“I separate people and their art” people are the fuckin’ worst and huge part of the problem, too, since they don’t do a damn thing to incentivise those losers to stop what they’re doing, either.
When I learned that “Sweet Home Alabama” was in bitter response to Neil Young’s “Southern Man” I just stopped listening to it. There is so much music in the world, I’ve been fine without Lynyrd Skynyrd. I also don’t think I’ve ever seen a Mel Gibson movie and I seem to be ok.
This might be an unpopular opinion, but I would say that “Sweet Home Alabama” is very different. It was not written bitterly and it was written by a bunch of Neil Young fans (and Neil himself loved the song). The point of “Sweet Home Alabama” was to show that there were people who grew up in the South who weren’t racist, who acknowledged and decried the racist history of the South, but who also felt resentment at being lumped in with the racists, past and present. Being both proud of being from the South and ashamed of being from the South at the same time even has its own term, coined AFAIK by the band The Drive-By Truckers: “the duality of the Southern Thing.”
There are plenty of artists and musicians that should just be written off, but I don’t think Skynyrd is among them. They were actually relatively progressive for their background and were trying to paint a fairly sophisticated and balanced story; it’s not their fault that their fanbase evolved into a bunch of racist assholes who preempted the song for their own causes, especially since the heart and soul of the band died in a plane crash in 1977. But that’s just my two cents as a huge music fan who grew up listening to Skynyrd in the 90’s.
Maybe Lynyrd Skynyrd shouldn’t have constantly used the Confederate Battle Flag and other Confederate imagery if they didn’t want to be lumped in with the racists.
It was bad, but mind the cultural context they it was widely considered the “southern” flag (by southern whites) which just happened to also have been used by the Confederacy. There was a century of pro-Confederate propaganda we were raised under, and we’ve only recently reckoned with that.
A lot of those same people who flew it when they were kids decades ago denounce the thing today, thankfully.
They heard “Southern Man” and went so hard “not all southerners” that they even included the line directly telling Neil to fuck off. One of their black back-up singers went on to cover “Southern Man” as a little bit of a personal win for her. Lynyrd Skynyrd could have done a million things that weren’t that in response but instead they wrote that little piece of whiny-baby bullshit. They did it all on their own, without their base needing to misinterpret anything. Fuck ‘em, I got loads of fantastic music to listen to without giving that one any of my time.
People have literally died for their rights and we’re so damned soft we can’t even just consume different yet equally good, or better, media and that’s fuckin’ weak. Sometimes we aren’t given much choice but it’s not like we’re hurting for high-quality music, TV, and literature. It’s so fucking easy.
“Watergate does not bother me, does your conscience bother you?”
Bother in this case means he’s not losing sleep at night over it due to any regrets. This was all Northern people being corrupt. An answer to southerners being bad and evil.
It was not meant to be interpreted as they don’t care
Beyond Thunderdome is a bit shit to be honest, but I wouldnt say Mel Gibson can’t act or hasn’t been in good films. I just don’t want to have to stare at his racist fucking face.
I haven’t seen ‘em and I’m doing perfectly ok. And guess what, I didn’t know he was involved and now I’m gunna not watch ‘em even harder. It’s just that easy.
I didn’t say it’s a brag, I said it’s extremely easy to not consume content when you know that the people who produced it are garbage. I wasn’t even asking people to look up the histories of every artist they’ve ever seen.
I was a lot younger when I first heard it. I did think it was a little weird but not enough for that young Canadian white boy to really have too much of an opinion. The only “plainly laid out” reference to “Southern Man” is a single line referring to this “Neil” I also didn’t really know anything about at the time.
Bro I was a kid and didn’t know what “Southern Man” even was, either, and the concept of a person from the south isn’t exactly unique to the song by that name.
I’m not criticizing you for misunderstanding it as a kid. You’re not a kid anymore. You just said, as an adult, that the only reference was a single line with the word Neil in it. That’s wrong. If you can’t handle being corrected when you say something wrong maybe the internet isn’t for you.
Oh I’m so sorry, it was four lines back to back and three of them were just saying his name. Will you ever forgive me? Please, your admiration is all that I crave!
I know that you’ve never missed something small that you frankly weren’t paying much attention to in the first place. Teach me your ways, enlightened one.
I already learned, I know what the song is about now and I not only knew it long time ago but I literally had already said that. You aren’t teaching anyone anything, you just tried to mock me for not knowing something.
I hope you find, one day, something kinder to fill that gaping hole in your personality. This ain’t it.
“I separate people and their art” people are the fuckin’ worst and huge part of the problem, too, since they don’t do a damn thing to incentivise those losers to stop what they’re doing, either.
When I learned that “Sweet Home Alabama” was in bitter response to Neil Young’s “Southern Man” I just stopped listening to it. There is so much music in the world, I’ve been fine without Lynyrd Skynyrd. I also don’t think I’ve ever seen a Mel Gibson movie and I seem to be ok.
