One song is the most famous tune ever written by Boston’s most revered band. Another is a classic in its own right and perfectly captures the setting and spirit of Massachusetts in its lyrics. So which one deserves to be the official state rock song?

Mass. officials are disagreeing over whether Aerosmith’s legendary song “Dream On” or The Modern Lovers’ Boston-centric single “Roadrunner” should earn the coveted title. Not long after Rep. Marty Walsh proposed a bill to give the nod to “Roadrunner,” state representatives Josh Cutler of Duxbury and Jim Cantwell of Marshfield filed a proposal of their own that would award the title to “Dream On.”

Rep. Cantwell joined Boston station ZLX’s Karlson & McKenzie live Tuesday morning (February 26) to discuss the legislation and why he chose an Aerosmith song. An avid ZLX listener, Cantwell said he came up with the idea for the new bill from a morning show listener who called him and made the suggestion.

Cantwell also asked hosts Karlson and McKenzie to testify to the House on why they want “Dream On” as the state rock song, along with anyone else who has a strong argument.

“This would be a fun debate about music that you can have listeners weighing in on, what they think the best song should be,” Cantwell said.

He attributed the quick submission of the bill for “Dream On” to the “influence ZLX has for classic rock.”

“Here we’ve got a great South Shore band that is one of the most iconic bands in the nation, so we’re sticking up for our guys,” Cutler told Quincy, Mass. newspaper The Patriot-Ledger.

Maybe they have more important things to worry about at the State House, but as long as they’re debating classic rock, we’re not complaining.

- Matt Dolloff, WZLX Boston