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An unofficial news blog for Neil Young fans from Thrasher's Wheat with concert and album updates, reviews, analysis, and other Rock & Roll ramblings. Separating the wheat from the chaff since 1996.
In the film Neil Young's 'Harvest Time', there are extensive scenes from The Barn of the recording of the song "Alabama", as well as, Neil discussing the song as "not a
political statement" but a song "about himself".
In other words, Neil Young is downplaying the whole "Southern Man" and "Alabama"
Ronnie Van Zant with Neil Young "Tonight's The Night" T-shirt
Oakland Coliseum, July 2, 1977 - Photo by Michael Zagaris Neil Young with Lynyrd Skynyrd/Jack Daniels Whiskey T-Shirt
Verona, Italy 7.9.1982 - Photo by Paolo Brillo on Flickr
In fact, the quotes in the film make it sound like Neil could of picked the State of Mississippi randomly, but probably found just that Alabama worked much better lyrically. Neil Young (paraphrased from memory):
“I just wanted to use
the name of a state in the American South. Because that’s where the guy
is coming from in that song. It’s not necessarily about Alabama.” And then, “I don’t know
what I’m talking about.”
Given the insight added by the Harvest Time quote regarding
Alabama, the song can be seen in, if not a brand new light, a more
complex one, where it is elevated above its status of Southern Man II.
It seems like the self-referential lines begin to incorporate more nods
to Southern and country culture as the verses add up.
At first,
the subject is primarily Neil himself, dropping minor allusions to keep
that country tone going (“the devil fools with…” “swing low,”) as he
expresses his personal feelings at the end of March ‘71 [NYA manuscript
caption]. “You got the spare change, you got to feel strange” is his
ambivalent mood about being a “rich hippie.” “And now the moment is all
that it meant” sounds like a critique of a hippieism itself. In the
original manuscript, Neil put the word “moment” in quotes, tellingly.
Where
Southern Man was a straightforward social commentary and political
statement, Alabama is a metacognitive meditation, a critique/questioning
of self.
Here the singer sings to himself, playfully naming himself
“Alabama.” He recognizes that he is affecting an American style, all the
while an outsider. This perspective will be developed in a later line,
so let’s look at that chorus first. Rusties will recognize the
references to self right out the gate. “…weight on your shoulders that’s
breaking your back,” was written between Neil’s major back injury and
the resultant surgery. We know he was in physical pain during this time
and would hardly stand up with an electric guitar until months later.
“Your Cadillac has got a wheel in the ditch and a wheel on the track.”
Know anyone with a fondness for big old cars and ditches? [note: The
first Caddy I could find in Special Deluxe was the limo he bought in ‘74
when he and Zeke were on the road with the CSNY tour.]
The next verse names Alabama as the person/subject and,
separately, as the place itself (“broken glass windows down in Alabama”)
The irony of banjos playing through these broken windows but that also
“take you down home” speaks to the personal conflict already established
and connects it to the character’s namesake state. The chorus returns,
reinforcing the pain and strife of the singer/his subject. The final
verse brings back Neil’s discomfort with fame living in the States. “Oh
Alabama, can I see you and shake your hand?” is followed by the wry
“make friends down in Alabama.” These lines bring to mind Neil’s comment
in Harvest Time regarding his new famous life, where people’s eyes
don’t look right when they talk to him. [Again sorry for the lack of
direct quotes, I’m paraphrasing from memory of the screening last
weekend.]
“I’m from a new land, I come to you and see all this
ruin, what are you doing?” Another enigmatic line, but following the
lyrics above, it seems he is stepping out of the Alabama identity and
into the world of Southern Man, having established his own voice as full
of contradiction and self-doubt. This seems to add the weight of
credibility based in humility to the critical observations first laid
out with “see the old folks tied in white ropes.” In fact, that
particular line can be read not just as “them Southern folk are KKK,”
but that they themselves are tied up, bound by the shameful side of
their own heritage, unable to change. The ropes themselves are white,
after all.
After asking “what are you doing?” Alabama closes
with another question: “You got the rest of the union to help you along/
What’s going wrong?” A mere Southern Man retread would have left this
line a reaching throwaway. It doesn’t quite make sense posed directly to
the state of Alabama. But given a double meaning whose main purpose is
an inward questioning, the line lands hard. We can easily see “the rest
of the union” as CSN, Crazy Horse, or even the Stray Gators, from all of
whom Neil has begun to isolate himself. He knows they support him, so
why is he struggling? It’s worth noting that Neil had expected to be
finished with Harvest by April [an offhand remark heard in the movie].
Alabama was written on March 30th, 1971 and no more recording was done
until September.
When Alabama was penned, it wasn’t quite Harvest Time
yet.
Many thanks for the CotM Tomatron. Man, this is right in our strike zone here @ TW.
We had always suspected that Neil
distanced himself from this whole fraught subject just because of the challenge of discussing and defending in the
climate extremes we face. So, frankly, it is very good to understand that this apparent
backtracking -- so to speak -- occurred in the early 70's and isn't a
more modern revisionist thinking/justification. In his autobiography "Waging Heavy Peace", Neil Young writes that "Alabama" was "condescending" and "not entirely thought out".
But, we ask, are the "politics" of today really any dicier
than the 60's?
"Does your conscience bother you? Tell the truth."
Neil Young's New Album 'Tuscaloosa': "Duality of the Southern Thing" or Does A Southern Alabama Man Need Neil Young Around, Anyhow?
