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Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Gov. Brad Henry has signed an executive order naming "Do You Realize??" by the Flaming Lips as the state's official rock song despite opposition by Republican lawmakers who objected to a band member wearing a T-shirt bearing a Communist symbol.
Henry signed the proclamation Tuesday flanked by the four members of the Oklahoma City-based alternative rock band. This time band member Michael Ivins wore a "Ghostbusters" T-shirt.
"Like I've heard and like I've said, sometimes a t-shirt is just a t-shirt," Michael Ivins of the Flaming Lips said.
He stirred criticism from some GOP members of the Oklahoma House when he appeared at the Capitol on March 2 wearing a shirt emblazoned with the hammer and sickle symbol of the Communist Party. The House defeated a measure to make "Do You Realize??" the state song, but Henry went ahead with his executive order, saying the public supported the choice.
"There was a couple that came up to see and said they used it at their wedding," lead singer Wayne Coyne said. "There was a couple that said they used it at their father's funeral, and there was a couple that came up to me and said when their baby was going to be born in a couple of weeks that was going to be their song they were going to put on everybody's Myspace to announce it."
