This was written and originally recorded by Allen Toussaint on his 1975 album Southern Nights. In our interview with Toussaint, he explained that it was the last song he recorded for the album, and it came in a flash. "While I was finishing the album Van Dyke Parks visited me in the studio," said Allen. "He was a wonderful guy, a genius of a guy. He said, 'Well, consider that you were going to die in two weeks. If you knew that, what would you think you would like to have done?' And after he said that, I wrote 'Southern Nights' as soon as he left."
Glen Campbell chose to record this song because it reminded him of his rural childhood in Arkansas, and his arrangement became a huge hit. Said Campbell, "My dad told me when I was a kid, 'You're having the best time of your life, and you don't even know it.' Sure enough, he was right. Now I really feel the need to go back home, float down the Missouri River, and fish for bass and crappies. It's real peaceful, and remote from things like telephones. My head is still there."
A very personal song for Toussaint, he wrote it about the idyllic evenings growing up in Louisiana when he would travel into the country an visit with the older folks. "They were people from our ancestors, and we loved them a lot," he said. "This song was written about them."
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