Redneck songs run deep in my blood. Growing up in rural West Virginia in the early '80s, Hank Williams Jr. was king (actually, he still is). Charlie Daniels, David Allan Coe, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and many others played the music I grew up hearing. To a kid growing up in the sticks they were speaking directly to me and my life. But regardless of whether you grew up at the end of a dirt road or in a big city apartment, Redneck music offers something for us all. Freedom, individualism, and rebellion are all causes with which we can relate. Here are 10 great songs to listen to the next time you are feeling a little country.
"Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd has to start the list. Whether you are from Alabama or California this song just makes you think of the south. Lazy hot days on a river bank, sitting in the shade on the back porch, or working in the field, this song makes me want to go home.
"A Country Boy Can Survive" by Hank Williams Jr. Perhaps the greatest song ever written. Take care of yourself and those you love. What more can you say? His Daddy and son (Hank III) aren't bad either (understatement of the year).
I'll also throw in Hank Jr's "If Heaven Ain't a Lot Like Dixie". I remember being jolted from a near sleep in Church one Sunday when the preacher said we need to learn to get along with people cause it's going to be crowded in Heaven. Heaven for me will be every morning is the first day of buck season and the trout biting every evening. I'll have some dogs, my family, Mountain Dew, and every weekend watch the West Virginia University Mountaineers kicking some butt. But I don't want it to be crowded.
"If That Ain't Country", "Long Haired Redneck", "Son of the South", "You Never Even Called Me By My Name" are all being placed in my 10. David Allan Coe probably has more great up tempo Redneck songs than anyone else.
"Thank God I'm a Country Boy" by John Denver isn't very Rednecky at first glance, but it fits into the culture well if you give it a close listen. Hard work and good fun are Redneck to the core.
"A Boy Named Sue" by Johnny Cash is a great Redneck song. Regardless of how much Rednecks hate their family members it can always be worked out in a drunken bar fight. Ahh the good times.
"Long Haired Country Boy" by Charlie Daniels wraps the whole thing up pretty well. How much better would the country be if we all lived by "I don't want much of nothing' at all if I can't get it by myself"?
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