By Craig P. Dixon, southcoast247.com correspondent Social Commentary 102
March 14, 20076
I was listening in on a conversation at work the other day. My coworkers
were discussing rock bands they considered among the best of all time.
They
dropped some familiar names. Led Zeppelin. The Rolling Stones. Etcetera. I
kept quiet, for once not offering my two cents on a completely opinion
driven, inconsequential conversation.
Then, one of the guys had to go and
claim Lynyrd Skynyrd was up there with the greats, and I could hold my
tongue no longer.
"Fucking Lynyrd Skynyrd, man? Are you out of your
goddamned mind?"
The shock on my coworker's face would've cracked me up if
I weren't so damned intent on tearing Lynyrd Skynyrd to shreds. "I was just
saying...."
"Dude...their concern with the South bothers me. Sure, there've
been a few decent works of art to come from people of the Southern
persuasion, but even the beacon that is Faulkner comes across as pompous
when his selective, high-class vocabulary is thrust upon the
less-than-educated Southern majority.'
'Though Skynyrd and Faulkner bathe
in Southern stereotypes, at least Faulkner attempts to come to terms with
the legacy of his brutal, racist, separatist ancestry. Skynyrd, however,
wallow in the savage Southern redneck stereotype. They cement this ignorance
with the epically cheesy, yet supposedly fun-loving 'Sweet Home Alabama',
and the song's dig at Neil Young's condemnation of Southern ignorance and
racism, 'Southern Man'.'
'Fuck Skynyrd, man. When I hear 'Sweet Home
Alabama', I ask myself... what's so good about Alabama? When people head to
Alabama, what do they visit?'
'They visit Mobile and Birmingham. Civil
Rights History brings people there, my friend. Nobody heads down there for
redneck history. KKK history. When I think of states the US can do without,
Alabama's up near the top. And that terrible sing-along-song isn't helping
the cause.'
'And if I have to listen to 'Free Bird' one more fucking time,
I'm going postal."
"Wow, man. You really don't like Skynyrd."
"Every time
I hear that fucking 'Free Bird' I wish I could resurrect Skynyrd's plane and
crash it again. And again. And again. They deserve it for tossing that song
into the Karaoke lexicon. Every time an idiot squawks away at 'Free Bird',
murderous thoughts ramble through my brain.'
'You want good jam bands? Go
Allman Brothers or CSNY. Skynyrd blows."
Comments?craig@southcoast247.com
I was listening in on a conversation at work the other day. My coworkers
were discussing rock bands they considered among the best of all time.
