can guarantee I’m thinking about some place in Michigan.”
Here are the lyrics to “Michigan and Again” …
“We lay down in the grass
In our nest of sleeping bags
Breathing in the shallow canyon air
The water, 45 degrees
We wade out to the knees
And soak to the sleeves in a semi-aquatic prayer
Great state, what state am I in?
Compass roses bloom again
Home of the water, Canada’s daughter
Cradled in a crescent moon grin
Michigan and again and again and again and again
Michigan and again and again and again and again
Soft shoulders of sand dunes
Porcupine cactus flowers bloom
In the dust of the devil’s empty living room
Salt silts the flattened land
Time like a snake in the sand
Powdered porcelain in a stranger’s hand
Great state, what state am I in?
Compass roses bloom again
Home of the water, Canada’s daughter
Cradled in a crescent moon grin
Michigan and again and again and again and again
Michigan and again and again and again and again
Looking down to the high five
Grazing ground to hear the sound of a heavy sigh
Home is where you left your heart behind
Even fortified fossils dissolve over time
When I came home, I went down to the lake
My dad told me he counts up the days
And when I packed my bags, coffee stains of jet lag
There were conifers lining the driveway, whispering
“Stay, stay, stay, stay, stay
Stay, stay, stay, stay, stay”
Great state, what state am I in?
Compass roses bloom again
Home of the water, Canada’s daughter
Cradled in a crescent moon grin
Michigan and again and again and again and again
Michigan and again and again and again and again
Michigan and again and again and again and again
Michigan and again and again and again and again
Michigan and again and again and again and again
Michigan and again and again and again and again
Michigan and again and again and again and again
Michigan and again and again and again and again”
Previous installments in our Songs of Leelanau series featured: Patrick Niemisto’s “Sand” about the megastorm that hit Glen Arbor 10 years ago; Hazel Olberhelman’s “Leelanau Theme Song”; Ingemar Johansson and Song of the Lakes’ “Pearl of America”; Laura Hood’s “Eddy Up”; Les Dalgliesh’s “The Ways of Leelanau”; Jeff Maharry’s “Good Harbor Bay”; Seth Bernard’s instrumental ode to the Manitou Islands; Blake Elliott’s “Small Town,” and Louann Lechler’s “I’m Proud to Say I Live in Leelanau County.”
