Sweet Home Alabama

I didn’t truly discover Southern rock until after I was out of high school. Bands like CCR and Lynyrd Skynryrd were not in my music collection, although I could certainly sing many of the lyrics.

“Sweet Home Alabama” is a highly topical song with dated references to Alabama Gov. George Wallace, a noted segregationist, and Watergate, as well as mystifying references to musician Neil Young. But the song is still very popular.



The song has a lot more to it than it first appears. Wikipedia says:

“Sweet Home Alabama” was written as an answer to two songs, “Southern Man” and “Alabama” by Neil Young, which dealt with themes of racism and slavery in the American South. “We thought Neil was shooting all the ducks in order to kill one or two,” said [Singer/songwriter] Ronnie Van Zant at the time. Van Zant’s musical response, however, was also controversial, with references to Alabama Gov. George Wallace (a noted supporter of segregation) and the Watergate scandal:

In Birmingham, they love 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

In 1975, Van Zant said: “The lyrics about the governor of Alabama were misunderstood. The general public didn’t notice the words ’Boo! Boo! Boo!’ after that particular line, and the media picked up only on the reference to the people loving the governor.”

“The line ’We all did what we could do’ is sort of ambiguous,” [Producer Al] Kooper notes. “’We tried to get Wallace out of there’ is how I always thought of it.”

Journalist John Swenson argues that the song is more complex than it is sometimes given credit for, suggesting that it only looks like an endorsement of Wallace.

“Wallace and I have very little in common,” Van Zant himself said, “I don’t like what he says about colored people.”

Oddly enough, none of the band members were originally from Alabama.