The Steel Woods

There’s a Southern accent
Where I come from.
The young un’s call it country,
And the Yankees call it dumb.
                      Tom Petty, “Southern Accents” (Covered by The Steel Woods)

Southern rock and “outlaw country” are experiencing a renaissance of late. Undoubtedly influenced by the rash of bubble gum pop country from Nashville, this darker and more authentic working class music speaks to Americans with a penchant for seeing the glass half-empty. Or perhaps it’s a throwback to Hank Williams Jr.’s astute summary of American life in his “American Way:”

If you fly in from Birmingham, you’ll get the last gate.
If you blew in from Boston, no you sure won’t have to wait.
And I’m learning, a little more every day,
About the power of the dollar, and the people with white collars, and the good old American way.
I’ve noticed I don’t get much help, when they see my blue jeans.
Some slick with a suit walks up, “Oh, can I help you please?”
Yes I’m learning, as I gain a little age,
About the power of the dollar, and the people with white collars, and the good old American way.

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