I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S!
Ring the bell and call or write us
I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S!
Can you call the Captain Clitus?
Logan, Grant, and Ronald Reagan (who will save it?)
In the grave with Xylophagan (dedicate it?)
Do you know the ghost community? (Who will praise it?)
Sound the horn, address the city (commemorate it for you?)
We are awakened with the axe
Night of the living dead at last
They have begun to shake the dirt
Wiping their shoulders from the earth
I know, I know the nation's past
I know, I know they rust at last
They tremble with the nervous thought
Of having been, at last, forgot
I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S!
Ring the bell and call or write us
I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S!
Can you call the Captain Clitus?
B-U-D-A! Caledonia (who will save it?)
S-E-C-O-R! Magnolia (dedicate it?)
B-I-R-D-S! And Kankakee (who will praise it?)
Evansville and Parker City (commemorate it for you?)
Speaking their names, they shake the flag
Waking the earth, it lifts and lags
We see a thousand rooms to rest
Helping us taste the bite of death
I know, I know my time is passed
I'm not so young, I'm not so fast
I tremble with the nervous thought
Of having been, at last, forgot
I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S!
Ring the bell and call or write us
I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S!
Can you call the Captain Clitus?
Comer and Potato Peelers (who will save it?)
G-R-E-E-N Ridge! Reeders (dedicate it?)
M-C-V-E-Y! And Horace (who will praise it?)
E-N-O-S! Start the chorus (commemorate it for you?)
Corn and farms and tombs in Lemmon (who will save it?) (I know, I know the nation's past)
Sailor Springs and all things feminine (dedicate it?) (I know, I know they rust at last)
Centerville and Old Metropolis (who will praise it?) (They tremble with the nervous thought)
Shawneetown, you trade and topple us (commemorate it for you?) (Of having been, at last, forgot)
I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S! (Who will save it?) (I know, I know the nation's past)
Hold your tongue and don't divide us (dedicate it?) (I know, I know they rust at last)
I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S! (Who will praise it?) (They tremble with the nervous thought)
Land of God, you hold and guide us (commemorate it for you?) (Of having been, at last, forgot)
