Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
(One, two, three)
(Turn it up)
Big wheels keep on turning
Carry me home to see my kin
Singing songs about the Southland
I miss Alabamy once again and I think it's a sin, yes
Well, I heard Mister 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
Sweet home Alabama
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet home Alabama
Lord, I'm coming home to you
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
Sweet home Alabama
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet home Alabama
Lord, I'm coming home to you, here I come Alabama
(Oh oh oh, Alabama, oh oh oh, Alabama)
(Oh oh oh, Alabama, oh oh oh, Alabama)
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 feeling blue, now how 'bout you?
Sweet home Alabama
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet home Alabama
Lord, I'm coming home to you
Sweet home Alabama, oh, sweet home, baby
Where the skies are so blue and the governor's true
Sweet home Alabama, Lordy
Lord, I'm coming home to you, yeah yeah
My, Montgomery's got the answer
(Turn it up)
Big wheels keep on turning
Carry me home to see my kin
Singing songs about the Southland
I miss Alabamy once again and I think it's a sin, yes
Well, I heard Mister 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
Sweet home Alabama
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet home Alabama
Lord, I'm coming home to you
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
Sweet home Alabama
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet home Alabama
Lord, I'm coming home to you, here I come Alabama
(Oh oh oh, Alabama, oh oh oh, Alabama)
(Oh oh oh, Alabama, oh oh oh, Alabama)
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 feeling blue, now how 'bout you?
Sweet home Alabama
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet home Alabama
Lord, I'm coming home to you
Sweet home Alabama, oh, sweet home, baby
Where the skies are so blue and the governor's true
Sweet home Alabama, Lordy
Lord, I'm coming home to you, yeah yeah
My, Montgomery's got the answer
Lyrics submitted by magicnudiesuit, edited by gregorybrian
Sweet Home Alabama Lyrics as written by Gary Robert Rossington Ronnie Van Zant
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Hipgnosis Songs Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I just wanted to say that Lynyrd Skynyrd did NOT support George Wallace. That whole "in Brimingham they love the governor...but we all did what we could do" refers to the fact that while the majority supported segregation and Wallace, Skynyrd did not. Read their interviews, this is not a racist anthem. I'm sick of all these northern assholes thinking we're uneducated racists unanimously.
You are correct. This song was meant to mock southern racist, hence the "BOO BOO BOO" referring to Wallace. Jimi Hendrix was their biggest influence.
@Jmu Correct. He's saying "in Birmingham THEY love the Governor," not WE love the Governor, and "We all did what we could do" is saying that many people in Alabama opposed him. I think the line about Watergate is saying, "If you opposed Nixon, do you still hold yourself responsible for Watergate? Of course not!"
@Jmu Not all. But definitely too many. C'mon. Own it.
Yes the Neil Young part is because he tore Alabama down like it was a slum compared to the rest of the Union in his song and they felt it was harsh judgement, but if you listen to the lyrics, "In Birmingham they love the Governor" then it says "boo boo boo" that is because the Governor at the time was George Wallace and he was Pro Segregation and the band was against segregation and racist behaviors. Also at the end they state Montgomery's got the answer and that was in direct reference to the boycott of the buses by the blacks in the south during that time. People mistook this song as Pro Racism and Pro Segregation and it was the extreme opposite. One of the most misunderstood songs of its time.
@UShudNoBtr Ronnie said in a few interviews that the song was kind of a joke and that they "did all they could do" to end segregation. If you check out the album cover of Street Survivors Ronnie is wearing a Neil Young T-shirt. Funny how many people think of this as a Pro-Alabama song.
@UShudNoBtr But it is at least somewhat praising Alabama, for the Mussel Shoal swampers!
i love how they got there name. when the band was still in high school they had a gym teacher that hated hippies and his name was lynard skynard, thus the basis of its appeal.
Merry Clayton is an African American woman who is singing, further making the statement that the band was against segregation. She has sung on many of the greatest songs recorded.
