Whiskey Bottles, and Brand New Cars,Oak Tree You're In My Way..

[DemocratSinceBirth]

Lynyrd skynyrd
(allen collins - ronnie vanzant)

Whiskey bottles, and brand new cars
Oak tree you’re in my way
There’s too much coke and too much smoke
Look what’s going on inside you
Ooooh that smell
Can’t you smell that smell
Ooooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you

Angel of darkness is upon you
Stuck a needle in your arm
So take another toke, have a blow for your nose
One more drink fool, will drown you
Ooooh that smell
Can’t you smell that smell
Ooooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you

Now they call you prince charming
Can’t speak a word when you’re full of ’ludes
Say you’ll be all right come tomorrow
But tomorrow might not be here for you
Ooooh that smell
Can’t you smell that smell
Ooooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you

Hey, you’re a fool you
Stick them needles in your arm
I know I been there before

One little problem that confronts you
Got a monkey on your back
Just one more fix, lord might do the trick
One hell of a price for you to get your kicks
Ooooh that smell
Can’t you smell that smell
Ooooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you
Ooooh that smell
Can’t you smell that smell
Ooooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you
Top 5 — Movies Soundtracks Lyrics


Awesome lyrics... Heard it this morning in my car.... It's as fresh as it was when I was teenager runnin in Daytona Beach....

[underpants]

1. "The Longest Yard" soundtrack

right?

Skynyrd rocks! best American rock band ever.

[Zomby Woof]

3. That was "Saturday Night Special"

Although I 100% agree with your statement there. :thumbsup: They burned up the stage.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

7. Another Great Song...

My three favorites Skyrnd song......


That Smell


Simple Man


Sweet Home Alabama...



Skyrnd was popular when I was in high school... We used to have debates even then if it was "cool" to like them...

[Zomby Woof]

8. Simple Man

That is a beauty.

It was decidedly uncool in the mid-80's when I was in high school, which fit my contrarian nature perfectly. The hip kids loved dreck like Duran Duran or whatever swill MTV was pushing. They loved to make fun of long hair and such. Nothing like pure American conformity!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

12. The Debate We Had In The 70's Was The Same Debate We Had Here The Other

Day.....


Was liking Lyrnd Skyrnd a red neck thing?


We were northern transplants living in semi rural, semi suburban Central Florida when we had this debate...

It also centered around the sentiments expressed in Southern Man...


I never liked Duran Duran or other soft boy bands...

[DemocratSinceBirth]

4. best southern rock band for sure...

Some folks would nominate bands like Jefferson Starship and The Band....



by the way, I'd put up the Band Up there...

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down gives me goosebumps... A lot of poor southern whites got caught up in the mess that was the Civil War... Some of them unforunately still are....

[Zomby Woof]

6. Ronnie Van Zant HATED that term

He knew southern rock was a phony label designed to sell records. They were just a rock and roll band - America's best response ever to the Rolling Stones.

[SCantiGOP]

16. southern?

Jefferson Starship originated in San Francisco, and the Band, except for Levon Helm, were from New York and Canada. There is no question as to the best ever Southern band - the Allman Brothers were not only the most talented, they had good politics as opposed to the pro-George Wallace and anti-Neil Young crap in Skynard.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

30. Geese Louise...

Underpants said Skyrnd was the best American rock band...


In that vein I responded that some folks would say it was Jefferson Starship or The Band...


Reread the posts and gimme a break... I know the fucking Starship is from San Francisco not fucking Mississippi...

[Zomby Woof]

44. A few corrections

Skynyrd LOVED Neil Young... and Ronnie said so on more than one occasion, even wearing a Neil Young shirt on an album cover. Neil loved them too, even playing the song in question after the crash. I have a t-shirt of Neil wearing a Skynyrd shirt. He wrote "Powderfinger" for them to cover. The plane went down before that came to pass.

As for Wallace, to quote bassist Leon Wilkeson of that band... "We supported Wallace about as much as your average American supported Hitler". Notice the "BOO! BOO! BOO!" after his name in the song. They did not care for him at all.

Skynyrd supported JIMMY CARTER in 1976 and raised money for his campaign with concerts! Ronnie wore Carter t-shirts.

Ronnie Van Zant wrote an anti-gun song, a pro-environmental song, and several anti-poverty, anti-Vietnam songs, and an anti-racist song.

I will never understand how they are so misunderstood. One wonders if they would be bigger than the Beatles or the Stones if people knew the truth.