"Make friends down in Alabama.
I'm from a new land
I come to you and see all this ruin
What are you doing Alabama?"
The timing of Neil Young's release of the album Tuscaloosa recorded on Feb. 5, 1973 with the band Stray Gators at Memorial Coliseum, University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa appears to be somewhat auspicious.
The state of Alabama has been in the news of late -- but not necessarily for advancement of progressive causes -- bringing yet another round of ridicule and scorn.
One of those who saw the ’73 Neil Young show was Steve Wombacher, then writing for a Tuscaloosa publication called The Boll Weevil, later The Current, now defunct. In following years, Wombacher would become a concert organizer himself, heading the University of Alabama’s University Program Council, booking Little Feat, Clapton, Waters, Ronstadt, Presley, the Commodores and others, along with non-musical acts who could fill Memorial, such as Steve Martin.
When Young and band launched into “Southern Man,” fans braced for reactionary boos and taunts. Instead, the 10,000-ish crowd cheered Young’s anti-racist, anti-violence sentiments.
“In the ’70s, Tuscaloosa was actually a pretty hip little town,” Wombacher said, “for Alabama.”
From the perspective of a fan, Wombacher’s surprised Young decided to release this particular set.
“He showed up lethargic,” Wombacher said. “Best as I remember, he had injured his back, or somehow hurt his back, he was on major painkillers, and could barely move his left hand. Even when he sat at the piano, it was clearly tough on him.
“I’m shocked they’re actually releasing it. Maybe it sounds a lot better on the recording.”
Writing his review, Wombacher remembers noting the opening act scored far better, playing tighter, more energetic: Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys. Though they’d had an early hit with Michael Nesmith’s “Different Drum,” Ronstadt was just emerging as the hit-making solo artist she’d be four years later, when Wombacher booked her as a Memorial headliner. Among her touring band members were Glenn Frey and Don Henley, who decided, while backing her, to form the band that would become the Eagles.
“They were just smoking; they were on fire,” Wombacher said. “I thought, ‘You’re in trouble, Neil.’ ”
Tuscaloosan Bruce Hopper’s main impression of the night was that it was a welcoming crowd.
“By that time (Young) had pretty much established where he was politically,” said Hopper, a musician and former owner of the late and lamented bar the Chukker. No seats behind the stage were opened, so capacity would have been in the vicinity of 10,000. Hopper couldn’t remember if it was full, but it was close, he said, including probably every left-leaning person in the region.
“Everybody knew that he was the political one, but I don’t remember any hecklers or anything like that. Everybody there seemed to feel the words in ‘Southern Man’ were true and appropriate; they were cheering real loud.” Hopper was disappointed to discover that night’s “Southern Man” performance wouldn’t be included on “Tuscaloosa.”
On the Chukker’s Facebook group, fans recalled Young’s messed-up back, and the pro-“Southern Man” feel. David A. Smith, from Dothan, was working with the University Program Council that night, but with his tasks completed pre-show, he was free to roam.
“I recall a very good concert, with great musical choices,” he said. “When Young launched into his little digs before ‘Southern Man,’ we just cheered him on. We were all in fine spirits, although he possibly thought we were all crazy.”
Young kept on rocking in the free world, albeit from a chair, said Bit Barrett.
“I remember him playing a lot of electric while sitting in a rocking chair and wondering if he could stand up. He did, but he was skyrocket high. Still it was a great show,” Barrett wrote.
Though he’d rather have seen Young teamed with Crosby, Stills and Nash, or earlier band Buffalo Springfield, still it was a “phenomenal” show for fan Daryl Brown.
“I seem to only remember his sitting on stage singing and playing his old Martin guitar,” Brown wrote. “Wow, 40-odd years later and Neil and I are still here. Who’d have ever figured?”
More memories of Neil Young's concert recording album Tuscaloosa on Feb. 5, 1973 with the band Stray Gators at Memorial Coliseum, University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Neil Young to release live album from 1973 Tuscaloosa concert by Mark Hughes Cobb.
The hideous events unfolding in the U.S. over the past week prompted me to dig out this Guardian piece from April 2012. Titled Titled “Southern rock’s passion and romance is marred by racism and bigotry”, the article served as a preview to James Maycock’s BBC4 southern-rock doc Sweet Home Alabama. Here’s praying a few more southern rockers (and country singers, for that matter) stick their heads over the parapet and condemn Trump’s revolting collusion with racists and neo-Nazi supremacists. Even if Alabama is their sweet white homeland.
...
Was Skynyrd’s anthem of the same name a song of defiant pride cocking a snook at Neil Young’s ‘Southern Man’ (not to mention his ‘Alabama’) or was it something much worse – a strutting defence of old Confederate values, complete with egregious tip of the Stetson to segregationist governor George Wallace? ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ was and is a stonking song but Ronnie Van Zant wanted it both ways: to be both a bourbon-chugging rock rebel and the Yankee-baiting bigot that Young was decrying.
“Those of us who have characterized [Van Zant] as a misunderstood liberal,” wrote Mark Kemp – one of Maycock’s interviewees – in his excellent Dixie Lullaby: A Story of Music, Race, and New Beginnings in a New South (2004), “have done so only to placate our own irrational feelings of shame for responding to the passion in his music.”
...
“To the young white Southerner, black music always appealed more than white pop music,” Walden, who died in 2006, told me. “Certainly the Beach Boys’ surfing stuff never would have hacked it in the South. It was too white and it just wasn’t relevant. The waves weren’t too high down here.”
