Alabama Defines Home in “My Home’s in Alabama”

“Home is where the heart is,” it’s a saying we often hear when people define what home is to them. For most of us, home is where we find comfort, love, happiness, beautiful memories, and more, that makes it dearest to us. It’s something we can always find ourselves in, and where we can go to when everything seems to go wrong. It truly defines who we are.

What is Home According to Alabama?

The Southern country rock band Alabama also has their own definition of home. Their single “My Home in Alabama” shows us how much they love their memories in their place. Even though they struggled as a band before they rose to fame, they cherish all they can remember and put it into a heartfelt Southern rock song.

The Shorter Version of “My Home’s in Alabama”

“My Home’s in Alabama” first appeared on the band’s independent album ALABAMA BAND #3. It was an unedited version that lasts for almost eleven minutes. Can you believe that? However, when the band signed with the record label RCA records, their eleven-minute song was cut down to a shorter, and radio-friendly length. Their producers Harold Shedd, Larry McBride, and the band themselves released the song as a single after shortening it.

Alabama included the song on their first album with the RCA records. Aside from including “My Home’s in Alabama,” they also added “I Wanna Come Over,” a song from their previously released independent album.

Securing a Spot on the Chart

Their shortened version was able to hit the Billboard country chart at number seventeen. Meanwhile, their single “I Wanna Come Over” placed at number thirty-three. Despite the fact that “My Home’s in Alabama” didn’t secure a higher spot on the chart, people did enjoy this song. It is in this single that we felt the band’s love for their hometown.

The Songwriters’ Most Favorite Part of the Song

The song was penned by Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry in 1978. They wrote the song to preserve their southern roots and to celebrate who they were. On an interview, with Alanna Nash, the author of Behind Closed Doors: Talking with the Legends of Country Music, Owen’s said his most favorite line in the song was, “I’ll speak my Southern English as natural as I please.” It has a special place in his heart because when he was in college, people make fun of his accent.

“When I was in college, people would make fun of the way I talked. Even Southern people would. Maybe it was just hard for them to understand the way I pronounced things. Or maybe I pronounced ’em wrong…and I got a chance to put it in a song. It sure fit right in that one.”

All of their experiences in life, good or bad, led the band to write a wonderful song many loved.