To the last author: Neil Young is a very talented artist from California. I will allow that. However, Skynyrd was simply pointing out that we are not all racists pigs. Can you imagine a southern band writing a song called Northern Man? They would have been persecuted. Skynyrd never had any racial tones in any of their art. Just a great southern band from the gulf coast that made it. And every rocker south of the mason/dixon line loves them for it! Southern fried rock! A lot of Yankees don't get it. The southern lifestyle is a tradition we have. It's not about race. It is about hospitality. Yes Mam and Yes Sir. That's how I was raised. We say grace and pledge of allegiance to the flag! The Red, White, and Blue for all of those who serve our country!!! Thanks to all you vets!!!!
Jacksonville is not on the Gulf.
Neil may reside in California but was born in Toronto Ontario Canada
@saintsfansam Northerners get it...maybe not all of them, but plenty do. We love Skynyrd and could give zero F's if they had made a "Northern Man" song ripping up dudes who assemble automobiles, or whatever
the song was origonly witten simply as a joke nothing more i read that in a booklet inside a "best of lynard skynard" (or something of the sort) cd
True.
The message of the song is, like the South, complicated.
Initially I heard it as the Alabama answer to California Dreamin'. No biggie.
Then I noticed the lyrics about the people loving Governor Wallace. Not so cool to rally around a well-known segregationist.
Missing from the above lyrics is the line "Boo, boo, boo!"
Those boos could be interpreted as Skynyrd booing Wallace. Or it could be them mocking Wallace's detractors, like Neil Young. I don't know.
But the next line "we all did what we could do" suggests Wallace left them wanting.
In the line about Watergate, they're comparing Wallace to former President Nixon. By the time of this song, Nixon was a discredited liar & an embarrassment to all Americans. The lesson is that politicians are jerks, whether it's the Californian Nixon or the Alabaman Wallace. This is not a ringing endorsement of Wallace. Skynyrd's stand for Wallace is more fatalist than enthusiastic. At this point, the controversy was dead in my mind.
Then I noticed that line "And the governor's true".
This surprised me. After distancing themselves from Wallace, they embrace him again. Why?
By 1974 (year this song was released) Wallace had moderated his views about segregation. In 1972, he ran on a platform that included a renouncement of formal segregation. There was certainly some revisionism going on, there. But the reality is that Wallace was changing with the times. He was elected democratically, reflecting the values of his constituents. Doesn't that say something about the citizens of Alabama?
Isn't that what Skynyrd is celebrating?
This analysis about Wallace vs Nixon misses a critical historical fact - in the 1968 election (the one that made Nixon president), Wallace himself ran as a third party candidate and Alabama was one of the few states that voted their electoral college votes for Wallace. So that whole bit about Watergate is not a complex argument about northern versus southern guilt for bad politicians, but a much simpler claim that Alabama didn't vote Nixon into office so can't be held responsible for the crimes/scandals he committed. I think the "we all did what we could do" is also a reference to that - Alabama did all it could to prevent Nixon from getting into office.<br /> See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_...election,_1968 for the map of the electoral college results.
This is a very misunderstood song. The song is actually mocking southern racists. Ronnie Van Zant is on record saying that he disliked governor Wallace very much and that the "Boo Boo Boo" in the song was to boo the citizens of Montgomery. Also the line "we all did what we could do" was about ending segregation. Lynyrd skynyrd was actually a very progressive band that wrote songs that were pro gun control and praised Jimmy Carter in their 1976 movies Free Bird. Also, they were not from Alabama.
This is one of the greatest American songs ever! It even has the supernatural ability to make mullets almost sexy.
almost?! mullets are THE sexiest thing ever to be grown on this earth! once again, i live in alabama and there is no way i couldnt not love this song. its like my anthem.... when i hear it i get tears in my eyes and have to raise the fingers. im sorry, but sometimes i need my classic rock.