Sweet Home Alabama doesn’t shirk the regrettable fact that Southern Rock was born partly of the deepening racial divide that opened up after the 1968 assassination – in Memphis, of all the musical places – of Martin Luther King. “By the end of the decade, a lot of the results of the civil rights era had served to urbanise black music,” Walden said in my 1985 interview with him. “A lot of the people we had considered friends were suddenly calling us blue-eyed devils.”
Following Duane Allman’s stinging slide-guitar cameos on landmark tracks by Clarence Carter and Wilson Pickett, the racial cross-pollination of the southern soul era in Alabama hotspot Muscle Shoals (namechecked in Skynyrd’s ‘Sweet Home’) came to a shuddering halt. Black music got blacker while white southern rock went back to its first principles of melding country music with rhythm ‘n’ blues.
“In a sense the evolution of Southern rock was a reactionary attempt to return rock ‘n’ roll to its native soil,” suggested the Texan writer Joe Nick Patoski. “After the decline of interest in rockabilly, white rock in the South had taken a back seat to country & western and soul.”
The theory that music has been used to further divide the races is not a unique idea -- one which even Bob Dylan affirms is the reality. Rock ‘n’ roll was racially integrated in the 1950's until becoming commercially segregated in the 1960's into white (British Invasion Beatles and Rolling Stones) and black (soul, James Brown) music.
Rock ’n’ Roll: "The black element was turned into soul music and the white element was turned into English pop." AARP - February/March 2015
So, long time Thrasher's Wheat readers, please bear with us about one little factoid that our less frequent readers may not know about us.
"Well, I hope Neil Young will remember
a southern man don't need him around anyhow"
Growing up in the American South in the 1970's as a Neil Young fan wasn't exactly easy. It seems as if all of our life that whenever the subject of musical tastes came up and we revealed our appreciation of Young's music, almost invariably it was met with those lines above from Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" -- or worse, as in, the punches came fast and hard, lying on our back in the school yard, just to be blunt about it.
You see, Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" is more than just an anthem for many -- it serves as a statement for a way of life that is intensely protected such that when threatened -- it can produce some very uncomfortable results.
"Sweet Home Alabama", written by Lynyrd Skynyrd partially in response to Young's "Alabama" and "Southern Man" contains the apocryphal line: "I hope Neil Young will remember, a Southern man don't need him around anyhow". In his recent book Waging Heavy Peace, Young writes of his "Alabama" lyrics:
"I don't like my words when I listen to it today. They are accusatory and condescending, not fully thought out, and too easy to misconstrue."
It would seem that hardly a day goes past, where we come across a blog post, Facebook status update or tweet, that attempts the "Neil Young putdown" without seeming comprehension of the context or the true story of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Neil Young.
Which brings us to the actual news that Lynyrd Skynrd have taken a stand and denounced the Confederate flag. In the CNN clip from 2012, Gary Rossington, says that the band, recognizing the stars-and-bars flag's offensive and racist undertones, will cease using it as a stage decoration at concerts supporting its new album "Last of a Dyin' Breed."
"Through the years, people like the KKK and skinheads kinda kidnapped the Dixie or Southern flag from its tradition and the heritage of the soldiers, that's what it was about," Rossington said. "We didn't want that to go to our fans or show the image like we agreed with any of the race stuff or any of the bad things." This apparently didn't sit well with some of the band's fans back in Dixie, who have taken to the comments section with pained vitriol. "Good luck with your next release 'Sweet home Massachusetts.' I am sure it will climb the charts with a bullet in Yankee-land," said one. "This isn't the real Lynyrd Skynyrd anyway. They should have taken a name like 'Obama's Politically Correct Sell Your Soul Make Believe Impostors' or something," opined another.
Somewhere, Ronnie is still having a good laugh at Alabama officials and Neil Young bashers. Such is the duality of the southern thing.
And the negative reaction to the announcement continued in the article's comments:
G. D. Smith: It's a shame that instead of hiding the battle flag out of political correctness, they didn't attempt to help educate the public about the rich history and heritage of the South. The last time I saw a story about the KKK, they were flying the Stars & Stripes. Yet in almost every picture you showed of LS in concert, they had Old Glory out there on stage. Does that mean they're now KKK members? Of course not. But by ignoring and denying the flag that is part of their history, they are leaving a large segment of their fan base behind as well. It's a shame that money is now more important than honor and heritage.
L R Stover: So y'all admit during the interview that the Confederate Flag represents history, heritage and the Confederate soldier, then you stop flying it because some misinformed people equate the flag with racism instead of continuing to educate people on our Southern symbol? Quoting Johnny Van Zant, "We speak for our fans, we speak for ourselves." Well, you just lost a significant portion of your fans so continue to speak for yourself. Good luck with you next release.."Sweet home Massachusetts." I am sure it will climb the charts with a bullet in yankee-land.
Paul Cox: It's hilarious to me that old school Lynyrd Skynyrd fans conveniently gloss over the fact that the original band was actually left-leaning (they campaigned hard for Carter in 1976, wrote a pro-gun control song called "Saturday Night Special"). It's only after the replacements came in that they started spoonfeeding their conservative fanbase exactly what they wanted. The confederate flag may mean heritage to some people, but I grew up in Alabama and I know what it really means. It means that there was a point in history that states were willing to go to war with the union over the right to own human beings.
