When States Fight
West Virginia broke from Virginia after the legislature voted for this in 1861.
Secession
An associate of equal rank; you may be a "jolly good" one.
Fellow
Maybe these smallest birds got their name because they just don't know the words.
Hummingbirds
"Song Sung Blue",
"Forever in Blue Jeans"
Neil Diamond
To adapt existing music for a performer, as Nelson Riddle did for Frank Sinatra.
Arrange
California & Arizona's 40-year dispute over water rights to this river ended in 1963.
the Colorado River
It can refer to an intimate friend or to a Communist.
Comrade
As P.T. could tell you, this man's real name was Charles Sherwood Stratton.
Tom Thumb
"Anticipation",
"You're So Vain"
Carly Simon
A cereal cooked in water or milk & eaten for breakfast; Baby Bear's was "just right"
Porridge
Maine split from this state in 1819 in protest of high taxes, poor roads & the distance to the capital.
Massachusetts
The familial name for a co-member of a man's Greek letter association.
Frat brother
Look out! These can fly around the nucleus at over 4 million MPH!
Electrons
"Penny Lover",
"Say You, Say Me"
Lionel Richie
This adjective meaning "alien" might rhyme with orange if you reversed the final "GN" & added an E.
Foreign
In 1998 New York & New Jersey made their arguments before the Supreme Court over this historic island.
Ellis Island
From a word for "to labor together", it's one who helps the enemy force occupying his country.
Collaborator
By carrying plague, this tiny insect killed 1/3 of the population of Europe in the 14th century.
Flea
"If You Asked Me To",
"It's All Coming Back To Me Now"
Celine Dion
A tube fitted with a plunger & needle, used to inject fluids.
Syringe
In 1855 many men from this slave state voted in Kansas, leading to bloodshed along the border.
Missouri
Perhaps from the Greek for time, it's a longtime "old" pal.
Crony
This little girl hatches out of a flower in a Hans Christian Andersen tale.
Thumbelina
"I'm the Only One",
"Come to My Window"
Melissa Etheridge
The Italian city of this name has Il Duomo; the one in South Carolina has the Pee Dee Experiment Station.
Florence