I have a different view of "Sweet Home Alabama."

[GOPBasher]

I always, always thought that song praised southern segregationists. I just realized I was totally wrong because of posts by ZombyWoof and RagingInMiami. That's awesome, because I always liked the music. Now I can listen to the lyrics without feeling like as asshole.

[Hobarticus]

1. How'd that change your viewpoint?

Just curious.

[GOPBasher]

3. I never realized what the lyrics were actually about, for example..

when they say, "we did all we could do," I thought they meant they tried all they could do to keep blacks from going to the same schools and stuff like that. But I found out that they meant they did all they could do to get rid of Wallace. So I stand corrected.

[Hobarticus]

6. I could see that...but what about the reference to Neil Young?

They seem kinda bristly about some fancy-pants northerner sticking his nose in their business.

They could have flat-out said that Wallace was a fathead. Would've cleared a lot of things up!

[maveric]

8. A fancy pants Canadian no-less!

I read an interview with one of the Skynard members when that song came out, and he was quoted as saying that "Neil Young has no right criticizing the south. He's not from the south. He's not even an american".
Circus magazine circa 1976.

[Hobarticus]

10. Bet they didn't complain when Canadians bought their records, though....

;)

[Zomby Woof]

15. Ah, Circus - real journalism!

Well, they were sick of answering the same old charges, and by then just told the hack writers and DJ's what they wanted to hear. They had little patience with that sort.

[XanaDUer]

2. I thought it was in response to Neil Young's

"insulting" song Southern Man?

That group is a local legend where I live, and I live in a Freeper Hellhole. What do the lyrics mean, then?

[RagingInMiami]

5. It's about loving the south, but not necessarily the southern attitude

Big wheels keep on turning
Carry me home to see my kin
Singing songs about the Southland
I miss Alabamy once again
And I think its a sin, yes

Well I heard mister Young sing about her
Well, I heard ole Neil put her down
Well, I hope Neil Young will remember
A Southern man don't need him around anyhow

Sweet home Alabama
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet Home Alabama
Lord, I'm coming home to you

In Birmingham they love the governor
Now we all did what we could do
Now Watergate does not bother me
Does your conscience bother you?
Tell the truth

Sweet home Alabama
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet Home Alabama
Lord, I'm coming home to you
Here I come Alabama

Now Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers
And they've been known to pick a song or two
Lord they get me off so much
They pick me up when I'm feeling blue
Now how about you?

Sweet home Alabama
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet Home Alabama
Lord, I'm coming home to you

Sweet home Alabama
Oh sweet home baby
Where the skies are so blue
And the governor's true
Sweet Home Alabama
Lordy
Lord, I'm coming home to you
Yea, yea Montgomery's got the answer

[Hobarticus]

7. Here, they say "the governor's true", though...

What governor are they talking about? Wallace?

[RagingInMiami]

9. it's sarcasm

[Hobarticus]

11. One way to look at it, I guess. I've always liked the song myself, anyway.

[sir_captain]

13. I don't think you can win this argument

I think the jury is really out on how sarcastic they were being--there are a lot of very reasonable people who think they were being pretty serious. I'm not really sure where I fall on this matter, though I do think that if they were being sarcastic, it would have paid to be slightly less subtle about it.

[Hobarticus]

14. Agreed....the sarcasm isn't exactly leaping out at the listener....

But, it's in the eye of the beholder...

[Zomby Woof]

18. In the context of their other work

Consider this is a band who:

1. Wrote an anti-handgun song ("Saturday Night Special").

2. Wrote a song in defense of black blues musicians who were beaten down by racism ("The Ballad of Curtis Loew").

3. Wrote several pieces promoting the environment and speaking out against hunger, poverty, and Vietnam...

and

4. Campaigned actively for Jimmy Carter's 1976 presidential campaign, raising money with concerts.


It ain't hard to figure out the sarcasm for the most part.

[Hobarticus]

24. Well, context is everything, though....

And the song isn't necessarily heard in context of their other work or activism. Given that, it is hard to figure out the sarcasm, out of context. No need to get sarcastic, yourself.

Not arguing, I love Skynyrd. You've given me some food for thought.

[Zomby Woof]

27. I was being sarcastic in general

Not at you. Sorry if that didn't come across. I get exasperated at going round and round on this with others, and meant no offense to you.

[Hobarticus]

30. Ain't no thing... n/t

[GOPBasher]

37. I never knew any of that about them. Thanks for the info. :-) nt

[RagingInMiami]

19. It's really not an argument. Either you like them or you don't

Either you think they're racist or you don't.
I've been listening to them all my life and I've been hearing the same bullshit about them for that long.
You can take one line from a song and whitewash the band with it, or you can listen to all their songs and then decide.

