I don't like my words when I listen to it. In Young's 2012 autobiography Waging Heavy Peace, he commented on his song: 'My own song 'Alabama' richly deserved the shot Lynyrd Skynyrd gave me with their great record. Well, I heard Mister Young sing about herĪ Southern man don't need him around anyhow

The lyrics to 'Sweet Home Alabama' include the following lines: 'Sweet Home Alabama' was written in answer to two songs by Neil Young, ' Southern Man' and ' Alabama', because the songs 'took the entire South to task for the bloody history of slavery and its aftermath.' 'We thought Neil was shooting all the ducks in order to kill one or two,' said Ronnie Van Zant at the time. Record World called it the group's 'most commercial single entry so far.' Controversy In addition to the original appearance on Second Helping, the song has appeared on numerous Lynyrd Skynyrd compilations and live albums. 'Sweet Home Alabama' was a major chart hit for a band whose previous singles had 'lazily sauntered out into release with no particular intent.' The hit led to two television rock show offers that the band declined. The final lead vocals from Van Zant, along with Rossington and Collins' rhythm guitars and Powell's piano were added later. The basic track was recorded with guide lead vocals, Ed King's lead guitar, Leon Wilkeson's bass, and Bob Burns' drums. Then Ronnie wrote the lyrics and Ed and I wrote the music.' Ronnie and I were sitting there, and he kept saying, 'play that again'. It's the little picking part and I kept playing it over and over when we were waiting on everyone to arrive for rehearsal. In an interview with Garden & Gun, Rossington explained the writing process: 'I had this little riff. None of the three writers of the song were from Alabama Ronnie Van Zant and Gary Rossington were both born in Jacksonville, Florida, while Ed King was from Glendale, California.

The song remains a staple in southern and classic rock, and is arguably the band's signature song.

It reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1974, becoming the band's highest-charting single.

It was written in response to Neil Young's 1970 song ' Southern Man', which the band felt blamed the entire South for American slavery Young is name-checked and dissed in the lyrics. ' Sweet Home Alabama' is a song by American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, released on the band's second album Second Helping (1974).

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