10 More Rock Songs That Insulted Other Musicians
1. Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd
It's one of the most famous country rock songs of all time, yet most people don't appreciate that Lynyrd Skynyrd take some gigantic swings in it.
One is at former Governor of Alabama George Wallace - "In Birmingham, they love the governor (boo boo boo)" - whilst the other is at one of the all-time great rock 'n' roll singer-songwriters.
In 1970, Neil Young recorded and released a song called Southern Man. In it, he talks about the intense pain and suffering caused by White people to Black people as part of the slave trade. He doubled down by releasing another similar song, Alabama, two years later.
Skynyrd felt put out by this, not because they supported slavery but because they felt as if Young was taking the entire populace of the South to task for the actions of their ancestors. As proud Southern boys themselves, they decided to do something about it.
Sweet Home Alabama contains an entire verse about Young where he is name-checked in full. It ends with the line "I hope Neil Young will remember/ A Southern man don't need him around anyhow."
Well, that showed him.