Neil Young’s “Southern Man” Remains True to the Times Today

“Southern man, better keep your head  Don’t forget what your good book said…” – The first two lines of Neil Young’s “Southern Man” didn’t keep him from expressing his opinion about racism during the Civil Rights Movement in American South. With references to the Ku Klux Klan, the blues-rock song written by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Neil Young and released in 1970 was composed out of his bitter condemnation. 

In writing the song, Young said that it was more about the civil rights movement rather than the Southern part of the U.S. But because many did not appreciate the generalization, Neil Young’s music was under fire. 

Because of the controversy it caused, other artists wrote songs in response to “Southern Man” as an attempt to change the perspective of people towards the South, specifically Alabama. 

Lynyrd Skynyrd, for example, wrote “Sweet Home Alabama”, meant to be a good-natured answer to Young’s song explaining the good side of Alabama. Now, Lynyrd Skynyrd was known to be big fans of Young, so the song wasn’t at all a negative reaction. When they’d perform “Sweet Home Alabama,” they’d even wear Neil Young T-shirts. 

To this, Young said that he was “quite happy” with “Sweet Home Alabama”. “They play like they mean it, I’m proud to have my name in a song like theirs.” As a result, Neil Young wrote songs like “Powderfinger” for Lynyrd Skynyrd as a way to reconcile. 

Meaning Behind The Song

In the first verse, Young shows a picture of the stance of the “Southern Man.” He establishes the disparity between “tall white mansions” and “little shacks” and then further emphasizes when the Southern Man will “pay them back” because of the “screaming and bullwhips cracking.” 

In the second verse, Young talks about lynching or hanging. Beyond themes of racism, however, Young wrote the song in his Topanga Canyon studio during his marriage with his first wife, Susan Acevedo. At that time, they were not getting along, so it is implied that his overall mood translated into this track, which to him is an “angry song.” 

What about you, what do you think about Neil Young’s “Southern Man”? Check out the video below and find out.