“Star-Spangled Banner”
Jimi Hendrix - Woodstock, 1969
Jimi Hendrix was the ultimate cross over artist spanning the races with his incendiary groundbreaking music, changing rock ’n’ roll forever and making way for what was to come in the 1970's with the Allman Brothers and other southern rock bands. And on and on... Civil wars ... been there, done that. Civil Rights ... Civil Disobedience ... Civilization ... Southern Men and Northern Men ... and all the good women too -- we need them around anyhow, more than ever.
Lynyrd Skynyrd's Ronnie VanZant Wearing Neil Young T-shirt
Yes, Maybe A Southern Man Does Need Neil Young Around, Anyhow
I hope Neil Young will remember, a southern man don't need him around anyhow
— Alex Harmata (@aharmata) December 27, 2012
For long time Thrasher's Wheat readers, please bear with us here as we'll get to some actual news on the subject.
It would seem that hardly a day goes past, where we come across a blog post, Facebook status update or tweet, that attempts the "Neil Young putdown" without seeming comprehension of the context or the true story of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Neil Young.
Ronnie Van Zant with Neil Young "Tonight's The Night" T-shirt
Oakland Coliseum, July 2, 1977 - Photo by Michael Zagaris Neil Young with Lynyrd Skynyrd/Jack Daniels Whiskey T-Shirt
Verona, Italy 7.9.1982 - Photo by Paolo Brillo on Flickr
"Well, I hope Neil Young will remember
a southern man don't need him around anyhow"
Growing up in the American South in the 1970's as a Neil Young fan wasn't exactly easy. It seems as if all of our life that whenever the subject of musical tastes came up and we revealed our appreciation of Young's music, almost invariably it was met with those lines above from Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" .
You see, Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" is more than just an anthem for many -- it serves as a statement for a way of life that is intensely protected such that when threatened -- it can produce some very uncomfortable results.
"Sweet Home Alabama", written by Lynyrd Skynyrd partially in response to Young's "Alabama" and "Southern Man" contains the apocryphal line: "I hope Neil Young will remember, a Southern man don't need him around anyhow". In his recent book Waging Heavy Peace, Young writes of his "Alabama" lyrics:
"I don't like my words when I listen to it today. They are accusatory and condescending, not fully thought out, and too easy to misconstrue."
Which brings us to the actual news that Lynyrd Skynrd have taken a stand and denounced the Confederate flag. In the CNN clip below from last year, Gary Rossington, says that the band, recognizing the stars-and-bars flag's offensive and racist undertones, will cease using it as a stage decoration at concerts supporting its new album "Last of a Dyin' Breed."
"Through the years, people like the KKK and skinheads kinda kidnapped the Dixie or Southern flag from its tradition and the heritage of the soldiers, that's what it was about," Rossington said. "We didn't want that to go to our fans or show the image like we agreed with any of the race stuff or any of the bad things." This apparently didn't sit well with some of the band's fans back in Dixie, who have taken to the comments section with pained vitriol. "Good luck with your next release 'Sweet home Massachusetts.' I am sure it will climb the charts with a bullet in Yankee-land," said one. "This isn't the real Lynyrd Skynyrd anyway. They should have taken a name like 'Obama's Politically Correct Sell Your Soul Make Believe Impostors' or something," opined another.
And the negative reaction to the announcement continued in the article's comments:
G. D. Smith: It's a shame that instead of hiding the battle flag out of political correctness, they didn't attempt to help educate the public about the rich history and heritage of the South. The last time I saw a story about the KKK, they were flying the Stars & Stripes. Yet in almost every picture you showed of LS in concert, they had Old Glory out there on stage. Does that mean they're now KKK members? Of course not. But by ignoring and denying the flag that is part of their history, they are leaving a large segment of their fan base behind as well. It's a shame that money is now more important than honor and heritage.
L R Stover: So y'all admit during the interview that the Confederate Flag represents history, heritage and the Confederate soldier, then you stop flying it because some misinformed people equate the flag with racism instead of continuing to educate people on our Southern symbol? Quoting Johnny Van Zant, "We speak for our fans, we speak for ourselves." Well, you just lost a significant portion of your fans so continue to speak for yourself. Good luck with you next release.."Sweet home Massachusetts." I am sure it will climb the charts with a bullet in yankee-land.
Paul Cox: It's hilarious to me that old school Lynyrd Skynyrd fans conveniently gloss over the fact that the original band was actually left-leaning (they campaigned hard for Carter in 1976, wrote a pro-gun control song called "Saturday Night Special"). It's only after the replacements came in that they started spoonfeeding their conservative fanbase exactly what they wanted. The confederate flag may mean heritage to some people, but I grew up in Alabama and I know what it really means. It means that there was a point in history that states were willing to go to war with the union over the right to own human beings.
And on and on...
Good ole boys be hummin Lynyrd Skynyrd @john_kass: We're sending Neil Young to Alabama to put some old hippie whupass on them good
— Amy (@allovergirl) January 8, 2013
Lynyrd Skynyrd's Ronnie VanZant Wearing Neil Young T-shirt Oakland Coliseum, July 2, 1977
Ronnie and Neil: Laying to Rest the "Feud Myth" Once and for All
Ronnie Van Zant with Neil Young "Tonight's The Night" T-shirt
Oakland Coliseum, July 2, 1977 - Photo by Michael Zagaris Neil Young with Lynyrd Skynyrd/Jack Daniels Whiskey T-Shirt
Verona, Italy 7.9.1982 - Photo by Paolo Brillo on Flickr
"Well, I hope Neil Young will remember
a southern man don't need him around anyhow"
Growing up in the American South in the 1970's as a Neil Young fan wasn't exactly easy. It seems as if all of our life that whenever the subject of musical tastes came up and we revealed our appreciation of Young's music, almost invariably it was met with those lines above from Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" .
