Does your conscience bother you?

This weekend was all classic rock, all the time for me. Skynyrd's "Pronounced..." album, alternating with some 104.3 (which was playing way too much Beatles and Doors, but I'll say no more as I have enough enemies).

I also read an article in the New York Times about how if a Democrat (say, John Kerry) drives an SUV he is pretentious and elitist, but if a Republican does, he is rugged. Anyhow, the premise of the article was that while the "pedigrees" of the candidates are so much the same, they are polarized in the press and national consciousness.

This combined with too much classic rock reminded me of the 1970s battle (even before the days of Nas and Jay-Z!) betwixt Neil Young and Lynyrd Skynrd. For those who don't know, Neil Young wrote a song called "Southern Man". The song used an us vs. them voice and reminded the southern man about his dangerous legacy of slavery. The lyrics also link the hypocrisy of slavery to the beloved bible of the, you know, bible belt. Paraphrased, the message is: "Dude. I saw what you were doing down there and it was nasty. You people have done disgusting things and it will haunt you till you do something about it. You assholes."

Then Lynyrd Skynrd responded directly with "Sweet Home Alabama", which you may have heard before. This is not just a song for pretty southern girls to dance to in movies. Skynrd's response is basically separatist ("Well, I hope neil young will remember a southern man don’t need him around anyhow"). It's an anthem, obviously. But the lyrics are more subtle. I am always interested in the verse:

In Birmingham they love the governor
Now we all did what we could do
Now watergate does not bother me
Does your conscience bother you?
Tell the truth

I assume the Birmingham line is about segregation but I am not sure how Watergate was exactly a Northern thing or relates at all. But you can totally look it up and figure it out. Paraphrased, the message is: "Fuck you. You don't even know."

My point is that I enjoy this little battle, but there isn't really so much difference between Young and the boys of Skynrd. We all have a nasty legacy, it's not just a southern thing. There was slavery in New York state for pete's sake. It's not like things weren't worse in the south, or that things didn't polarize a lot in the 1860s, but still. Don't act like you don't have blood on your hands, because we (by we, I obviously mean us white folks) all do.

By the same token, there's no difference between Kerry and Bush with respect to pedigree. Bush is no more a common man than Kerry. Kerry is no more elitist than Bush. The comparisons are so mind-blowingly superficial. I can't understand why people don't take the time to find out the truth.