[meegbear]

2. Hell yah!

[Zomby Woof]

5. Best song of 1977

Amaizing how timeless it is, not just for the lyrics, but the music could have been made yesterday. Perhaps the finest interplay of 3 lead guitars in history. Heady stuff!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

9. I Saw Them At The Altamonte Mall In Altamonte Springs, Florida

a couple of weeks before the crash...


They were literally playing in the west end of the parking lot to promote the Street Survivors album...


IMHO the 70's were better years for music than the 80's...

If you liked rock you had Bad Company and Lyrnd Skyrnd, If you liked country you had Waylon Jennings and Wiilie, and if you liked r&b you had the Isley Brothers, Earth Wind And Fire and the Ohio Players...

[peekaloo]

10. I turn that song off when I hear it.

I saw them in Lakeland, Fl. a few days before the plane crash and that song still tears me up.

Years later I worked with a guy in concert promotion who was on that plane. I made the mistake of asking about the scar across his forehead. :-(

[Joe Power]

11. Hate that band

Cheesy, racist, semi-talented, Allman Brothers wannabes, who supported Bush.

The Governor's true, eh? What exactly was he true about?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

13. They Supported Bush?????

from the grave...


We can never compete with that kind of support....

[Joe Power]

14. They're still touring

Not all of them died.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

15. Just The Ones With Talent

eom

[RagingInMiami]

17. I was wondering when this thread would be contaminated

The Skynyrd bashers never fail to show up.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

18. Don't Bother Me...

The original group made great music...

[Joe Power]

22. Ever wonder why that is?

:eyes:

[RagingInMiami]

24. I don't wonder, I already know

ignorance about the band

[DemocratSinceBirth]

25. Did You See The Movie Eight Mile With Eminem

I am going to rent it again just to see Eminem and Mikhaili Pfhefer's rendition of Sweet Home Alabama again.....

[RagingInMiami]

40. That was a good scene

[DemocratSinceBirth]

43. Here's The Lyrics...

You can tell Em dug Skyrnd....

Well Jimmy moved in with his mother
Cuz he ain't got no place to go
And now Im right back in the gutter
With a garbage bag that's full of clothes
Cuz you live at home in a trailer
What the hell you gonna do?

Cuz I live at home in a trailer
Mom Im comin' home to you

Well my name is Jimmy
His name's Greg Buel
Me, him and you
We went to the same school
This ain't cool
Im in a rage
He's tappin' my mom and
We're almost the same age
On the microphone I drop bombs
Look at this car
Thanks a lot mom
Here, happy birthday Rabbit
Here's a brand new car
You can have it
A 1928 DELTA
This shit won't even get me to the shelta
And I can't even stand for MOTOWN
Cuz im back in the 8-1-0 now

Cuz I live at home in a trailer
Mom Im commin' home to you

SWEET HOME ALABAMA...
anybody got a cigarette?

[Joe Power]

26. No ignorance involved

I know their music, I was around when they were first popular, I loved their live album when I was young and foolish (still think it was partially a decent record), had a ticket for one of their concerts that was cancelled due to the plane crash, and even mildly like some of their more obscure songs. I played in bands for years and years, and have very eclectic musical tastes.

What exactly am I, and the rest of us that don't like Skynyrd allegedly ignorant of?

[RagingInMiami]

29. First of all, you accused them of being racist

Then you talked about how they supported Bush.

But all the songs mentioned in this thread were written when the shrub was snorting and drinking up a storm in Texas. And I have yet to see any evidence that they are racist.

Now I know you're going to mention the confederate flag, but that, to me, has always been more about southern pride than hatred towards blacks.

[Joe Power]

31. Forget the racist flag

"Well I heard mister young sing about her
Well, I heard ole neil put her down
Well, I hope neil young will remember
A southern man don’t need him around anyhow"

This is to refute Neil Young's anti-racism anthem.

From the same song:

"In birmingham they love the governor
Now we all did what we could do"

and

"Oh sweet home baby
Where the skies are so blue
And the governor’s true"

Just in case you don't know who that Governor was:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/wallace/timeline/index_2.html

[DemocratSinceBirth]

34. "Now we all did what we could do"

can imply they were opposed to his policies...


You're trying to make the group into a musical version of Strom Thurmond...

[Joe Power]

36. Their words, not mine

I'm merely pointing out the obvious, you're the one trying to make them into something they weren't/aren't. Their own words tell the story. How do you spin "The Governor's true" line?

[RagingInMiami]

37. Uh, i know who that governor was

It seems like we go through this same argument/discussion every two weeks. I should just bookmark the threads so I can just post the link.

