Sweet Home Alabama (song)
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
"Sweet Home Alabama" is a classic song by Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, from their second album, Second Helping. It was written in 1974 as an answer to the songs "Southern Man" and "Alabama" by Neil Young, and is intended as a defense of the South. Young's songs told of examples of widespread racism in the South and in Alabama in particular. "Sweet Home Alabama" sings the praises of Alabama's natural beauty. However, "Sweet Home Alabama" also makes a point of praising the unnamed "Governor" in more than one line. In 1974, when "Sweet Home Alabama" was written, the Governor of Alabama was George Wallace. At the time, Wallace was a famous segregationist. "Sweet Home Alabama" also seems to forgive Richard Nixon for the Watergate scandal. The lyrics also express admiration for the music from Muscle Shoals studios, which mainly produced recordings by African-American artists.
Contrary to popular belief, Young was a fan of the song and performed it in concert a handful of times after the tragic plane crash that killed Lynyrd Skynyrd's songwriter, Ronnie Van Zant, and caused the breakup of Skynyrd in 1977.
"Sweet Home Alabama" is featured in many movies, including Sweet Home Alabama, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), Con Air, 8 Mile, Forrest Gump, Joe Dirt, and Sahara. It has also served as the opening theme music to EA Sports series of NASCAR-related video games. It has become the unofficial state song of Alabama and a favorite among University of Alabama students and alumni.
In the Nicholas Cage movie Con Air, "Sweet Home Alabama" was featured during the hijacking of a prisoner transport airplane. One of the characters, Garland Greene, defined irony as "a bunch of idiots dancing around on a plane to a song made famous by a band that died in a plane crash".
Alleged political meanings and counter-meanings
There is great debate about exactly what Ronnie Van Zant was trying to say when writing this song, with special emphasis on the second verse which goes as follows:
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
The governor being referenced there is segregationist Governor, George Wallace. Many use this reference to claim the song is meant in support of Wallace's policies. Many Skynyrd's fans disagree and considering the context in which the line is used, it appears more likely the line means the exact opposite. After the word "Governor", Skynyrd's backing singers would refrain "boo boo boo" is one sign for the contrary. The fact that the next line says "We all did what we could do", implies Van Zant saying they had done what they could do to help the problem (ie prevent Wallace from reaching office). If the first line was meant in support of Wallace, the second line seems to have little meaning. As Van Zant was a fan of numerous African-American artists (he would later write a song in tribute to an African-American musician he had met growing up) and various members of the band have dismissed the theory the song, or band, is racist, the claims that the lyric is meant in support of white supremacy is not accepted by most. However, numerous white supremacist groups (even some from other countries) have been known to use the song as a sort of anthem, obviously under the impression the song is meant to be racist.
Another claim often made is that the third line of the verse is in support of the Watergate scandal. Again, many find this notion to be ridiculous. A line defending a non-Southern President with regards to a Northern scandal in a song that is meant to uplift the South would appear random, self-defeating and completely off-topic as well as confusing. What most fans think the line is for is as a reminder to Northerners (and Neil Young in particular) that even they have their own scandals, and that perhaps they should worry about their own issues before complaining about others. The following line lends this theory even more credence.
