Alabama - Neil Young
There were a few songs I could have picked. Most obviously, 'Alabama Song' - which The Doors and David Bowie have both recorded and 'Sweet Home Alabama' (by Lynyrd Skynyrd), which was partly inspired by the song I ended up choosing. 'Sweet Home Alabama' was written in response to Neil Young's 'Alabama' and 'Southern Man' - two songs about racism in the south. These are the songs that are referred to in the verse:
"Well I heard Mr Young sing about her
Well I heard ol' Neil put her down
Well I hope Neil Young will remember
A southern man don't need him around anyhow"
I chose to dedicate Neil Young's song to Alabama, mainly because I like it more. Also because it is written from the point of view of a visitor (Neil Young is from Canada), as I have never set foot in Alabama, it seems more appropriate to pick a song coming from that point of view. I identify more with this song because it is pointing out something that needs fixing. To me, cities, nations, states etc are nothing more than communities of people - they are not something that should be glorified and praised just because you were born there and despite anything dodgy that might happen there. And that seems to be what 'Sweet Home Alabama' is about. It's a fun song but it has an air of blind patriotism that misses the point of Neil Young's 'Alabama'.
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