Dixie (song)

"Dixie", also known as "Dixie's Land", "I Wish I Was in Dixie", and other titles, is a song associated with the Southern United States first published in 1860. It is one of the most distinctively Southern musical products of the 19th century. It was not a folk song at its creation but has since entered the American folk vernacular. The song popularized the word Dixie in the American vocabulary as a nickname for the South.

Most sources credit Ohio-born Daniel Decatur Emmett with the song's composition, although other people have claimed credit, even during Emmett's lifetime. Compounding the problem are Emmett's own confused accounts of its writing and his tardiness in registering its copyright.

"Dixie" originated in the minstrel shows of the 1850s and quickly became popular throughout the country. During the American Civil War, it was adopted as a de facto national anthem of the Confederacy, along with "The Bonnie Blue Flag" and "God Save the South". New versions appeared at this time that more explicitly tied the song to the events of the Civil War.