About the song
Alabama’s “Song of the South” isn’t actually about the 1946 Disney film of the same name. Here’s the breakdown:
Background:
- Released in 1988, the song became a major hit for the country music band Alabama.
- It depicts the struggles of a poor Southern sharecropper family during the Great Depression.
Themes:
- Hardship and resilience: The song portrays the harsh realities of poverty and the backbreaking labor of cotton farming. Lyrics like “Cotton on the roadside, cotton in the ditch. We all picked the cotton but we never got rich” paint a vivid picture.
- The Great Depression’s impact: References to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the collapse of Wall Street highlight the broader economic context that fueled their struggles.
- Loss and displacement: The song ends with the family forced to sell their farm and move to the city, signifying the loss of their livelihood and way of life.
Despite the bleak subject matter, there’s an undercurrent of perseverance. The song celebrates the American spirit and the strength of people facing immense challenges.
Video
Lyrics
Song, song of the southSweet potato pie and I shut my mouthGone, gone with the windThere ain’t nobody lookin’ back again
Cotton on the roadside, cotton in the ditchWe all picked the cotton, but we never got richDaddy was a veteran, a Southern DemocratThey ought to get a rich man to vote like that
Sing itSong, song of the southSweet potato pie and I shut my mouthGone, gone with the windThere ain’t nobody lookin’ back again
Well, somebody told us Wall Street fellBut we were so poor that we couldn’t tellCotton was short and the weeds were tallBut Mr. Roosevelt’s a-gonna save us all
Well, Mama got sick and Daddy got downThe county got the farm and we moved to townPapa got a job with the TVAHe bought a washin’ machine and then a Chevrolet
Sing itSong, song of the southSweet potato pie and I shut my mouthGone, gone with the windThere ain’t nobody lookin’ back again
Play it
Sing itSong, song of the southSweet potato pie and I shut my mouth(Gone) gone, gone with the windThere ain’t nobody lookin’ back again
Song, song of the south(Gone) gone, gone with the windSong, song of the southSweet potato pie and I shut my mouth
Song, song of the southSweet potato pie and I shut my mouth
Sing itSong, song of the southSweet potato pie and I shut my mouthGone, gone with the windAin’t nobody lookin’ back again
Song, song of the southSweet potato pie and I shut my mouthGone, gone with the windAin’t nobody lookin’ back again
Song, song of the southSweet potato pie and I shut my mouth