“I had this little riff. It’s the little picking part and I kept playing it over and over when we were waiting on everyone to arrive for rehearsal. Ronnie and I were sitting there, and he kept saying, ‘play that again‘.
– In an interview with Garden & Gun, Gary Rossington.
Sweet Home Alabama is one of Rock-Country’s most recognisable songs and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s signature tune. Due to an over saturation of the song on the airwaves, it has lost some of its veneer over the years, but it’s still a heavy toe-tapping rollicking good song. I recall first hearing it in my late teens in Darwin, the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia while on service-leave. I came to Lynyrd Skynyrd very late in my musical journey and thanks to other contributors here, I have heard a lot more from the group and my estimation of them has only shot up.
The song was written in response to Neil Young’s 1970 song Southern Man in which he described the racism in the South as he saw it after visiting there. Sweet Home Alabama was Lynyrd Skynyrd’s way to show rock fans that the South was not the racist land of protracted slavery that Canadians at the time felt that it was.
“We thought Neil was shooting all the ducks in order to kill one or two,” said Ronnie Van Zant at the time. The lyrics to Sweet Home Alabama include the following lines:
Well, I heard Mister Young sing about her
Well, I heard ol’ Neil put her down
Well, I hope Neil Young will remember
A Southern man don’t need him around anyhow
In his 2012 biography Waging Heavy Peace, Young finally recanted Southern Man, a full thirty-five years after LS frontman Ronnie Vant Zant’s death.
‘I don’t like my words when I listen to it. They are accusatory and condescending, not fully thought out, and too easy to misconstrue‘.
People often believe Lynyrd Skynyrd to be typical, Southern Conservatives because of where they come from, but let’s keep in mind here that these guys named their band after a gym teacher who thought they were flowery hippies who needed to cut their hair. None of the three writers of the song were from Alabama; Ronnie Van Zant and Gary Rossington were both born in Jacksonville, Florida, while Ed King was from Glendale, California.
Sweet Home Alabama has become a staple of Classic Rock radio and something of an anthem for the state and its various sports teams, even making its way onto a recent Alabama license plate design! It was released on the band’s second album Second Helping and reached number eight on the Billboard chart in 1974, becoming the band’s highest-charting single.
[Intro]
One, two, three
Turn it up
[Verse 1]
Big wheels keep on turnin’
Carry me home to see my kin
Singin’ songs about the Southland
I miss Alabamy once again
And I think it’s a sin, yes
[Verse 2]
Well, I heard Mr. Young sing about her (Southern man)
Well, I heard ol’ Neil put her down
Well, I hope Neil Young will remember
A Southern man don’t need him around, anyhow
[Chorus]
Sweet home Alabama
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet home Alabama
Lord, I’m coming home to you
[Verse 3]
In Birmingham they loved the governor
Boo, boo, boo
Now we all did what we could do
Now Watergate does not bother me
Does your conscience bother you?
Tell the truth
[Chorus]
[Guitar Solo]
[Bridge]
Ah-ah-ah, Alabama
Ah-ah-ah, Alabama
Ah-ah-ah, Alabama
Ah-ah-ah, Alabama
[Verse 4]
Now Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers
And they’ve been known to pick a song or two (Yes, they do)
Lord, they get me off so much
They pick me up when I’m feelin’ blue
Well now, how ’bout you?
[Outro]
Mont… Montgomery’s got the answer
References:
1. Sweet Home Alabama – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
It must be a popular song. The singer seems enjoying his sweet home Alabama.😊
I adored it in my adolescence, but not so much now because I have heard it hundreds of times lol
Haha, so it’s not timeless?🤭 Maybe you listen to it daily.
I don’t purposely listen to the song daily, it just gets obscene airplay in movies and radio. You have a fantastic Sunday night (your time).
We are just beginning our Sunday here. Hehe. I get up early to prepare my Colombian coffee and write an article and after that I respond to the few comments I find on my WordPress. Anyhow that’s my little routine. Big hug!
And, my Monday begins now, and still Sunday afternoon there. Interesting. That’s my routine, too. I love spending time here on WordPress.
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday, Matt.
Yeh, I like to begin my days with WordPress, where I get to write and read articles, and communicate with good folk, such as yourself. It keeps me occupied for a couple of hours until I get ready to go to the gym. You have a good Monday evening Hazel.
Oh, gym sounds so interesting. Pretty sure you have a good muscle’s. An abs. That’s great! You must be a sexy Matt.
Haha. I wish. I do mostly cardio. I’m more athletic than muscular. Thanks Hazel.
Still, awesome, Matt. Keep doing that.
Admittedly, “Sweet Home Alabama” has been played to death on the radio. It was the first song I ever heard by Lynyrd Skynryd. I instantly loved the great guitar-playing, and I’m still not sick of the song.
It was my first song too by the group. I adored it in my young adulthood. I’m afraid I’m a bit sick of it now.
I allow myself to listen to this one twice a year. You’ve got the first time out of the way early.
I think I try to do the same now, but I imagine I unavoidably hear it (through tv and radio etc) at least 5 times a year.
I love the intro to this song Matt…along with the Turn It Up…. last year I got some headphones on and properly listened to it…there is a lot going on that I’ve missed because of over play by radio.
Yes, I know how much you like to hone in on songs using your headphones. It’s a good way to hear layers and the intricacies of a song which otherwise the ears may not have picked up over the radio, as you mentioned. Sweet man!