[hfojvt]

32. you left something out

doesn't it go:
"In Birmingham they love the Governor (boo, boo, boo)"

[RagingInMiami]

33. Yes, the boos is their way of voicing their disapproval

[billyskank]

4. Is that the song from The Country & Western Brothers?

[Zomby Woof]

12. at the end of the song

RVZ is saying "Montgomery's got the answer". Not something about dougnnuts. :crazy:

As for anyone STILL doubting the sincerity of their admiration for Neil Young, see my posts in GOPBasher's other thread about this song.

[RagingInMiami]

16. After Ronnie Van Zant died in the plane crash

Neil Young performed Sweet Home Alabama in Miami in honor of Van Zant. It is also said that Young was a pallbearer at Van Zant's funeral.

[Hobarticus]

17. "Montgomery's got the answer"? What is that referring to?

What answer, to what question?

Not looking for an argument, just honestly curious.

[Zomby Woof]

20. The birthplace of the civil rights movement

The answer to the intractible problems of race in the south were also where its most perplexing problems originated.

[Hobarticus]

26. That makes sense...Montgomery bus boycott, MLK...

Could've been less subtle, but I'll buy that.

[XanaDUer]

36. Yes, then again

There are quite a few progressives in The South fairly disgusted at what goes on here at times AND

Their graves are local and they were vandalized about two years ago.

Now that I think of it, I feel like toodling down to the local bar one of the surviving members owns and asking him outright.

The Freebird Cafe.

[redqueen]

21. I like the music, but the lyrics suck.

"Now Watergate does not bother me
Does your conscience bother you?
Tell the truth"

Yeah... Watergate's no big deal! :eyes:

[RagingInMiami]

23. When you grow up poor in the south

They can do whatever they want in Washington. You're still going to be poor.

[Zomby Woof]

25. It was cynicism

To them, Watergate was business as usual for politicians. They were casting a coldly realistic eye on what Watergate really was: A gross abuse of power. To them, that was not without precedent, and no historian could disagree.

The "conscience" remark was directed at the sanctimonious types who had their own skeletons in the closet, considering that the very same press who was compliant when it came to getting Nixon re-elected only turned on him when it was popular (and profitable) to do so.

[Hobarticus]

28. ZombyWoof, I have seen the light...

Always thought it was a subtle redneck anthem, but you've turned my heart.

Good, 'cuz I've felt guilty about liking the song.

[redqueen]

31. Hmmmmm

But was it, really? Was Watergate nothing more than 'business as usual'?

Of course it's true that there have throughout history been too many abuses of power to count, but let's be real. We're in the US, and the song concerns the US. Not saying Watergate was the worst abuse in this country, but at the time, it was the biggest thing to come to light since... ?

I don't know why they'd bring the press into it there... since the song was pretty much a rebuke of Young's song. :shrug:

[RagingInMiami]

34. I think we're overanalyzing this song way too much

This is what Ronnie Van Zant said about that song:

"We wrote Alabama as a joke. We didn't even think about it-the words just came out that way. We just laughed like hell, and said 'Ain't that funny'... We love Neil Young, we love his music..."


http://www.huether-net.de/lskynyrd/frame.html

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

35. That is because Nixon won as many northern as southern states

in his re-election. He is asking the north to take a look at their owncomplicity knowing he didn't support Watergate or Nixon.

Again, Van Zandt put his actions where his mouth was and was sick of the automatic presumption that anyone from the south was a racist.

[mr_hat]

22. "Such is the duality of the Southern thing."

Church blew up in Birmingham
Four little black girls killed for no goddamn good reason
All this hate and violence can't come to no good end
A stain on the good name.
A whole lot of good people dragged threw the blood and glass
Blood stains on their good names and all of us take the blame

Meanwhile in North Alabama, Wilson Pickett comes to town
To record that sweet soul music, to get that Muscle Shoals sound

Meanwhile in North Alabama, Aretha Franklin comes to town
To record that sweet soul music, to get that Muscle Shoals sound

And out in California, a rock star from Canada writes a couple of great songs about the Bad shit that went down
"Southern Man" and "Alabama" certainly told some truth
But there were a lot of good folks down here
and Neil Young wasn't around

Meanwhile in North Alabama, Lynyrd Skynyrd came to town
To record with Jimmy Johnson at Muscle Shoals Sound
And they met some real good people, not racist pieces of shit
And they wrote a song about it and that song became a hit

Ronnie and Neil Ronnie and Neil
Rock stars today ain't half as real
Speaking there minds on how they feel
Let them guitars blast for Ronnie and Neil

Now Ronnie and Neil became good friends their feud was just in song
Skynyrd was a bunch of Neil Young fans and Neil he loved that song
So He wrote "Powderfinger" for Skynyrd to record
But Ronnie ended up singing "Sweet Home Alabama" to the lord

And Neil helped carry Ronnie in his casket to the ground
And to my way of thinking, us southern men need both of them around

Ronnie and Neil Ronnie and Neil
Rock stars today ain't half as real
Speaking their minds on how they feel
Let them guitars blast for Ronnie and Neil

--Drive by Truckers, "Ronnie and Neil"

[Hobarticus]

29. What a great song!

The things I learn hanging out on DU...