"Lone Star State of Mine" is an unreleased song by American actor, singer and songwriter

River Phoenix River Jude Phoenix (; August 23, 1970 – October 31, 1993) was an American actor, musician and activist. Phoenix grew up in an itinerant family, as the older brother of Rain Phoenix, Joaquin Phoenix, Liberty Phoenix, and Summer Phoenix. He ha ...

. The lyrics and musical composition are attributed to Phoenix. The song was performed by Phoenix in the film ''

The Thing Called Love ''The Thing Called Love'' is a 1993 American comedy-drama film directed by Peter Bogdanovich and starring Samantha Mathis as Miranda Presley, a young musician who tries to make it big in Nashville. River Phoenix, Dermot Mulroney and Sandra Bullo ...

'' (1993), but was not included on the soundtrack album for the film.

Background and history

Phoenix expressed his wishes to release music for a film with his band

Aleka's Attic Aleka's Attic were an alternative folk/rock band from Gainesville, Florida, Gainesville, Florida, formed by River Phoenix and Josh Greenbaum in April 1987. History The original line up of Aleka's Attic included River as lead singer and played gu ...

, but the group disbanded in early 1992. Phoenix began writing songs for the film in July 1993. Commenting on the musical direction, Phoenix said, ''"The music has everything to do with me having the best understanding of the character and the movie".'' In August 1993, Phoenix described "Lone Star State of Mine": ''"It originated from deep emotion and solitude and many days of being alone and in LA and a lot of childhood memories. It's an ode to solitude and preservation of one's independence and I guess, self-confidence."'' In an August '93 issue, journalist Malissa Thompson from ''

Seventeen Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

'' described his singing as sounding amazingly urgent and sweet, although underscored with anger.

References

{{authority control 1993 songs