The album is surrealist in nature, suggesting that there is another West Virginia inside of the state, that one can drive a house to Idaho, that Montana is a leg, Iowa is a witch, Oregon chases after people, and Arkansas has sunken and may be replaced by a ship of its exact shape and size.

Rather than a standard 7" or 12" vinyl record, the disc was green and die-cut into the shape of the 48 contiguous states.

Originally, "South Carolina" was the album's single, but the track was too long for the grooves to fit in the small area between the labels and the edges of the United States.

State Songs originally existed as a short EP that John Linnell released through the Hello Recording Club.

[1] Music critic Robert Christgau cited "The Songs of the 50 States" and "New Hampshire" as highlights from the album.