You see, Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" is more than just an anthem for many -- it serves as a statement for a way of life that is intensely protected such that when threatened -- it can produce some very uncomfortable results.
Background of "Sweet Home Alabama"
Thanks to Neil Young, Lynyrd Skynyrd was inspired to write the song "Sweet Home Alabama".
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.
But 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. 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. Every day, someone blogs or tweets the "Neil Young putdown" without comprehending that they've actually praised him. 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.
Somewhere, Ronnie is still having a good laugh at Alabama officials and Neil Young bashers. Such is the duality of the southern thing.
MCA Records 45RPM Single
Is "Sweet Home Alabama" Really Sweet?
The history of Lynyrd Skynyrd's 1974 song "Sweet Home Alabama" has a long and tortured history. 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. As this article demonstrates, the complicated saga of "Sweet Home Alabama" is anything but sweet.
Rarely has such a widely popular hit song been so vastly misunderstood by so many for so long.
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.
"Southern Man" + "Alabama" Lyrics by Neil Young
(Click photo to enlarge)
Known as a response record, such songs "refer directly to a previous hit and usually do it in a catty, mischievous way". The lines in "Sweet Home Alabama" are a direct response to Young's anti-racist, anti-cross burning "Southern Man" and "Alabama" songs. Lynyrd Skynyrd's comeback was intended to mean, at first glance, "Thank you for your opinion Neil, now leave us alone."
It is this perceived "attitude" which has led to Lynyrd Skynyrd earning a reputation as a "racist" band. 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.
After singing this line, Skynyrd sing "Boo, boo, boo!" as if to disapprove of Wallace and his policies of racism. As for the "Boo, boo, boo!" chorus, some have dismissed it as Skynyrd 's wink at racism. Joshua Marshall writes in Talking Points Memo: "It always seemed to me more likely that that shadow lyric is a mocking allusion to anti-Wallace protestors." Nonetheless, many still regard the song to be a paean to the South's disregard for the civil rights movement.
Alabama Governor George Wallace
The last line in the song is an ad-lib by Van Zant that is rarely understood. He says, "Montgomery got the answer". Some of the original band members revealed this in a radio interview a few years back and possibly references the infamous march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, led by civil rights leader Martin Luther King. George Wallace was the governor of Alabama when this was released and -- apparently -- loved the song, especially the line, "In Birmingham they love the governor."
At best, this is ambiguous. At it's worst, this can be seen as an endorsement of the racist policies of the Alabama state capitol. Wallace, in the end, made the band honorary Lieutenant Colonels in the state militia. So is the song "Sweet Home Alabama" racist?
Immediately after the band sings the verse "Well, I heard Mr. Young sing about her," one can hear in the background what sounds like the phrase "Southern Man." Many believe it was Young's original recording being played. However, others claim it to be the album's producer, Al Kooper, impersonating Young.
Neil Young and Lynyrd Skynyrd: Friends or Foes?
"Now your crosses
are burning fast"
The response song "Sweet Home Alabama" was inspired by the two Neil Young songs "Southern Man" and "Alabama". Specifically, lyrics to "Southern Man":
Better keep your head Don't forget what your good book said Southern change gonna come at last Now your crosses are burning fast Southern man I saw cotton and I saw black Tall white mansions and little shacks. Southern man when will you pay them back? I heard screamin' and bullwhips cracking How long? How long?
And "Alabama"'s lyrics:
Oh Alabama Banjos playing through the broken glass Windows down in Alabama. See the old folks tied in white ropes Hear the banjo. Don't it take you down home?
In Young's anthology album "Decade" liner notes, he wrote about "Southern Man" in his usual opaque and obliquely ironic fashion:
"This song could have been written on a civil rights march after stopping off to watch "Gone With The Wind" at a local theater. But I wasn't there so I don't know for sure."
Others have made different interpretations of the contretemps. In Glide Magazine by Ross Warner, this opinion is ventured on Skynyrd's song:
Although the song is perceived as an anthem of southern pride, “Sweet Home Alabama,” was actually intended not only as the band’s fond recollection of their first time in a recording studio but as a reminder to the rest of America that not all southerners were rednecks. When Skynyrd criticized Neil Young’s “Southern Man,” it was for the sweeping generalization of all southerners as rednecks. Don’t condemn southerners now for what their ancestors did. “We thought Neil was shooting all the ducks in order to kill one or two,” Van Zant said. “We’re southern rebels, but more than that, we know the difference between right and wrong.” In fact, the band was quite outspoken about their disdain for Wallace’s policies.
Southern Rock Opera
Drive-by Truckers
The "feud myth" was further fueled with the Drive-By Truckers 2002 album "Southern Rock Opera" (one of the only truly genuine masterpiece albums released in the early 21st century) song "Ronnie and Neil":
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 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
"I wrote this song to tell of the misunderstood friendship between Ronnie VanZant and Neil Young, who were widely believed to be bitter adversaries, but were in truth very good friends and mutual admirers..."
