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Moral Panics particularly in the South originated from a strong sense of regionalism. One of the South's "moral panic" in the 1970s was sparked by Neil Young's "Southern Man." This song is about racism in the South, with references to slavery and the Klu Klux Klan. Young claimed the song was more about the civil rights movement than the South, but many Southerns did not appreciate the generalization. As the story goes, In response to Young's denunciation of the South Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote "Sweet Home Alabama."  "Sweet Home Alabama" is referred to by many as the anthem of the South because it typifies a rural attitude of rejecting outside commentary on the way of life.  The moral panic happens because Southern's feel attacked by people who do not have any leg to stand on.  "Hey, he's from Canada, he ain't never been here, so he should not cut it down." -Lynyrd Skynyrd

Lynyrd Skynyrd is an American rock band  that rose to prominence during the southern rock boom of the 1970s. The bands staple was the strength of its triple guitar attack and working class attitudes. The principal members were Ronnie Van Zant, Gary Rossington, Allen Collins, Steve Gianes, Billy Powell, Leon Wilkeson, Bob Burns, and Artimus Pyle. When the band initially formed they played under multiple names in the Jaksonville Florida area. They settled on the name "Lynyrd Skynyrd" as  a back handed compliment to their high school gym teacher who hated long hair. In 1974 the band released “Sweet Home Alabama” as a response to Neil Young’s “Southern Man.”  The single reached number 8 on U.S. Charts. 

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As the story goes, Van Zant wrote the song as response to Neil Young's ”Southern Man” which attacked the South for its racist past. Van Zant viewed this song as unfair indictments of an entire region.  Van Zant can not escape his region’s history, the shame, the violence, the guilt- and he treats the South’s dirty baggage as something worth celebrating in its on right. All in all, the song negotiates what it is like to feel bad about being proud. Neil Young's liberal worldview did not approve of America's Deep South ideology. Critics of the song constantly attack the lyrics. One critic suggests that "Sweet Home Alabama" falls into a new category of songs that are written in retaliation for something flippant or defamatory enunciated in somebody else's song. The use of a song as revenge for insults was relatively new for the 1970s. 

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"Sweet Home Alabama" starts with one of the best known guitar rifts in Rock & Roll. Since cracking the Top 10 back in 1974 it has become an anthem for the state and the fight song for the University of Alabama Crimson Tides football team. When Neil young released "Southern Man" he was hopeful that the song would show Southerns that their racism and antebellum ways needed to change. Skynyrd's song reinvigorated a new sense of Southern Pride. This southern pride was more about the good things about the South rather than the old ways. 

Years later Young apologized for calling out the South and tried to explain his reasoning for the song. Today "Sweet Home Alabama" is looked at as an American Southern Rock Classic and is played across the country. 

 

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