Lynyrd Skynyrd

Thursday Inspiration — Sweet Home

Fandango4 Comments

For this week’s Thursday Inspiration prompt, Jim Adams has asked us to write a post using the prompt word Name Dropper, or going with the above picture, or by any other song that mentions another artist.

I’m a long-time fan of Neil Young. I also am a fan of the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. In 1974, Lynyrd Skynyrd released its second album, Second Helping, and the first track was a huge hit. Called “Sweet Home Alabama,” the single reached number 8 on U.S. charts. And one of the things that the song was noted for was how it called out Neil Young by name.

“Sweet Home Alabama” was written in answer to two songs by Neil Young, “Southern Man” and “Alabama.” The Lynryd Skynyrd band members thought the songs “took the entire South to task for the bloody history of slavery and its aftermath. 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

Skynyrd responded with “Sweet Home Alabama,” a song about Southern pride and all the good things in Alabama. But, in addition to taking a swipe at Neil Young, there were other controversial lyrics.

In Birmingham they love the Gov'nor, 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

Sweet home Alabama, oh, sweet home baby
Where the skies are so blue and the governor's true

The governor of Alabama at the time was far-right segregationist George Wallace. And the reference to Watergate was interpreted to be a shot at Northern liberals.

But getting back to Neil Young, the feud between Lynyrd Skynyrd and Young was always good-natured fun; they were actually mutual fans. Ronnie Van Zant often wore Neil Young T-shirts onstage and is wearing one on the cover of Street Survivors, the last Skynyrd album released before his death.

In Young’s 2012 autobiography “Waging Heavy Peace,” he commented on his song. “My own song ‘Alabama’ richly deserved the shot Lynyrd Skynyrd gave me with their great record. 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.”

Not long after three of the members of Lynyrd Skynyrd tragically died in a plane crash in 1977, Young performed a medley of “Alabama” and “Sweet Home Alabama” as a tribute at a memorial to the deceased band members.

Here is the Lynyrd Skynyrd song followed the two two Neil Young Songs that spawned it.

Sunday Writing Prompt — The Sense of Smell

Fandango17 Comments

When I saw that the Sunday Writing Prompt from Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie was the three senses and that we were asked to “choose either sight, sound, or smell, and write a memory it triggers in you,” I could think of only two things.

The first was the Edvard Munch painting, “The Smell of Death,” shown above. Munch was a Norwegian painter, graphic artist, and printmaker. His best known work, “The Scream,” (below) has become one of the iconic images of world art.“The Smell of Death” is one of Munch’s lesser known works. I can’t recall where or when I first saw it, but it made an impression on me and the word “smell” occasionally brings that painting to mind.

The other memory the word “smell” conjures up is the Lynyrd Skynyrd song, “That Smell.” Since I posted details about the song this past December in response to one of Jim Adams’ Song Lyric Sunday prompts, I’m only going to post the video of the song below. If you’re interested in learning more about that song, including the lyrics, click here.

And no, I’m not obsessed with or even fascinating by the smell of death. I’m just, as the prompt asks, writing about memories the word “smell” triggered.

Song Lyric Sunday — That Smell

Fandango10 Comments

For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday, Jim Adams has given us “Odor,” “Scent,” “Smell,” and “Taste” for our theme. I was originally going to go with “A Taste of Honey” from the Beatles, but I was listening to some classic rock yesterday afternoon and heard Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “That Smell,” and thought that was the song to go with.

“That Smell” was recorded by the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd and was released in 1977 on the album Street Survivors. The song was written by Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Allen Collins. It was the second single released from Street Survivors and failed to chart.

Around that time, the band members had been drinking and doing a lot of drugs. This song told the story about Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington, who bought a new car, got drunk, and crashed it into a tree, then a house. The accident was described with the lyrics, “Whiskey bottles, brand new car, oak tree you’re in my way.” Van Zant was inspired to write the song as a warning about the consequences of careless overuse of drugs and alcohol.

The band was supposed to start a tour shortly after the album’s release, but had to postpone it because of Rossington’s injuries. Van Zant and guitarist Collins were pissed at Rossington, and the band fined him $5,000 for holding up the tour. After that, the band members made an effort to stay sober once the tour finally got underway. Drugs and alcohol were banned from the dressing rooms.

Sadly, Van Zant, Skynyrd guitarist Steve Gaines, and backup singer Cassie Gaines were killed in a plane crash a few days after Lynyrd Skynyrd’s 1977 tour started. Some of the lyrics in this song refer to death, and the cover of the album, which had just been released, showed the band enveloped in flames.

Here are the lyrics to “That Smell.”

Whiskey bottles, and brand new cars
Oak tree you’re in my way
There’s too much coke and too much smoke
Look what’s going on inside you
Ooooh that smell
Can’t you smell that smell
Ooooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you

Angel of darkness is upon you
Stuck a needle in your arm
So take another toke, have a blow for your nose
One more drink fool, will drown you
Ooooh that smell
Can’t you smell that smell
Ooooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you

Now they call you Prince Charming
Can’t speak a word when you’re full of ‘ludes
Say you’ll be all right come tomorrow
But tomorrow might not be here for you (yeah you)
Ooooh that smell
Can’t you smell that smell
Ooooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you

Hey, you’re a fool you
Stick them needles in your arm
I know I been there before

One little problem that confronts you
Got a monkey on your back
Just one more fix, Lord might do the trick
One hell of a price for you to get your kicks
Ooooh that smell
Can’t you smell that smell
Ooooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you
Ooooh that smell
Can’t you smell that smell
Ooooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you

Hey, you’re a fool you
Stick them needles in your arm
You’re just a fool, just a fool, just a fool

Song Lyric Sunday — Southern Man

Fandango12 Comments

The directions Jim Adams gave us for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday were simply directions: north, south, east, and west. The song I chose might be a bit of a bending of a strict interpretation of the rules, but since this is my blog, I can bend the rules if I want to. I chose “Southern Man” by Neil Young.

“Southern Man” was a track on Neil Young’s 1970 album After the Gold Rush. The song was about racism in the American South, with oblique to references to slavery and the Ku Klux Klan. Young claimed the song was more about the civil rights movement than the South, but many southerners didn’t appreciate the negative generalization.

In his autobiography, Young apologized for the song, writing, “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.”

The southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote “Sweet Home Alabama” as a response to “Southern Man.” Young is mentioned in the line, “I hope Neil Young will remember, a Southern man don’t need him around anyhow.” The members of Lynyrd Skynyrd were actually big fans of Young. “Sweet Home Alabama” was meant as a good-natured answer to “Southern Man” as well as to Young’s song, “Alabama,” from his 1972 album, Harvest.

Here are the lyrics to “Southern Man.”

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?

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.

Lily Belle, your hair is golden brown.
I’ve seen your black man comin’ round.
Swear by God, I’m gonna cut him down!

I heard screamin’ and bullwhips cracking.
How long? How long?

As a bonus this week, here’s Neil Young’s “Alabama” with lyrics.

And as a second bonus, here’s Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama.”