Street Survivors (original album cover)
Ronnie Van Zant wearing a Neil Young "Tonight's the Night" album cover t-shirt
As Fred Mills puts it in his book review of Lynyrd Skynyrd: Remembering The Free Birds Of Southern Rock by Gene Odom, "[Ronnie Van Zant] would just as soon go onstage wearing one of several Neil Young T-shirts that he owned in order to fuck with any yahoos in the crowd who missed the humor and irony of the “Sweet Home Alabama” lyrics."
As for Neil Young's reaction to all of this? One widely circulated theory during the 1970's was found in Neil's stunning response to Lynyrd Skynyrd with On The Beach's "Walk On."
I hear some people been talkin' me down, Bring up my name, pass it 'round. They don't mention happy times They do their thing, I'll do mine.
Little did we realize at the time the symbolism in "Walk On", but years later as On The Beach surfaces and makes its place with other classics, did some of Neil's meanings sink in. (The lyrics in "Walk On" have also been interpreted to refer to bandmates Crosby, Stills, & Nash. Others argue that the song is in response to press reviews of Young's Time Fades Away tour.)
It seems that whatever grudges Lynyrd Skynyrd had for Neil's music may have been resolved - if there ever was any feud to begin with. From an interview with Ronnie Van Zant:
"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..."
As for the rumor that Lynyrd Skynyrd recorded the Neil Young song "Powderfinger" (see for lyrics analysis), here's an interview in MOJO Magazine , where Young said:
Young:Lynyrd Skynyrd almost ended up recording Powderfinger before my version came out. We sent them an early demo of it because they wanted to do one of my songs. Interviewer Q. Surprising, that. After all, Lynyrd Skynyrd put you down by name on Sweet Home Alabama, their first hit single.... Young: Oh, they didn't really put me down! But then again, maybe they did! (laughs) But not in a way that matters. Shit, I think Sweet Home Alabama is a great song. I've actually performed it live a couple of times myself. "
Lynyrd Skynyrd's Ronnie VanZant Wearing Neil Young T-shirt
Oakland Coliseum, July 2, 1977
In addition to the song "Powderfinger", Young allegedly also gave the band the song “Sedan Delivery” and "Captain Kennedy" to record. From The Uncool, Cameron Crowe blogs:
Neil Young gave a tape to Joel Bernstein to give to me which I gave to Ronnie [Van Zant], that had three songs on it - "Captain Kennedy," "Sedan Delivery," and "Powderfinger" - before they'd come out. And he wanted to give them to Lynyrd Skynyrd if they wanted to do one of his songs. They didn't fit on Street Survivors.
Neil loved that band and said they reminded him of the Buffalo Springfield and they made him yearn for the days of the Buffalo Springfield. He loved Lynyrd Skynyrd and he loved being mentioned in the song.
Being a huge Neil Young fan, I sort of appointed myself as cheerleader for that love affair to happen and blossom. I think it was happening - Ronnie was wearing that [Neil Young] shirt on the album cover and on the road. I was really happy to be able to play a part in getting some new Neil songs into Ronnie's hands. I don't remember what he had to say about it, but he was a huge Neil Young fan.
It should also be noted that shortly after the band was involved in a fatal plane accident, Neil Young performed a rare live version of "Alabama" at Bicentennial Park, Miami, Florida on 11-12-1977 for Children's Hospital Charity with The Gone With The Wind Orchestra and he changed the lyric chorus from "Alabama" to "Sweet Home Alabama".
Recalling the concert tribute in an interview with the Boston Globe, Young said: "I just sang 'I hope you all will remember. I thought it was a cool thing."
In a interview on the Rockline radio program (November 23, 1981), when asked about "Sweet Home Alabama" and Lynyrd Skynyrd, Neil Young said: "Great band, great. I understand Ronnie once said that I'll be mellow about it [SHA], not care one way or other. He was right."
"Ronnie and Neil" by Drive-by Truckers - Asheville,NC, September 2007
Back to the Drive-by Truckers (a great band that's a cross between William Faulkner and Neil Young) song "Ronnie and Neil" and the implication that Neil Young was a pallbearer at Van Zant's funeral:
"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"
This is another Neil Young/Lynyrd Skynyrd "urban legend" which is debunked in an interesting essay in Tone and Groove. As for the rumor that Ronnie Van Zant was buried wearing a Neil Young t-shirt, again this seems to be another example of a myth to propogate the tragic legend.
Neil Young with Lynyrd Skynyrd/Jack Daniels Whiskey T-Shirt
Verona, Italy 7.9.1982 - Photo by Paolo Brillo on Flickr
From the book Freebirds: The Lynyrd Skynyrd Story by Marley Brant:
"The presentation of the song "Sweet Home Alabama" in concert was accompanied by the unfurling of Skynyrd's traditional backdrop, a huge Confederate battle flag. The reaction of the audience was always the same: vigorous, fervent, and instantaneous. Neil Young's song "Southern Man" had offended many Southerners by seeming to accuse all people born in the south of being intolerant racists. Young's observations were obviously generalized and not accurate and Southerners were ecstatic when Skynyrd defended their honor by releasing "Sweet Home Alabama" with its direct references to Young's faux pas. The idea that the Southern man, or woman, didn't need Neil Young around to point out the problems of their society was overwhelmingly supported by Skynyrd fans. "We thought Neil was shooting all the ducks in order to kill one or two," Ronnie told Rolling Stone magazine regarding the creation of the answer song. The band felt that Young's lyrical content was representative of the shortsighted "Yankee" belief that all Southern men should be held accountable for the verbalizations and actions of a racist minority. While the rebuttal was heartfelt, Skynyrd held Neil Young in high regard for his musical achievements and they weren't intending to start a feud of any kind. "Neil is amazing, wonderful... a superstar," said Van Zant. "I showed the verse to Ed King and asked him what Neil might think. Ed said he'd dig it; he'd be laughing at it." Ed King says that the tune was not so much a direct attack on Young but just a good regional song. The song was well received but immediately put a stigma on the band as rednecks. Producer Al Kooper added. "Hey, you have to be more careful when you write a song now. But I'll tell you something -- Neil Young loved it. That's true, he told me so to my face."
