The Three Great Alabama Icons (2024 Mix)

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, and 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

But when I first ventured out of the South, I was shocked at

How strongly Wallace was associated with Alabama and its people

You 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 backpedalin'

And he opened up Alabama politics to minorities at a rate

Faster than most northern states or the federal government

Wallace spent the rest of his life

Tryin' to explain away his racist past

And in 1982, he 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

So this song's gonna take place in Hell, told from

The Devil's point of view, as he does what any

Good Southerner would do when company's comin'

He brewed up some good sweet tea, and he whups up some

Southern hospitality for the arrival of the new guest