Michigan

American Songwriter premiered "Michigan" on July 7, 2011, ahead of Prologue, and it opens the album. The writing credit is not stated in any source we read. American Songwriter reads it as the pain in leaving things behind and gaining perspective looking back, and Pattengale told Local Spins that the one song we have about Michigan is about wanting to leave it. Fans often assume the band is from Michigan. A Folkworks reviewer, Amy Reitnouer, said its haunting opening chords hooked her.

Setlist.fm lists it as their most played song, 169 performances across 678 setlists, ahead of "Snake Eyes" (138) and "New York" (127), and Local Spins says it has more Spotify listens than any other track in their catalog. A first-ever live version appeared on The Great American Folk Show in 2021. It is also reported in an NPR Tiny Desk concert on July 16, 2012 and on Mountain Stage, though we could not open those pages. In September 2025 they played Michigan dates at the Ark in Ann Arbor and St. Cecilia in Grand Rapids. We found no covers or samples.