Lynyrd Skynyrd

I was almost 38 years old before I finally realized what a fantastic band Lynyrd Skynyrd was, at least back in the original Ronnie Van Zant days. Man, but that dude could write lyrics, and the triple guitars of Allen Collins, Gary Rossington and Ed King were phenomenal. Here's where I once again have to completely admit that before I started to play guitar, my musical tastes were very shallow. I had written-off Lynyrd Skynyrd as a two-hit-wonder band of Confederate flag-waving red-necks. What a moron.

As an enthusiastic beginner guitar player, I was bound to get into Lynyrd Skynyrd just because of their emphasis on the instrument. I still had a bias against them due to the whole lyrical spat with Neil Young in Sweet Home Alabama due to Young's Southern Man and Alabama, but I was really starting to get into their groove. Of course all one has to do is scratch the surface to find documentation that Young and Van Zant were good friends, and that Ronnie had tongue firmly in-cheek when writing his lyrics. Anyhow, the more I listened, the more I liked, and based upon the lyrics of many of the songs, it was also becoming quite clear that my prejudice was unfounded (as prejudice usually is).

The song that clinched it for me was Saturday Night Special, from the album Nuthin' Fancy. My complete lack of depth combined with my anti-Skynyrd bias caused me to assume that this was a pro-gun song; again, what a moron. This has to be rated as one of the coolest (whatever that means) pro-gun-control songs of all time. The following snippet is just the final verse and the chorus:

Hand guns are made for killin'
Aint no good for nothin' else
And if you like to drink your whiskey
You might even shoot yourself
So why dont we dump 'em people
To the bottom of the sea
Before some ol' fool come around here
Wanna shoot either you or me

It's a Saturday Night Special
Got a barrel thats blue and cold
Ain't no good for nothin'
But put a man six feet in a hole

Great stuff. I always thought it was "Mister Saturday night special", but the first three sites I checked stated "It's a..." I'm not finished talking about Lynyrd Skynyrd yet. I'll either come back and add to this entry, or I'll just start a new one.