Back Home Again in Indiana
song composed by James F. Hanley, lyrics by Ballard MacDonald
"(Back Home Again in) Indiana" is a song composed by James F. Hanley with lyrics by Ballard MacDonald that was published in January 1917.
An Indiana signature
The tune was published as a Tin Pan Alley pop song by the New York publishing firm Shapiro, Bernstein & Co. It contains a musical quotation from an earlier Tin Pan Alley popular song, "On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away," and used several evocative words and phrases from the earlier song's lyrics including "candlelight," "moonlight," "fields," "new-mown hay," "sycamores," and "Wabash".
Since 1946, the chorus of "Back Home Again in Indiana" has been performed during pre-race ceremonies before the Indianapolis 500. From 1947 until 2020, thousands of multicolored balloons would be released from an infield tent during the song, until the practice was halted citing environmental concerns. From 1972 to 2014, the song was performed most often by Jim Nabors. He admitted to having the song's lyrics written on his hand during his inaugural performance, and occasionally his versions altered several of the words. The vocals are supported by the Purdue All-American Marching Band. In 2014, Nabors performed the song for the final time after announcing his retirement earlier that year, saying: "You know, there's a time in life when you have to move on. I'll be 84 this year.
“Back Home Again in Indiana” enters the record as song composed by James F. Hanley, lyrics by Ballard MacDonald. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Back, Home and Again can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Back Home Again in Indiana” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Back, Home and Again provides the most credible route into that argument.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q798311. VIAF identifies the subject as 175195886. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1917, 1946, 1947 and 2020.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Back Home Again in Indiana”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Back Home Again in Indiana primary sources, Back Home Again in Indiana archive and Back research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Back Home Again in Indiana”?
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- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
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This entry incorporates text from “Back Home Again in Indiana” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.