Southern Man

This song is about racism in the American South, with references to slavery and the Ku Klux Klan. Young claimed the song was more about the civil rights movement than the South in particular, but many Southern men (and women) didn't appreciate the generalization. In his 2012 biography Waging Heavy Peace, Young apologized for the song, writing: "I don't like my words when I listen to it. They are accusatory and condescending, not fully thought out, and too easy to misconstrue."

Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote "Sweet Home Alabama" as a response to this song. Young is mentioned in the line, "I hope Neil Young will remember, a Southern man don't need him around anyhow." Lynyrd Skynyrd were big fans of Young. "Sweet Home Alabama" was meant as a good-natured answer to "Southern Man," explaining the good things about Alabama. Skynyrd lead singer Ronnie Van Zandt often wore Neil Young T-shirts while performing. Young was quite happy with "Sweet Home Alabama." He said, "They play like they mean it, I'm proud to have my name in a song like theirs." After the release of "Sweet Home Alabama," Neil Young wrote several songs for Lynyrd Skynyrd as means of reconciliation, including his eventual standby, "Powderfinger." However, the band had their infamous plane crash in 1977 before they could use the songs, and Young ended up keeping them for himself.

In the liner notes for his greatest hits album Decade, Young wrote: "This song could have been written on a civil rights march after stopping off to watch Gone With The Wind at a local theater."