9/25/2023 0 Comments Sweet home alabama lyrics"Sweet Home Alabama": Conservative or Liberal? Inasmuch as the fact that the band often performed with a Confederate flag as a backdrop, the label and perception has been hard to shake. It is this perceived "attitude" which has led to Lynyrd Skynyrd earning a reputation as a "racist" band. Lynyrd Skynyrd's comeback was intended to mean, at first glance, "Thank you for your opinion Neil, now leave us alone." The lines in "Sweet Home Alabama" are a direct response to Young's anti-racist, anti-cross burning "Southern Man" and "Alabama" songs. Known as a response record, such songs "refer directly to a previous hit and usually do it in a catty, mischievous way". ( Play and listen to a MP3 sample clip of Neil Young's "Alabama" ) ( Play and listen to a MP3 sample clip of Neil Young's "Southern Man" ) ( Play and listen to a MP3 sample clip of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" ) Well, I heard Mister Young sing about herĪ southern man don't need him around anyhow. This article came about because I've long been fascinated with Neil Young's influence on other bands ever since I heard Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" which was written in response to two of Young's anti-southern slavery songs, "Southern Man", from the album After the Gold Rush, and "Alabama", from the album Harvest. Rarely has such a widely popular hit song been so vastly misunderstood by so many for so long. As this article demonstrates, the complicated saga of "Sweet Home Alabama" is anything but sweet. The enormously popular song has an extraordinarily complex backstory involving a wide swath of groups which have laid claim to the song's message and symbols. The history of Lynyrd Skynyrd's 1974 song "Sweet Home Alabama" has a long and tortured history. Such is the duality of the southern thing. Somewhere, Ronnie is still having a good laugh at Alabama officials and Neil Young bashers. (Or even make implied death threats (note caption).) Similarly, with the State of Alabama using the phrase "Sweet Home Alabama" as an official slogan on license plates, one truly has to wonder what they were thinking the song was about. Every day, someone blogs or tweets the "Neil Young putdown" without comprehending that they've actually praised him. Thus, for those who think it's so clever to put down Neil Young using the phrase "Hope Neil Young will remember, a southern man don't need him around anyhow" little do they realize that they have the meaning backwards. Without Young's songs that were so critical of the South's segregationist and racist attitudes for inspiration, it is doubtful that the band would have produced a song with such a long lasting duration that continues to sell well 30 years after its release.īut the ultimate irony of "Sweet Home Alabama" is that for so many, the song's implied put down of Neil Young was NOT meant as criticism but as support of Young's anti-racism. Thanks to Neil Young, Lynyrd Skynyrd was inspired to write the song "Sweet Home Alabama". Please comment and add your thoughts on Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama"Ī southern man don't need him around anyhow" Lynyrd Skynyrd: Neil Young's Nemesis or Ally?
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