White and lavender Rocky Mountain columbine flowers; symbol of Colorado. Photo by Ian Koss on Flickr (noncommercial use permitted with attribution / share alike). All State Flowers - All State Songs
Official State Song of Colorado
"Where the Columbines Grow" by A.J. Fynn was adopted as Colorado's first official state song in 1915 (the white and lavender Rocky Mountain columbine is the official state flower). "Rocky Mountain High" by John Denver was also adopted as a state song of Colorado in 2007. All State Songs
Lyrics to "Where the Columbines Grow"
Where the snowy peaks gleam in the moonlight,
Above the dark forests of pine,
And the wild foaming waters dash onward,
Toward lands where the tropic stars shine;
Where the scream of the bold mountain eagle
Responds to the notes of the dove
Is the purple robed West, the land that is best,
The pioneer land that we love.
CHORUS
Tis the land where the columbines grow,
Overlooking the plains far below,
While the cool summer breeze in the evergreen trees
Softly sings where the columbines grow.
VERSE 2
The bison is gone from the upland,
The deer from the canyon has fled,
The home of the wolf is deserted,
The antelope moans for his dead,
The war whoop re-echoes no longer,
The Indian's only a name,
And the nymphs of the grove in their loneliness rove,
But the columbine blooms just the same.
VERSE 3
Let the violet brighten the brookside,
In sunlight of earlier spring,
Let the fair clover bedeck the green meadow,
In days when the orioles sing,
Let the golden rod herald the autumn,
But, under the midsummer sky,
In its fair Western home, may the columbine bloom
Till our great mountain rivers run dry.