Sweet Home Alabama: An Anthem for MAGA Land 2020

A classic rock staple foreshadowed our current cultural rift.

While the U.S. Senate voted to end its show trial of Donald Trump on February 5, I went to the gym mid-afternoon to burn a few hundred rage calories. As I settled into a rhythm on the rowing machine, the familiar guitar groove of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s 1974 hit “Sweet Home Alabama” began pumping out of the public address system.

It’s a song that makes my foot tap and my heart sink, and never more so than on that day.

“Sweet Home Alabama” looks white identity politics and political corruption straight in the eye and says, “Don’t tread on me.”

Lynyrd Skynyrd burst out of northern Florida in the early ’70s wearing southern pride on its sleeve. Lead singer Ronnie Van Zant wrote the lyrics to “Sweet Home Alabama” in response to Neil Young’s 1972 “Alabama,” which took a broad swipe at the state’s politics and culture: “What are you doing Alabama? You got the rest of the union/to help you along / What’s going wrong?”

Van Zant’s reply was a middle finger right back at him: “I heard Mr. Young sing about her / I heard ol’ Neil put her down / Well I hope Neil Young will remember / a southern man don’t need him around anyhow.”