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"Never Been to Spain" is a song written by Hoyt Axton,[1] originally released on his 1971 LP Joy to the World and later that year performed by Three Dog Night, with Cory Wells on lead vocal.[2] It was featured on their 1971 album Harmony.[3] The recording was produced by Richard Podolor.[4]
In the US, "Never Been to Spain" peaked at number 5 on the Billboard chart, and number 18 on the U.S. adult contemporary chart in 1972.[5] Outside of the US, "Never Been to Spain" reached number 3 in Canada[6] and number 34 in Australia.
The lyrics consist of the narrator ruminating on places that he has never visited, but feels that he has some proxy experience of, via the music or other features of those places, or from having gone to similar locations. In the final verse, he observes that while he has "never been to heaven", he has "been to Oklahoma", where he was told he was born, thus implying a kinship between the two places. Hoyt Axton, who was born in Oklahoma, explained that he originally wrote, "...in Oklahoma, born in a coma...." However, it was considered inappropriate; thus, the lyrics were changed to "not Arizona".
ApologetiX did a parody of the song entitled "Never Been to Spain (Yet)" that was featured on their 2007 live album Chosen Ones.
The Oklahoma State University Cowboy Marching Band plays a version of the song every football game during the first time out of the fourth quarter, as well as at numerous other events throughout each academic year. It has been recorded in several of their performance albums. The entire marching band and stadium of fans yell "State" in unison following the line "I've never been to heaven, but I've been to Oklahoma".
The Killers opened their second concert ever in Oklahoma City on May 7, 2019, by walking onstage to a recording of the song.