Complex sentence: Foster himself never saw the Suwannee or even visited Florida, but the popularity of the song initiated tourism to Florida to see the river and since 1935 it has been the official state song of Florida, although in 2008 the original lyrics were expurgated.
Split into simpler sentences: Foster himself never saw the Suwannee--or even visited Florida--but the popularity of the song initiated tourism to Florida to see the river. Since 1935 it has been the official state song of Florida, although in 2008 the original lyrics were expurgated.