The Three Great Alabama Icons Lyrics - Southern Rock Opera - Drive By Truckers

I grew up in North Alabama, back in the 1970's, 

When dinosaurs still roamed the earth Speaking 

Of course of the Three Great Alabama Icons 

George Wallace, Bear Bryant and Ronnie Van Zant 

Now Ronnie Van Zant wasn't from Alabama, he was 

From Florida He was a huge Neil Young fan 

But in the tradition of Merle Haggard writin' 

Okie from Muskogee to tell his dad's point of 

View about the hippies 'n Vietnam, Ronnie felt 

That the other side of the story should be told. 

And Neil Young always claimed that Sweet Home 

Alabama was one of his favorite songs. And legend 

Has it that he was an honorary pall bearer at 

Ronnie's funeral such is the Duality of the 

Southern Thing And Bear Bryant wore a cool 

Lookin' red checkered hat and won football 

Games and there's few things more loved in 

Alabama than football and the men who know how to 

Win at it So when the Bear would come to town, 

There'd be a parade. And me, I was one a' them 

Pussy boys cause I hated football, so I got a 

Guitar but a guitar was a poor substitute for a 

Football with the girls in my high school So my 

Band hit the road and we didn't play no 

Skynyrd either I came of age rebellin' 

Against the music in my high school parkin' 

Lot It wasn't till years later after 

Leavin' the South for a while that I came to 

Appreciate and understand the whole Skynyrd thing 

And its misunderstood glory I left the South 

And learned how different people's perceptions 

Of the Southern Thing was from what I'd seen in 

My life Which leads us to George Wallace Now 

Wallace was for all practical purposes the 

Governor of Alabama from 1962 until 1986 Once, 

When a law prevented him from succeeding himself 

He ran his wife Lerline in his place and she won 

By a landslide He's most famous as the 

Belligerent racist voice of the segregationist 

[ Find more Lyrics on http://mp3lyrics.org/NEt ] 

South Standing in the doorways of schools and 

Waging a political war against a Federal 

Government that he decried as hypocritical And 

Wallace had started out as a lawyer and a judge 

With a very progressive and humanitarian track 

Record for a man of his time. But he lost his 

First bid for governor in 1958 by hedging on the 

Race issue, against a man who spoke out against 

Integration Wallace ran again in '62 as a 

Staunch segregationist and won big, and for the 

Next decade spoke out loudly He accused Kennedy 

And King of being communists. He was constantly on 

National news, representing the "good" people 

Of Alabama And you know race was only an issue 

On TV in the house that I grew up in Wallace 

Was viewed as a man from another time and place 

And when I first ventured out of the South, I was 

Shocked at how strongly Wallace was associated 

With Alabama and its people Ya know racism is a 

Worldwide problem and it's been since the 

Beginning of recorded history and it ain't 

Just white and black But thanks to George 

Wallace, it's always a little more convenient to 

Play it with a Southern accent. And bands like 

Lynyrd Skynyrd attempted to show another side of 

The South One that certainly exists, but few 

Saw beyond the rebel flag And this applies not 

Only to their critics and detractors, but also 

From their fans and followers. So for a while, 

When Neil Young would come to town, he'd get 

Death-threats down in Alabama Ironically, in 

1971, after a particularly racially charged 

Campaign, Wallace began backpedaling, and he 

Opened up Alabama politics to minorities at a rate 

Faster than most Northern states or the Federal 

Government. And Wallace spent the rest of his life 

Trying to explain away his racist past, and in 

1982 won his last term in office with over 90% of 

The black vote Such is the Duality of the 

Southern Thing And George Wallace died back in 

'98 and he's in Hell now, not because he's a 

Racist His track record as a judge and his 

Late-life quest for redemption make a good 

Argument for his being, at worst, no worse than 

Most white men of his generation, North or 

South But because of his blind ambition and his 

Hunger for votes, he turned a blind eye to the 

Suffering of Black America. And he became a pawn 

In the fight against the Civil Rights cause 

Fortunately for him, the Devil is also a 

Southerner