"The singer's mock attack on Neil Young and his apparent defense of Wallace branded Skynyrd with controversy which would continue for years. Young got the joke, however, responding by telegram and by letter to say he was proud to be the subject of Skynyrd's Southern anthem.' Perhaps Van Zant sums it up best. 'We're not into politics, we don't have no education and Wallace don't know anything about rock n roll.'
The "faux feud" contretemps seem to provide endless fascination for Ronnie and Neil fans.
So what do you think? And why?
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Neil Young's Nemesis or Ally?
Ronnie Van Zant: 1948 - 1977
More on Lynyrd Skynyrd and Neil Young. NOTE: Sometimes we're asked about what the deal is with our fascination with Ronnie and Neil. The fact of the matter is that much of this is driven by the constant correspondence we receive on the subject. Hardly a day goes by without the subject rearing its pretty (or ugly) head. What follows are some of the recent letters received on the subject. Feel free to jump in!
"Does your conscience bother you?
Tell the truth."
Lynyrd Skynyrd's Ronnie VanZant Wearing Neil Young T-shirt
Some things here at Thrasher's Wheat never cease to amaze us. Like last month when we posted on the song "Powderfinger" being the most analyzed Neil Young song of all time and then proceeded to be bombarded by another round of opinions. Which just goes to prove that no one knows what the song "Powderfinger" is really all about afterall.
Curiously, the song "Powderfinger" was written by Neil to give to Lynyrd Skynyrd. Sadly, the band never recorded it because of the band's tragic end.
So all of this brings us back to the enduring legacy of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd which is encapsulated by their hit "Sweet Home Alabama". For our friends outside of the United States, it is hard to convey just how ubiquitous this song is and how it has been appropriated for so many causes -- both justly and unjustly. The song still receives widespread airplay, is used in commercials regularly, is covered by any number of bands, just to name a few points on it's legendary status. (Here is a prime example of just how weirdly universal the song has become "Sweet Home, Jerusalem" on YouTube.)
Similar to "Powderfinger", we receive a very considerable amount of mail and comments on Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama". While this may not seem surprising given the lyrics reference Young and his songs "Southern Man" and "Alabama", it just astonishes us to this day how so many are so grossly clueless about the true connection between Neil Young, Lynyrd Skynyrd, "Sweet Home Alabama", "Southern Man" and "Alabama".
Probably the most infuriating thing we see nearly everyday is when Neil's name pops into the news and his detractors start slamming him for his past "transgressions" like being a hippie and writing "Ohio". The radical right wingers just love to bash Neil with the "Sweet Home Alabama" line "I hope Neil Young will remember, a Southern man don’t need him ‘round, anyhow."
This happens over and over, like on this discussion on the Charlie Rose interview. It is not uncommon to see folks put ol' Neil down because Lynyrd Skynyrd sang about a southern man not needing him around. You know, case closed.
But, as we know, Neil and Lynyrd Skynyrd's Ronnie VanZant were actually friends as we documented long, long ago. In fact, several years after completing the previously linked page, Patterson Hood of Drive By Truckers wrote in his album notes for 2001's Southern Rock Opera for "Ronnie & Neil":
I wrote this song to tell of the misunderstood friendship between Ronnie VanZant and Neil Young, who were widely believed to be bitter adversaries, but were in truth very good friends and mutual admirers.
While we've found that even with as persuasive and widely heard a song as "Ronnie & Neil", the angry right still drags out the feud canard to dismiss Neil's music and politics.
And you may ask, why bother Thrasher? Well, for one thing, it's because of the volume of mail and comments that we receive on this subject that we're always having to point to. I mean take a look at the comments here or here and you can see just how angry folks are at Neil Young for apparently no other reason than their perception that if Lynyrd Skynyrd dissed him he must be worthless. Or here.
So The Archives notwithstanding, it will hardly be surprising that part of Neil Young's legacy will be as a footnote in the notorious song "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Oh, and he also wrote that song "Powderfinger" that no one seems to know what it means.
Though my problems are meaningless, that don't make them go away.
American Idol drops Neil Young verse from "Sweet Home Alabama"
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Neil Young's Nemesis or Ally?
Last night on the insipid televised travesty called "American Idol", where so called "talent" embarrasses themselves and audiences should be paid to watch, a contestant named Bo Bice performed Lynyrd Skynyrd's song "Sweet Home Alabama".
Yet, Thrasher is really somewhat tired of server crashes every time the song "Sweet Home Alabama" seeps into the world's conciousness as folks "Google" the deep symbolism of Lynyrd Skynyrd without a clue whatsoever.
Cluelessness like Sweet Carolina Girl on Our Man Clay:
"To be honest, I'd never paid much attention to the lyrics of SHA. Mostly I just heard over and over "where the skies are so blue" and "I'll be comin' home to you." I guess I should have listened more carefully."