OK, the part about Neil Young was a joke. They were all friends. In fact, when Ronnie Van Zant died in the plane crash, Young played Sweet Home Alabama at a Miami concert as a tribute to his friend. He later served as a pall bearer in Van Zant's funeral.

If you listen to the song, they said "boo hoo hoo" after the part about them loving the governor in Birminghan, voicing their disapproval.

The part that they all did what they could do is just like most of us did all we could do to beat Bush, but what can you say, apparently in the U.S., they love the president.

The song is making fun of the people in Alabama, hence the line "where the skies are blue, and the governor's true."

LS were poor white kids from Florida. Why would they be raving about Alabama?

[Joe Power]

38. I guess that could be one interpretation

Not a very convincing one, however. Particularly since the remaining members did stump for Bush. Btw, the Neil Young referrence as a joke is particularly silly spin.

[Zomby Woof]

45. The ones stumping for Bush...

That is sad for sure, but Ronnie supported Carter and the original band raised money for him in 1976. Safe to say... he would be ashamed of the 2 remaining members in the so-called new version of the band. 2!

Also, it isn't spin about Neil. Ronnie said (and you can hear the actual tape in the "Freebird" movie) that "Neil was a genius". RagingInMiami was absolutely correct about their mutual admiration. Neil wrote "Powderfinger" and "Sedan Delivery" for them to cover.

And... the line is, as I have always heard it is, "Where the skies are so blue, and the governor is too!" A mocking of him. Their bass player equated Wallace to HITLER. You can't disavow him much more than that! Plus, they posed with some local African-Americans for the cover shot of their debut, but the final decision just made it a group shot. Since they LOVED the interracial Allmans, I doubt if they were racist. "The Ballad of Curtis Loew" says so.

Cheesy, racist, redneck bands wouldn't have written 'Saturday Night Special', 'Things Goin' On', or 'All I Can Do Is Write About It'.

Or have supported Carter.

The current version doesn't count... 2 members, and I think they are being played as fools by the people they now hang out with. It is not Ronnie's fault this happened, being gone for over 27 years now.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

32. I Am Not A Big Fan Of The Confederate Flag...

I think it should be outlawed on public property but I don't expect a bunch of high school drop outs who turned out to be awesome politicians to have my sensibilities...

[underpants]

35. Okay I'll jump in

We moved to Virginia (okay not the DEEP south) in '73 and there were "rebel flags" all over the place. I never saw it as nor heard anyone say that it was supposed to mean being pro-racist it was a symbol unique to the south-a regional pride thing.

It has been corrupted by both sides. First by the pro racist crowd an in response by those opposed to them. The entire conversation has changed.

This is just my opinion.

[Zomby Woof]

46. You are right

I lived in TN and VA from the 60's through the 80's, and it was just a regional pride thing. It has changed, for the worse, on both sides.

[SCantiGOP]

19. agreed, joe power

I would turn them off the radio as quickly as any country music yahoo.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

21. I Like Some Country Music...

Not all country musicians are yahoos...


Johnny Cash was decidedly a man of the left as is Wille Nelson, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Kris Kristofferson for starters....

[Joe Power]

27. I agree

I have some genres of music that I am not particularly fond of as a whole, but there are great talents in all of them.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

28. I Literally Like All Music Except Opera And Classical....

In my cd case I have cds by Elton John, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Ray Charles, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, James Taylor, Bob Dylan, Digital Underground, Eminem, D-12, Salt N Pepa, and Public Enemy....

[RagingInMiami]

20. Other good songs

Four walls of Raiford
Tuesday's Gone
Ballad of Curtis Lowe


But yeah, Simple Man is a beautiful song

[DemocratSinceBirth]

23. Saturday Night Special And What's Your Name...

are great too...

[underpants]

33. The Ballad of Curtis Lowe

I love that song.

[RagingInMiami]

39. Another great song

Gimme back my bullets

[jswordy]

41. I work in AL, and they play LS so much here I am getting sick of it

The worst part is, radio is so formatted now that they won't play any of the other great LS songs, just that one, "Free Bird" and "Sweet Home Alabama."

The day the plane crash was on the news, about 10 of us skipped our college classes and got wasted to Skynyrd as a kind of memorial service.

It WAS a great band. (Do not be fooled by the "Lynyrd Synyrd" playing on tour these days.)

[DemocratSinceBirth]

42. I Got Burned Out On Free Bird Long Ago...

but not Sweet Home Alabama...