https://youtube/watch?v=kVRxdPWV3RMSouthern Man is a song by Neil Young from his album After the Gold Rush. The album was released in 1970. An extended live version can be heard on the Crosby Stills Nash & Young album 4 Way Street. The lyrics of Southern Man are vivid, describing the racism towards blacks in the American South. In the song, Young tells the story of a Southern white man (symbolically the entire white South) and how he mistreated his slaves. Young pleadingly asks when the South will make amends for the fortunes built through slavery when he sings, I saw cotton and I saw black, tall white mansions and little shacks. Southern Man, when will you pay them back? The song also mentions the practice of cross burning. Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote their song Sweet Home Alabama in response to Southern Man and Alabama from Neils 1972 album Harvest. Young has said that he is a fan of both Sweet Home Alabama and Ronnie Van Zant, the lead vocalist for Lynyrd Skynyrd. They play like they mean it, Young said in 1976. Im proud to have my name in a song like theirs.[1] Young has also been known to play Sweet Home Alabama in concert occasionally. To demonstrate this camaraderie, Van Zant frequently wore a Neil Young Tonights the Night T-shirt while performing Sweet Home Alabama.[2] Crazy Horse bassist Billy Talbot can often be seen reciprocating by wearing a Jack Daniels-styled Lynyrd Skynyrd T-shirt (including at the Live Rust concert). Merry Claytons version of the song appeared on her self-titled 1971 album. Ironically, she later performed backing vocals on Sweet Home Alabama, after some personal conflict.[3] In his book Waging Heavy Peace: A Hippie Dream Young stated that Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote Sweet Home Alabama not in response to Southern Man, but rather to Youngs song Alabama. Young noted that Lynyrd Skynyrds implied criticism was deserved because Youngs lyrics to Alabama were condescending and accusatory, that he does not like how he used his words in the song, and the lyrics were not fully thought out and too easy to misconstrue.[4]
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 17:43:07 +0000
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