"Song of the South" is a song written by

Bob McDill Robert Lee McDill (born April 4, 1944) is a retired American songwriter, active from the 1960s until 2000. During his career he wrote or co-wrote 31 number one country hits. His songs were also recorded by popular artists of the 1970s, 1980s an ...

. First recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Bobby Bare Robert Joseph Bare Sr. (born April 7, 1935) is an American country music singer and songwriter, best known for the songs "Marie Laveau", " Detroit City" and "500 Miles Away from Home". He is the father of Bobby Bare Jr., also a musician. Early ca ...

on his 1980 album ''Drunk & Crazy'', a version by Johnny Russell reached number 57 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' country chart in 1981. Another cover by

Tom T. Hall Thomas Hall (May 25, 1936 – August 20, 2021), known professionally as Tom T. Hall and informally nicknamed "the Storyteller," was an American country music singer-songwriter and short-story author. He wrote 12 No. 1 hit songs, with 26 more ...

and

Earl Scruggs Earl Eugene Scruggs (January 6, 1924 – March 28, 2012) was an American musician noted for popularizing a three-finger banjo picking style, now called "Scruggs style", which is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music. His three-fin ...

peaked at number 72 in 1982 from the album ''Storyteller and the Banjo Man''. A cover released in November 1988 by American country music group

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, from their album '' Southern Star'', reached number 1 on both the U.S. and Canadian country charts.

Content

The song tells the story of a poor Southern

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

farm-family during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. "Cotton on the roadside, cotton in the ditch. We all picked the cotton but we never got rich." "Well, somebody told us

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

fell, but we was so poor that we couldn't tell." The song references President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...

in the line, "The cotton was short and the weeds was tall, but Mr. Roosevelt's gonna save us all."' The father of the family is a

Southern Democrat Southern Democrats, historically sometimes known colloquially as Dixiecrats, are members of the U.S. Democratic Party who reside in the Southern United States. Southern Democrats were generally much more conservative than Northern Democrats with ...

; "Daddy was a veteran, a Southern Democrat. They oughta get a rich man to vote like that." The family loses the farm after the mother becomes ill. "The county got the farm and they moved to town." In the end, the family ends up living comfortably well, having sought a life in a more

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

location; "Well, papa got a job with the

TVA The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a Federal government of the United States, federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, an ...

, we bought a washing machine, and then a Chevrolet."

Music video

The music video, directed by Steve Boyle, consists mainly of black-and-white photos and footage of the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

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 Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

, 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 William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...

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 Baillie & the Boys were an American country music group. They were founded in 1987 by Kathie Baillie (lead vocals, guitar) and her husband, Michael Bonagura (background vocals, guitar), along with Alan LeBoeuf (bass guitar, background vocals). Not ...

and

Jo-El Sonnier Jo-El Sonnier (; born Joel Sonnier; October 2, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter and accordionist who performs country music and Cajun music. Originally signed to Mercury Nashville Records, Sonnier charted several minor singles on the ''Bi ...

, as well as the comedians Williams and Ree. The onsite filming was done in

Temperance Hall, Tennessee Temperance Hall is an unincorporated community in northern DeKalb County, Tennessee, United States. It is located approximately west-southwest of Center Hill Dam. It was established in 1798 by Stephen Robinson Sr., one of the first four settlers ...

Chart history

Johnny Russell

Tom T. Hall/Earl Scruggs

Alabama

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{Alabama (band) 1977-1989 singles 1981 singles 1982 singles 1988 singles Bobby Bare songs Johnny Russell (singer) songs Tom T. Hall songs Earl Scruggs songs Alabama (American band) songs Songs written by Bob McDill Male vocal duets Song recordings produced by Josh Leo RCA Records singles Great Depression songs 1980 songs Songs about the American South