"Southern Man" vs. "Sweet Home Alabama"

Alex in NYC didn't do this in pre-poll days?

both are great, and i am as big a neil young fan as anyone, but ... "sweet home alabama."

he did: Taking Sides: "Southern Man" by Neil Young vs. "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynrd Skynrd

voted for "Southern Man," one of my favorite NY radio jams, whereas "Alabama" is so overplayed that i can only unselfconsciously enjoy it maybe one in ten spins

Two anti-racist songs, one with better singing and better solos. Went with Skynyrd.

I'm a big Neil fan too but I've never liked "Southern Man". I know his voice rubs some people the wrong way & usually I think those people are nuts but on this song I get it; maybe he's miked too closely? just warbly, screetchy. The lyric is stupid too, obviously.

"Sweet Home Alabama" is killer, by contrast.

I know I'm on the losing team, but Neil Young.

I've never liked Sweet Home Alabama. I hate the riff (I thinj Shakey called it "clown car music")...the melody...everything about it.

Like you seriously could throw me every canonical rock song ever and I'm mostly going to like or appreciate them on some level, but this one just ...can't dig it.

Maybe it's cuz of overplay, except I'm struggling to think of a time where I did like it! Whereas "Freebird" is also overplayed to Hell but I still love it.

Sweet Home Alabama. Never liked Southern Man.

southern man is such a strange song, w/ its oompah (?) tempo, speeding up/slowing down, mangled guitar solo...i love it, but it always strikes me as a weird "hit" for neil.

"sweet home alabama" on the other hand is all time just for the opening. overplayed, sure, but still as powerful/perfect as anything.

"Sweet Home Alabama" is my pick for most universally loved pop/rock song of all-time.

southern man is such a strange song, w/ its oompah (?) tempo, speeding up/slowing down, mangled guitar solo...i love it, but it always strikes me as a weird "hit" for neil.

Agreed – and why I've never cared for it. So damn awkward; one of the few tracks on which his singing drives me insane.

yeah, it's kind of hilarious to hear Crazy Horse try to play "Southern Man" in 1976 -- the can't handle the tempo changes! They just lurrrrch. Too complex for the Horse, I guess.

An After the Gold Rush worshipper who'd take "Sweet Home Alabama" by a mile. Greatest (and possibly most politically ambiguous--we hashed that out on another thread) putdown song ever, better even than the Pistols's "EMI."

Actually, I prefer "Alabama" to "Southern Man," partly a function of radio playing the former 3,000 times as often.

Latter, I mean.

I hate the rhythm guitar sound on Sweet Home Alabama so yeah on that original thread I was in the Southern Man camp. I love the rhythmic switchup.

agree w/Neanderthal about Freebird tho

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2e/Sweet_Home_Alabama_license_plate.jpg

I'll let someone like Kenan correct me, but dare I even say that the "Sweet Home" font is the same one used in "Goodnight Moon"?

Been tailgating tourists and reading a lot of children's books lately.

i've never been able to hang with "sweet home alabama". just doesn't do anything for me. "southern man" was probably my favorite neil song as a kid (that guitar solo).

i'm abstaining because clearly the problem is that i don't get LS

NO GODDAMMIT VOTE WE NEED YOU

well hell i am relieved to see i'm not the only one; though skynard was sacred ground round these parts for some reason

though = thought

ftr i don't really have any problem with "Alabama" beyond being overplayed -- i think musically it's pretty great, i just prefer almost every other Skynyrd hit (and "Southern Man")

yea but we'll still accept your vote!

"sweet home alabama", no contest, one of my favorite classic rock radio jams. "southern man" is okay, but not even in the same league.

neil

awesome, now we'll lose 98-4

Could've sworn this had been done, I'm voting for the one that satirizes ignorant prejudice.

the discussion had been done, it just apparently wasn't a poll

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4czTIjYwGlc

Clayton also sang backup on "Sweet Home Alabama." Yes, yes, it's all a rich tapestry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23fmXsmGovI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdoUd5lehhk

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeqEB2f04WI

luv neil but SWEETHA is obvs superior

i totally feel them being all lol stfu canadian cause southern man is p inane

Love Neil, worship the ground he walks on but 'Southern Man' just feels preachy and weak. "Sweet Home" is a double punch for being anthemic and an awesome diss. I never get tired of hearing it.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

wow, a lot closer than expected

why didn't all my fellow neil voters speak up? i am pleasantly surprised by how well southern man did. i like the caterwauling, accusative vocals, the solo, the rhythm section, tempo change, and how loud it sounds, like pushing the needle into the red--great song

i kept wanting to post but it always came out as misanthropic bile at the people who jump around with excitement whenever the beginning of 'sweet home alabama' comes on and that didn't really seem like the best way to get out the vote.

i jump around with excitement whenever the beginning of 'sweet home alabama' comes on, so ty

i'm often struck by the division in polls between people who post and vote one way and those who lurk and vote another. pronounced posters vs. lurkers gap here.

I expected something much more lopsided.

i almost always post my vote, if not a lengthy justification for it

the privacy of the voting booth is sacrosanct

i'm often struck by the division in polls between people who post and vote one way and those who lurk and vote another.

This showed up all over the Dave Marsh polls a while back. People would post about the more offbeat choices from each group of 25 songs, and then more often than not (it seemed to me, anyway) the winner would be something that had been played to death by radio and that nobody had posted about. Which is not to say that it wasn't often a great song.

The Challop's Paradox