Violet Skye: "Yeah, I've been hearing that song all my life and never gave it a single thought beyond the 'Watergate does not bother me, does your conscience bother you?' line. I always thought it was a strange song (what kind of idiot sings Watergate does not bother him?), and 'In Birmingham they love the gov'nah...' I always had a vague notion this song was wrong, but I never thought too deeply about it." jhr0208:"I have sung that song a 1000 times and NEVER thought about it either ~ this has DEFINATLY changed my view on that song." BDotGirl"I didn't know it did that....guess I never listened to the words...it's just kinda fun!"
And the insanity continues with Fox's Bill O'Reilly TV show where American Idol winners and losers becomes a red state vs blue state issue. Essentially the argument goes that the American Idol program competition was a victory for the red states because the loser sang "Sweet Home Alabama", while the winner Carrie Underwood sang "I Want to Be Inside Your Heaven". The former is a liberal song and the latter is the conservative number.
"Are you kidding me? If there exists a conservative rock and roll song... Look no further than Sweet Home Alabama. That song is the very epitome of conservative values... Now Watergate does not bother me, does your conscience bother you? Who is this idiot anyway? I wanted to call in and tell him what a fool he was making of himself and how ignorant he sounded by trying to push Lynard Skynard as a liberal's rock and roll band. They bash Neil Young in that fuckin' song -- now if that's a liberal thing to do... So is hiring someone based on their merit and ability."
"I had to listen to this awful song piping out the windows of one too many Range Rovers at my Atlanta high school. All the preppy little boys spitting tobacco into the water fountain. So bizarre."
If ever there was an appropriately named forum, over on Television Without Pity, the ignorance of American Idol viewers about American history knows no bounds. Read it and weep.
UPDATE June 4, 2005: Probably not the last word on the subject but an article in today's Tennessean reports that Neil Young walked onstage at Tootsie's on Lower Broadway in Nashville and performed "Sweet Home Alabama" with the house band. Young was in town working on a new album and meeting with film director Jonathan Demme on a soundtrack.
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FREEDOM In A New Year
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The Unbearable Lightness of Being Neil Young
Pardon My Heart
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Given the insight added by the Harvest Time quote regarding Alabama, the song can be seen in, if not a brand new light, a more complex one, where it is elevated above its status of Southern Man II. It seems like the self-referential lines begin to incorporate more nods to Southern and country culture as the verses add up.
At first, the subject is primarily Neil himself, dropping minor allusions to keep that country tone going (“the devil fools with…” “swing low,”) as he expresses his personal feelings at the end of March ‘71 [NYA manuscript caption]. “You got the spare change, you got to feel strange” is his ambivalent mood about being a “rich hippie.” “And now the moment is all that it meant” sounds like a critique of a hippieism itself. In the original manuscript, Neil put the word “moment” in quotes, tellingly.
Where Southern Man was a straightforward social commentary and political statement, Alabama is a metacognitive meditation, a critique/questioning of self.
Here the singer sings to himself, playfully naming himself “Alabama.” He recognizes that he is affecting an American style, all the while an outsider. This perspective will be developed in a later line, so let’s look at that chorus first. Rusties will recognize the references to self right out the gate. “…weight on your shoulders that’s breaking your back,” was written between Neil’s major back injury and the resultant surgery. We know he was in physical pain during this time and would hardly stand up with an electric guitar until months later.
“Your Cadillac has got a wheel in the ditch and a wheel on the track.” Know anyone with a fondness for big old cars and ditches? [note: The first Caddy I could find in Special Deluxe was the limo he bought in ‘74 when he and Zeke were on the road with the CSNY tour.]
The next verse names Alabama as the person/subject and, separately, as the place itself (“broken glass windows down in Alabama”) The irony of banjos playing through these broken windows but that also “take you down home” speaks to the personal conflict already established and connects it to the character’s namesake state. The chorus returns, reinforcing the pain and strife of the singer/his subject. The final verse brings back Neil’s discomfort with fame living in the States. “Oh Alabama, can I see you and shake your hand?” is followed by the wry “make friends down in Alabama.” These lines bring to mind Neil’s comment in Harvest Time regarding his new famous life, where people’s eyes don’t look right when they talk to him. [Again sorry for the lack of direct quotes, I’m paraphrasing from memory of the screening last weekend.]
“I’m from a new land, I come to you and see all this ruin, what are you doing?” Another enigmatic line, but following the lyrics above, it seems he is stepping out of the Alabama identity and into the world of Southern Man, having established his own voice as full of contradiction and self-doubt. This seems to add the weight of credibility based in humility to the critical observations first laid out with “see the old folks tied in white ropes.” In fact, that particular line can be read not just as “them Southern folk are KKK,” but that they themselves are tied up, bound by the shameful side of their own heritage, unable to change. The ropes themselves are white, after all.
After asking “what are you doing?” Alabama closes with another question: “You got the rest of the union to help you along/ What’s going wrong?” A mere Southern Man retread would have left this line a reaching throwaway. It doesn’t quite make sense posed directly to the state of Alabama. But given a double meaning whose main purpose is an inward questioning, the line lands hard. We can easily see “the rest of the union” as CSN, Crazy Horse, or even the Stray Gators, from all of whom Neil has begun to isolate himself. He knows they support him, so why is he struggling? It’s worth noting that Neil had expected to be finished with Harvest by April [an offhand remark heard in the movie]. Alabama was written on March 30th, 1971 and no more recording was done until September.
When Alabama was penned, it wasn’t quite Harvest Time yet.