place in pop culture.”
The words “I’m from New Jersey” instantly hit him as perfect
for the title because he himself
noticed a twinge of embarrassment when he would utter those
words to strangers. Upon searching the web to see if anybody
else had done something under
that name, he stumbled upon
Red…
In 1960, New Jersey Governor
Robert Meyner noted that New
Jersey had no state song. This
immediately set Joseph Rocco
Mascari, aka Red Mascara, into
motion. He quickly penned the
tune “I’m From New Jersey” with
lyrics that could be easily modified to fit individual municipal-
ties. For fifty years he has been
fighting to get the song accepted as the official state song —
coming close in 1972 — but to no
avail.
“I think New Jersians should say
with pride ‘I’m From New Jersey’
and so that song really stuck with
me,” Goodman explained. “Then
I looked at his story and, in many
ways, it fit in with what I’m trying to do. So, my first order of
business when I got back to the
United States was Red.”
Michael Rockland, a Professor
at Rutgers University teaches a
“Jerseyana” class which gave
Goodman some insight towards
the origin of the Jersey Joke. It
basically stems from New Jersey
Wonder what the song sounds like?
www.njstatesong.com
Visit us online at http://www.NewJerseyStage.com
pg 49