"My version of "Georgia" became the state song of Georgia. That was a big thing for me, man. It really touched me. Here is a state that used to lynch people like me suddenly declaring my version of a song as its state song. That is touching"
About this Quote
The gut punch is his blunt pivot to lynching. No euphemisms, no "difficult past". He collapses a century of terror into one sentence, then places that brutality right next to a ceremonial act of recognition. The subtext is not "look how far we've come" so much as "look how strange this is". A state does not just adopt a song; it adopts a voice, a version. Charles isn't being honored for performing "Georgia" correctly; Georgia is being honored for finally being able to claim him without hypocrisy swallowing the gesture whole.
Context matters: Charles' 1960 recording turned the tune into a secular hymn, drenched in gospel phrasing and blues ache - music born from the very Black Southern experience Georgia tried to police and erase. His astonishment signals the uneasy truth that symbolic progress often arrives as a kind of retrospective pardon. The touching part isn't innocence restored; it's contradiction exposed, and briefly, beautifully transformed into sound.
Quote Details
| Topic | Equality |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Charles, Ray. (2026, January 16). My version of "Georgia" became the state song of Georgia. That was a big thing for me, man. It really touched me. Here is a state that used to lynch people like me suddenly declaring my version of a song as its state song. That is touching. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-version-of-georgia-became-the-state-song-of-113347/
Chicago Style
Charles, Ray. "My version of "Georgia" became the state song of Georgia. That was a big thing for me, man. It really touched me. Here is a state that used to lynch people like me suddenly declaring my version of a song as its state song. That is touching." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-version-of-georgia-became-the-state-song-of-113347/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"My version of "Georgia" became the state song of Georgia. That was a big thing for me, man. It really touched me. Here is a state that used to lynch people like me suddenly declaring my version of a song as its state song. That is touching." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-version-of-georgia-became-the-state-song-of-113347/. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026.
