# Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 21, 2008, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-lynyrd-skynyrd/473811 "2008-11-21T12:41:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-lynyrd-skynyrd/473811/1 "2008-11-21T12:41:14Z")
Watching the video on you tube, and was wondering about the reference to Neil Young and not needing him around. Any clues as to the background? ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-lynyrd-skynyrd/473811/2 "2008-11-21T12:43:26Z")
[Southern man](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Man). ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-lynyrd-skynyrd/473811/3 "2008-11-21T14:49:03Z")
Also, Neil Young’s song [Alabama](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/neilyoung/alabama.html). _Sweet Home Alabama_ was a musical retort. ---
**Author:** ![Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ass_For_A_Hat)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-lynyrd-skynyrd/473811/4 "2008-11-21T15:03:18Z")
An additional bit of history, courtesy of [Drive-By Truckers](http://www.drivebytruckers.com/lyrics_sro.html#ronnieandneil)… \*Now Ronnie and Neil became good friends their feud was just in song Skynyrd was a bunch of Neil Young fans and Neil he loved that song So He wrote “Powderfinger” for Skynyrd to record But Ronnie ended up singing “Sweet Home Alabama” to the lord And Neil helped carry Ronnie in his casket to the ground And to my way of thinking, us southern men need both of them around\* ---
**Author:** ![Poonther](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Poonther](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poonther)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-lynyrd-skynyrd/473811/5 "2008-11-21T19:06:47Z")
Kind of odd for a band that was formed in Jax, FL w/most of its members from there to defend Alabama. Georgia, yes, since some say Jax is the largest city in Southern GA, but Alabama? They must have felt it was an attack on the South in general. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-lynyrd-skynyrd/473811/6 "2008-11-21T19:28:58Z")
Years ago I was channel surfing and came across a live show by Lynrd Skynrd. They launched into “Sweet Home Alabama” and I remember thinking how cool it would be if Neil Young showed up. At that moment, Neil Young walked out on stage with his guitar and joined the band for the song. Whatever lyrical disagreements they may have had were obviously water under the bridge. ---
**Author:** ![mabes10](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc348/32.png) [@mabes10](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mabes10)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-lynyrd-skynyrd/473811/7 "2008-11-21T22:11:41Z")
> [@Valgard](#): > > Years ago I was channel surfing and came across a live show by Lynrd Skynrd. They launched into “Sweet Home Alabama” and I remember thinking how cool it would be if Neil Young showed up. > > At that moment, Neil Young walked out on stage with his guitar and joined the band for the song. Whatever lyrical disagreements they may have had were obviously water under the bridge. Whoa. As huge fans of both, would you know what show that was? Was Ronnie Van Zandt still alive? ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-lynyrd-skynyrd/473811/8 "2008-11-21T22:14:17Z")
> [@Valgard](#): > > At that moment, Neil Young walked out on stage with his guitar and joined the band for the song. Whatever lyrical disagreements they may have had were obviously water under the bridge. The wiki article referenced above states that this never happened (at least while Ronnie was alive). If you have a cite, you should correct the article. ---
**Author:** ![mabes10](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc348/32.png) [@mabes10](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mabes10)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-lynyrd-skynyrd/473811/9 "2008-11-21T22:31:10Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > The wiki article referenced above states that this never happened (at least while Ronnie was alive). If you have a cite, you should correct the article. Yeah, I would have heard of this by now if it happened when Ronnie was alive. Now way I could have missed it. But since Skynyrd, or at least a band using that name, is still touring, I could see that it might have happened with one of the incarnations. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-lynyrd-skynyrd/473811/10 "2008-11-21T23:27:45Z")
> [@Poonther](#): > > Kind of odd for a band that was formed in Jax, FL w/most of its members from there to defend Alabama. Georgia, yes, since some say Jax is the largest city in Southern GA, but Alabama? They must have felt it was an attack on the South in general. It was. And Mr. Young is not welcome in my home. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-lynyrd-skynyrd/473811/11 "2008-11-21T23:53:32Z")
> [@Valgard](#): > > Years ago I was channel surfing and came across a live show by Lynrd Skynrd. They launched into “Sweet Home Alabama” and I remember thinking how cool it would be if Neil Young showed up. I was really hoping Neil Young would step out onto the stage and sing _Sweet Home Alabama_ during Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Hall of Fame induction. Didn’t happen, but that would’ve been pretty cool. As it was, the ceremony was pretty lackluster.