Southern Man Lyrics
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
[Verse 1]
I saw cotton and I saw black
Tall white mansions and little shacks
Southern man, when will you pay them back?
I heard screaming and bullwhips cracking
How long? How long? (Ah)
[Guitar Solo]
[Chorus]
Southern man better keep your head
Don't forget what your good book says
Southern change gonna come at last
Now your crosses are burning fast
Southern man
[Verse 2]
Lily Belle, your hair is golden brown
I've seen your black man coming 'round
Swear by God, I'm gonna cut him down!
I heard screaming and bullwhips cracking
How long? How long? (Ah)
About
Written towards the end of the era of the Amercan Civil Rights Movement, “Southern Man” is a scathing attack on the white racism that has persisted in the Southern United States for over 100 years after slavery’s legal demise. Nevertheless, there is a warning that change is imminent.
Ronnie Van Zant of Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote “Sweet Home Alabama” as a southern man’s response to this song as well as the song “Alabama” from the Neil Young album Harvest.
Young has said he is honored to have his name featured in that song. In his 2012 memoir Waging Heavy Peace, Young wrote:
Alabama richly deserved the shot Lynyrd Skynyrd gave me with their great record. 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.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
About his feud with Ronnie Van Zant of Lynyrd Skynyrd:
I’d rather play “Sweet Home Alabama” than “Southern Man” anytime
In the liner notes of Decade, Neil Young said:
This song could have been written on a civil rights march after stopping off to watch Gone With The Wind at a local theater. But I wasn’t there so I don’t know for sure."
- 1.Tell Me Why
- 4.Southern Man
- 8.Birds
- 10.I Believe In You