“Song of the South” – Single by Alabama from the album Southern Star
B-side: (I Wish It Could Always Be) ’55”
Released: November 7, 1988
Recorded: January 1, 1988
Label: RCA Nashville
Songwriter: Bob McDill
Producer: Alabama, Larry Michael Lee, Josh Leo
Few tunes capture the overall sound of the iconic country music group Alabama like “Song of the South,” a No. 1 hit in 1988.
The country song (and accompanying music video) captures the plight of the poor American farmer from the destitute days of the Great Depression, following a family that eventually sells the farm to the county and moves to the city.
From the flawless harmonies to a picking banjo and lyrics about picking cotton (the band’s Randy Owen often talks about their days of picking cotton when they were younger), “Song of the South” is a true Southern classic. What’s not to love about the lyrics, “Sweet potato pie and I shut my mouth”?
Interestingly enough, Alabama was the fourth noteworthy act to record the song. Bobby Bare, an artist known for recording cuts by “Song of the South” writer Bob McDill, recorded it first for his 1980 album Drunk & Crazy. A year later, “Act Naturally” songwriter Johnny Russell reached No. 57 on the country charts–Its highest placement before becoming one of Alabama’s all-time greatest hits. The third and final pre-Alabama version teams Tom T. Hall with Earl Scruggs and appears on the 1982 album Storyteller and The Banjo Man.
Notice that the three versions that predate Alabama’s include an extra verse about a farming family’s struggles that ends with “Mama she was old at 35.”
The music video, directed by Steve Boyle, consists mainly of black-and-white photos and footage of the South during the 1930s, as well as footage of members of the band and other actors in the South, which is also in black and white, to give the illusion that it was the 1930s when it was filmed. The content of the video mainly follows the song lyrics, such as the footage of President Roosevelt during the lines in the song where he is referenced, as well as footage of actor Clark Gable when the line ‘gone with the wind’ is uttered, a reference to the 1939 epic film of the same name, which starred Gable. The video turns to color during the chorus, showing a large crowd fronted by the band members marching down the street of a small town. At the end, the video is also in color and shows Alabama playing at a concert, at the end of which random people come onto the stage – including fellow RCA recording artists Baillie & the Boys and Jo-El Sonnier, as well as the comedians Williams and Ree. The onsite filming was done in Temperance Hall, Tennessee.
Lyrics:
Singing: Song song of the south
Sweet potato pie and I shut my mouth
Gone, gone with the wind
There ain’t nobody looking back again
