Four and a half years at MSU were enough to completely enamor the out-of-state New Yorker, although the imagery-driven lyrics of his single could convince a listener that he was born and raised in the Great Lakes State. 

Along with developing such a deep relationship with the place that he refers to it as home, Migliorelli said he was trying to “grab as much Michigan as [he] could” with these lyrics. 

Throughout the track, he emphasizes this with the lyrics that Michigan sand remains “all over my toes,” and the state is “under my skin” while Detroit soul “let my heart beat strong.”

In keeping with the theme of the song, his alma mater is deeply stuck with him, and at 66 years old, he still reminisces on being “a wild ass kid” at university.

Migliorelli’s "wild" time at MSU was drenched in music and performing. After discovering that others on his freshman floor in Armstrong Hall also played guitar, they started a band. They called themselves the “Fender Clones” because everyone had Fender guitars. They went on to play at fraternity and sorority houses, Brody Fest, Battle of the Bands and cafes like Rick's and Dooley's, the latter now known to students as Harper's. 

These great friends that Migliorelli made in East Lansing are referred to in the track as his “band of brothers.” 43 years later, despite now living in New York, Migliorelli remains close to them.

The Fender Clones “run until they die,” as Migliorelli sings in "Michigan."

The band still often hangs out, plans trips together and shows up in each other’s towns. 

“I could get in the car and go tomorrow, drive into Eaton Rapids or into Detroit, say I'm here, and someone will put me in a bed and I could stay,” Migliorelli said. “It's one of the most treasured things I have in my life, and that to me is home, wherever your friends are.”

Graduation came with the inevitable split of the college band, marking Migliorelli’s first "off" in his on-and-off-again relationship with the music world. He became a computer and video game developer, then got back into writing through children's music and worked in educational media. He left again to become a creative director at a design firm, and from there, he stepped into the producing role for blues, R&B, and soul music for about a decade before finally returning to writing and performing, where he has stayed for over 10 years. 

While a few have come and gone over the years, Migliorelli has mostly been recording with the same group for the past five albums under Frank Migliorelli & The Dirt Nappers. Their second record, which they released right before the COVID-19 pandemic, cemented the group for the next three albums. 

Migliorelli and his band performed the song live in the studio together instead of relying on overdubbing, at the insistence of guitarist Thad DeBrock, who repeated that this method would make the track sound different. Migliorelli found this to be true and said it was a “completely different energy for us.” 

“I really wanted to push this album into a little bit more of a raw kind of unfinished sound and I think we got there,” Migliorelli said. “This track, definitely. I love the way this track came out. Because the guitars are ripping, the organ players, especially on the outro- this guy is like, all over the organ. It's nuts, man. It sounds good. I'm pretty happy with that.”

In addition to DeBrock, Migliorelli is joined by Toni Tino on bass, Daniel A. Weiss on keyboards, Tom “Goose” Segusa on drums, with Sherryl Marshall, Soozie Tyrell and Lisa Lowell on vocals.

Lowell and Tyrell are also part of rock musician Bruce Springsteen’s band, with Lowell on backup vocals and Tyrell on the fiddle. 

Having grown up loving Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, their influence on Migliorelli can be felt throughout the track with call-and-response lines — where a line is sung and repeated back by backup singers — and the way the instruments completely drive the song on this upbeat journey to the state of Michigan. The use of the organ can draw similarities to another big inspiration for Migliorelli: The Doors.

The folkstyle vocals and instrumentals of the track can be reminiscent of Tom Petty or Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham. Matching songs like Petty's "American Girl" or Fleetwood Mac's "What's the World Coming To," the listener is taken on what feels like a long summer drive with "Michigan." 

The song’s engine revs up with muted electric guitar strums and a kick drum before taking the road with Migliorelli’s story. As he sings, the music takes the back seat, but the constant drum of Segusa’s kit can be heard throughout — similar to the Fleetwood Mac songs that Buckingham leads.

The gaps between verses are filled with the buzz and harmony of every instrument. With each verse comes a longer instrumental break to follow than the one before, helping to build anticipation in the listener until its eventual eruption in the outro. This anticipation reflects Migliorelli's nostalgia for the place. The instruments resemble the big feelings that come with nostalgia and take over the listener. But each time that happens, the lyrics steer Migliorelli and the listener back on track by verbalizing that he is no longer in that place. The music mimics the push and pull of getting lost in moments from the past and being snapped back to reality, while still chasing that feeling anyway. 

The nearly five minutes of a musical memory lane are capped off with the call: “somebody take me home,” and a response: “take me” from the backup singers, followed by nearly a minute-long instrumental outro driven by organ, electric guitar, bass, keys and drums. The cathartic conclusion signals Migliorelli's succumbing to these emotions and declaration that he will get back home and to that feeling. 

The bittersweet symphony combines feelings of what Migliorelli wants and what he has. He has the Red Cedar River “rushing in (his) veins,” but still, he wants to come home. He has pieces of Michigan that never left him and yet, he longs for more.