This might be an unpopular opinion, but I would say that “Sweet Home Alabama” is very different. It was not written bitterly and it was written by a bunch of Neil Young fans (and Neil himself loved the song). The point of “Sweet Home Alabama” was to show that there were people who grew up in the South who weren’t racist, who acknowledged and decried the racist history of the South, but who also felt resentment at being lumped in with the racists, past and present. Being both proud of being from the South and ashamed of being from the South at the same time even has its own term, coined AFAIK by the band The Drive-By Truckers: “the duality of the Southern Thing.”
There are plenty of artists and musicians that should just be written off, but I don’t think Skynyrd is among them. They were actually relatively progressive for their background and were trying to paint a fairly sophisticated and balanced story; it’s not their fault that their fanbase evolved into a bunch of racist assholes who preempted the song for their own causes, especially since the heart and soul of the band died in a plane crash in 1977. But that’s just my two cents as a huge music fan who grew up listening to Skynyrd in the 90’s.
Maybe Lynyrd Skynyrd shouldn’t have constantly used the Confederate Battle Flag and other Confederate imagery if they didn’t want to be lumped in with the racists.
Just a thought.
It was bad, but mind the cultural context they it was widely considered the “southern” flag (by southern whites) which just happened to also have been used by the Confederacy. There was a century of pro-Confederate propaganda we were raised under, and we’ve only recently reckoned with that.
A lot of those same people who flew it when they were kids decades ago denounce the thing today, thankfully.
They heard “Southern Man” and went so hard “not all southerners” that they even included the line directly telling Neil to fuck off. One of their black back-up singers went on to cover “Southern Man” as a little bit of a personal win for her. Lynyrd Skynyrd could have done a million things that weren’t that in response but instead they wrote that little piece of whiny-baby bullshit. They did it all on their own, without their base needing to misinterpret anything. Fuck ‘em, I got loads of fantastic music to listen to without giving that one any of my time.
People have literally died for their rights and we’re so damned soft we can’t even just consume different yet equally good, or better, media and that’s fuckin’ weak. Sometimes we aren’t given much choice but it’s not like we’re hurting for high-quality music, TV, and literature. It’s so fucking easy.
They also can’t really claim they weren’t the same, when they constantly used Confederate imagery to sell shit.
This is such a horseshit take.
The entire song is a screed to southern ignorance including the gem “Watergate does not bother me”
These assholes are part of the reason we ended up with trump.
Get fucked.
“Watergate does not bother me, does your conscience bother you?”
Bother in this case means he’s not losing sleep at night over it due to any regrets. This was all Northern people being corrupt. An answer to southerners being bad and evil.
It was not meant to be interpreted as they don’t care
I agree, but take a fucking chill pill. Everyone has an opinion.
Eh, Mad Max, Road Warrior, and Beyond Thunderdome are classics. Lethal Weapon was good.
He was even decent in the John Wick flashback “The Continental”.
Beyond Thunderdome is a bit shit to be honest, but I wouldnt say Mel Gibson can’t act or hasn’t been in good films. I just don’t want to have to stare at his racist fucking face.
I haven’t seen ‘em and I’m doing perfectly ok. And guess what, I didn’t know he was involved and now I’m gunna not watch ‘em even harder. It’s just that easy.
Congratulations, you haven’t watched some movies. Truly a saint
Man, really hurt that I’m ok to just not watch some fuckin’ movies, eh?
I’ve never watched those movies either, you’re just a weirdo for thinking it’s a brag
I didn’t say it’s a brag, I said it’s extremely easy to not consume content when you know that the people who produced it are garbage. I wasn’t even asking people to look up the histories of every artist they’ve ever seen.
So you’ve never seen a Weinstein production? I fucking doubt it.
Not on purpose. Keep up, dumbass.
Wow, your sacrifices are truly inspiring.
You didn’t learn that the first time you heard the song, where its laid out plainly in the lyrics?
I was a lot younger when I first heard it. I did think it was a little weird but not enough for that young Canadian white boy to really have too much of an opinion. The only “plainly laid out” reference to “Southern Man” is a single line referring to this “Neil” I also didn’t really know anything about at the time.
I get that you were a kid when you first heard it, but it’s absolutely all laid out in plain English. They even referenced the song itself.
Bro I was a kid and didn’t know what “Southern Man” even was, either, and the concept of a person from the south isn’t exactly unique to the song by that name.
Christ, you’re an asshole.
I’m not criticizing you for misunderstanding it as a kid. You’re not a kid anymore. You just said, as an adult, that the only reference was a single line with the word Neil in it. That’s wrong. If you can’t handle being corrected when you say something wrong maybe the internet isn’t for you.
Oh I’m so sorry, it was four lines back to back and three of them were just saying his name. Will you ever forgive me? Please, your admiration is all that I crave!
I know that you’ve never missed something small that you frankly weren’t paying much attention to in the first place. Teach me your ways, enlightened one.
Step 1 is to want to learn instead of getting defensive and acting like a douche when someone tells you something you didn’t know.
I already learned, I know what the song is about now and I not only knew it long time ago but I literally had already said that. You aren’t teaching anyone anything, you just tried to mock me for not knowing something.
I hope you find, one day, something kinder to fill that gaping hole in your personality. This ain’t it.