Infuriated by racism, coming out of the 1960s and going into the ’70s, Neil Young released his commentary on slavery and the South with the After the Gold Rush classic “Southern Man.” By 1972, Young went at it again with “Alabama,” featured in his music film Journey Through the Past, and referenced racism in the South again, within a specific state.
Though named after the state of Alabama, the song was about something more “personal,” according to Young. “The song is more about a personal thing than it is about a state,” said Young. “And I’m just using that name and that state to hide whatever it is I have to hide. I don’t know what that means.”
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“You Got the Weight on Your Shoulders”
Lyrically, “Alabama” could read as a continuation of “Southern Man.” Alabama, you got the weight on your shoulders / That’s breaking your back sings Young on the slower tempo track.
Oh, Alabama
The devil fools with the best-laid plan
Swing low, Alabama
You got the spare change
You got to feel strange
And now the moment is all that it meant
Alabama, you got the weight on your shoulders
That’s breaking your back
Your Cadillac has got a wheel in the ditch
And a wheel on the track
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?
[RELATED: The Rockabilly Album Neil Young Released to Annoy His Label]
“I Don’t Like My Words”
Between “Alabama” and “Southern Man,” Young had sparked already enough reaction from locals, including Alabama natives Lynyrd Skynyrd, who penned their iconic “Sweet Home Alabama” in response to what they perceived as jabs by Young at their home state.
Well, I heard Mr. Young sing about her
Well, I heard old Neil put her down
Well, I hope Neil Young will remember
A Southern man don’t need him around, anyhow
“’Alabama’ richly deserved the shot Lynyrd Skynyrd gave me with their great record,” said Young in his 2012 autobiography Waging Heavy Peace: A Hippie Dream. “I don’t like my words when I listen to it today. They are accusatory and condescending, not fully thought out, too easy to misconstrue.”
Being Canadian, Young understood some of the animosity toward his southern-bent songs. “I’d rather play “Sweet Home Alabama” than “Southern Man” anytime,” said Young.
Despite Young’s feelings about the song now, he described the recording of “Alabama” as a “golden” experience. “We did record a rehearsal at the Musicians Union Hall in Nashville, and I have a tape of that from a room microphone for the archives,” shared Young. “It was a golden moment.”
In 2015, late Lynyrd Skynyrd founding guitarist Gary Rossington set the record straight on “Sweet Home Alabama” and said it wasn’t all about Young. “Everyone thought it was about Neil Young, but it was more about Alabama,” said Rossington. “We had toured there, going all around playing clubs and National Guard armories. Everyone was real nice. When we were out in the country driving all the time, we would listen to the radio. Neil Young had ‘Southern Man,’ and it was kind of cutting the South down. And so Ronnie just said, ‘We need to show people how the real Alabama is.’”
Rossington added, “We loved Neil Young and all the music he’s given the world. We still love him today. It wasn’t cutting him down, it was cutting the song he wrote about the South down. Ronnie painted a picture everyone liked. Because no matter where you’re from, sweet home Alabama or sweet home Florida or sweet home Arkansas, you can relate.”
No More “Alabama”
Shortly after the 1977 plane crash that took the lives of Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and his sister and backing vocalist Cassie Gaines, Young performed a medley of “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Alabama” in tribute to the band. He has rarely performed “Alabama” since then.
In 2015, Young performed “Alabama” with Lukas Nelson and the Promise of the Real at the 30th anniversary Farm Aid concert.
Photo: Henry Diltz / Courtesy of Warner Records
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