A new study reveals a correlation between living within commuting distance of Manhattan and self-reported levels of happiness. The tri-state area—New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey—ranked, #51, #50, and #49 on the list of most unhappiest states. (Washington, D.C. was also included in the rankings.)
The happiest state in the U.S. is Louisiana (seriously?) which beat out Hawaii and Florida to claim the top spot. Apparently, there is no correlation between hurricanes and happiness since Mississippi, South Carolina, and Alabama also topped the list.
To cheer up all those melancholy New Yorkers I thought I’d play this video of Alicia Keys singing “Empire State of Mind” one of the great songs about New York (despite the title the song is really about the city). This version is superior to the original since it replaces the world’s most overrated rapper, Jay Z, with one of the most unappreciated: Stephen Colbert.
| The Colbert Report | Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c |
| Alicia Keys – Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down | |
If that doesn’t perk up you sad sacks then you probably need to move to Maine, the closest state to you that’s in the top ten.
Here is the complete list. Where does your state rank? My own, the Great State of Texas, comes in at a shockingly low #16, between Joseph Bottum’s home state of South Dakota and poetry editor Paul Lake’s Arkansas.
1 Louisiana
2 Hawaii
3 Florida
4 Tennessee
5 Arizona
6 Mississippi
7 Montana
8 South Carolina
9 Alabama
10 Maine
11 Alaska
12 North Carolina
13 Wyoming
14 Idaho
15 South Dakota
16 Texas
17 Arkansas
18 Vermont
19 Georgia
20 Oklahoma
21 Colorado
22 Delaware
23 Utah
24 New Mexico
25 North Dakota
26 Minnesota
27 New Hampshire
28 Virginia
29 Wisconsin
30 Oregon
31 Iowa
32 Kansas
33 Nebraska
34 West Virginia
35 Kentucky
36 Washington
37 District of Columbia
38 Missouri
39 Nevada
40 Maryland
41 Pennsylvania
42 Rhode Island
43 Massachusetts
44 Ohio
45 Illinois
46 California
47 Indiana
48 Michigan
49 New Jersey
50 Connecticut
51 New York
(Via: The New York Times)
December 22nd, 2009 | 5:08 pm
Hey, Joe, what’s an “overrated rapper”? And some of them downer folk in the Lone Star State and the Old Dominion need to emigrate!
December 22nd, 2009 | 5:15 pm
TomG Hey, Joe, what’s an “overrated rapper”?
A rapper who is even worse than the already low standards set for that genre but is praised as if he had some a modicum of talent. Jay Z—a guy who admits that he doesn’t even write out his lyrics—is the prime example.
And some of them downer folk in the Lone Star State and the Old Dominion need to emigrate!
Exactly. That’s why God invented U-Hauls. Although I don’t currently live in Texas I have the good fortune to live in VA, which is a suitable temporary substitute and a great state in its own right.
December 22nd, 2009 | 5:18 pm
Huh, Missouri’s at 38. I figured we’d be at 25, right in the middle of the pack like usual.
No way we get beat out by DC. They must have over-polled in Kansas City and St. Louis.
December 22nd, 2009 | 6:03 pm
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December 23rd, 2009 | 9:41 am
Hey Joe, I think you may misunderstand Jay-Z’s “admission” that he doesn’t write his own lyrics. Could you point to your example.
He often says that he doesn’t write lyrics as a way to emphasize the fact he has this sort of quasi-off-the-cuff style where he formulates songs and then raps on the spot instead of writing them down and rapping from a script.
In a genre that’s dominated by immaturity and meaningless nothingness, Jay-Z has come a long way and ought to be more respected. Listen to his newer stuff, you may be surprised at what you find.
December 23rd, 2009 | 10:08 am
Matt S Hey Joe, I think you may misunderstand Jay-Z’s “admission” that he doesn’t write his own lyrics. Could you point to your example.
From an interview with MTV News:
That probably accounts for the inane lyrics. Perhaps if he saw how dumb they look on paper he’d think differently about them.
In a genre that’s dominated by immaturity and meaningless nothingness, Jay-Z has come a long way and ought to be more respected. Listen to his newer stuff, you may be surprised at what you find.
Really? Looking over the lyrics of his latest albums shows plenty of immaturity and meaningless nothingness. Consider “Empire State of Mind” in which he brags (in code) that he can buy a kilo of cocaine cheaper than the Mexican drug dealers. When a wealthy music executive who is married to one of the most successful pop artist of our era (Beyonce) has to front as if he’s a drug dealer, it shows a deep immaturity and lack of self-esteem.
To see if I could see your point, I looked at some lyrics off his latest album. They seem to be as inane as always. What’s an example of what you mean?
December 23rd, 2009 | 10:48 am
Sorry! I hit enter too soon. Here’s the full entry:
Joe, thanks for responding. I don’t doubt that some of Jay-Z’s lyrics are still immature and absurd, but I think I’m talking about relative maturity here.
Perhaps it’s good and helpful to compare Jay-Z’s maturity to that of First Things’ readers, but if rap is going to “grow up” it needs to be incremental — it needs to start somewhere.
In that vein, here are two samples from his song “What We Talkin’ Bout” from his most recent Blueprint 3:
“Ain’t nothing cool ’bout carrying a strap/Bout worryin’ your moms and buryin’ your best cat/Talkin’ bout revenge while carryin’ his casket/All teary-eyed bout to take it to a mattress”
AND (Forgive the Obama glorification)
“And now that that’s that let’s talk about the future/We have just seen the dream as predicted by Martin Luther/Now you could choose to sit in front of your computer/Posin’ with guns, shootin’ YouTube up/Or you could come with me to the White House get your suit up/You stuck on bein’ hardcore, I chuck the deuce up”
December 25th, 2009 | 2:05 pm
When I visited NYC, I was struck by how abrasive and aloof some of the people were there.
After reading news articles, watching videos on youtube, etc about Louisiana, I was struck by how warm and outgoing the people were there.
Perhaps this partly explains why Louisiana is the happiest state?
January 14th, 2010 | 8:41 am
Tennessean here (4th). People I meet from blue (unhappy) states can’t get over how friendly we are (their words). A Chicago visitor said, “Up there you keep your head down, walk fast & NEVER speak. Down here , everyone asks how I’m doing.”
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