Saturday, August 13, 2011

You might be a redneck

I keep the iPod on shuffle when I'm driving, often at volumes higher than is probably appropriate for a man my age. On long road trips, this can help achieve the mile-devouring light trance that (I assume) is familiar to everyone who drives long distances.

Six hours into a seven hour drive yesterday I was pulled from reverie by a familiar screaming guitar solo. My first thought was, "Wow, I love this song!" A few seconds later I realized it was "Free Bird."

Oops.

I was a little embarrassed for myself initially. Then I decided I didn't care. Seeing Lynyrd Skynyrd at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis on July 4th of my senior year was one of the great experiences of my young life. The drive back was the most memorable part of the day, but it was all good.*  You can change where you live, but you can never change where you're from.

I didn't go the full Beavis in the car. I mean, I was on a public highway. But I cranked it loud enough to thump the rear deck, and you definitely would have seen my head bob once or twice.

I guess it's true that some birds you cannot change.


* Except apparently for the purple punch. Several announcements were made that concert-goers were to avoid the purple punch.

4 comments:

  1. that song. when my oldest sister got married a few years back, she had her reception at a biker bar. when the band played "Free Bird", it became the family dance... complete with me throwin' down a wicked air guitar solo with the band. hair whipping and everything.

    that's when i knew...

    "I danced to Free Bird... and i LIKED it..."

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  2. "You can change where you live, but you can never change where you're from." You must be where I am from. Skynyrd is like a religion there.

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  3. ;)

    some things and people are ageless...

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  4. This is excellent, i love Skynyrd and i grew up a punk and indie kid but i also grew up in Cleveland in the 70's and 80's and i remember pulling out my older sister's vinyl and listening to them... on 9/13/2001 i saw Built to Spill play, everyone was still reeling from the attacks and we didn't really know if we should be having a good time, for the encore they played Freebird and the place just exploded, take into the account this is the hipster set as well, the place was singing and dancing and going berserk, they did a 10 minute version complete with blistering guitars, one of the best things i've ever seen at a show.

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