Ever lose track of time while you’re reminiscing on YouTube? Sometimes the endless videos on there send me traveling down Memory Lane for longer than I care to admit. Let’s just say I could probably be using my time more wisely. The thing is, I have all these music memories from the ’70s and ’80s—amazing performances on Saturday Night Live or videos from MTV—that pop into my mind one after another as I’m exploring YouTube, and I say to myself, I wonder if someone posted that? And nine times out of ten, I can find it. Of course, sometimes the video is poor quality, but the music is still there, often better than I remembered it; occasionally worse.
Anyway, there’s this Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers song called “Rebels” from their 1985 Southern Accents album that I really enjoyed listening to back in the day. In fact, the song was the closing number of a great live concert that was aired on MTV. I hadn’t thought about that song in years, until I got swept up in one of my YouTube binges a few weeks ago. You know how the memory of one song leads to the memory of another, right?
So, I ended up searching for and finding that live performance of “Rebels.” The song still rocks, but as I watched the video and listened to the lyrics for the first time in 20 years, I realized the song had a cultural subtext that I naively had missed before—or I just wasn’t as sensitive to it when I was in high school.
In the video, Petty performs in front of a giant Confederate flag and drapes himself in a smaller one at the close of the song. And here’s the third verse and chorus:
Even before my father’s fathers
They called us all rebels
Burned our cornfields
And left our cities level
I can still see the eyes
Of those blue bellied devils
When I’m walking round tonight
Through the concrete and metal.
Hey, hey, heyI was born a rebel
Down in Dixie on a Sunday morning
Yeah – with one foot in the grave
And one foot on the pedalI was born a rebel.
Now, I know that Petty was born and raised in the South, but I never thought of him as being some outspoken Dixie rabble-rouser. And I’m guessing the lyrics of this song and the Confederate flag backdrop are being employed in a partly ironic way that recognizes the complexity of our modern society. But as I read the comments for this video on YouTube, I realized that a lot of White Pride-type folks look at “Rebels” as a sort of anthem, and here I am—the clueless black guy who just likes the music. (I guess it was similar to my cheering on Bo and Luke Duke in the late ’70s even as they raced around in a Dodge Charger emblazoned with the insignia of the Confederacy.)
The emotion around the song “Rebels” reminded me of another tune with controversial roots—“The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Back when I was the editor of Today’s Christian magazine, we did a brief article on the origin of that song. I had always thought of it as being this sort of patriotic hymn and theme song of Abraham Lincoln that was made even more legendary in the 20th century by Elvis Presley. I assumed everyone loved it. But then we started receiving letters from angry readers who looked at the song—and our publication of the article—as a swipe against white Southerners. In fact, the article was linked to on a pro-Confederacy website that encouraged its members to send us protest emails. I was suddenly awakened to this radical movement of modern Confederate sympathizers (many of whom are Christians) who are still quite bitter about the outcome of the Civil War.
After the flood of emails, we posted an editor’s note about the unexpected controversy and tried to be gracious to the Southerners who were attacking us. (In retrospect, I wonder if I tried too hard.) Then we posted some of their angry emails, just to give readers a taste of how some people still feel about “The War of Northern Aggression,” as they call it.
Why do I bring all this up? I don’t know, except that I still love that Tom Petty song. Also, I believe it’s good to be reminded that a lot of the feelings and attitudes that helped create the racial divide in this nation are still stirring in ways many of us thought had ceased ages ago.
I always hear that African Americans need to learn to let go of the past when it comes to race relations today, and I agree with that to an extent (though it’s crucial to remember that some things from the past will continue to haunt us unless we deal with them in an honest and straightforward manner). But I think there are also many white Americans with cultural hang-ups, wrapped in things like Southern pride and family heritage, that continue to hinder racial healing in this nation. For this reason, perhaps “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” and “Rebels” are songs we need to hear not just as entertainment or anthems for a particular movement or ideology, but as a way of educating ourselves to the unseen snares that still beset the road to reconciliation.
[…] 4, 2008 by thelinkbetween Edward Gilbreath has an insightful post on the status of racial healing in the US as reflected in Tom Petty’s song […]
Hi Ed!
Great post. So true that some of the songs we enjoyed on an emotional level in some ways bypassed our intellects (such as they were!) twenty years ago. I think there are still plenty of “unexposed” presuppositions, not only in lyrics but in everyday interactions, that we fail to recognize. My goal lately has been to get people (beginning with me and mine) to focus, be deliberate, generally pay attention… That is harder and harder because of the multi-media and special interest haze we all live in!
Keep on keeping us thinking. 😉
Wow. Powerful, honest, and humbling post, Ed. Your grace is admirable, here. And I am challenged– my anger comes too quickly, my judgment too harsh. A simple glance at the “Stars-n-Bars” makes me cringe– even curse… but then… does that make me any better then “the other” ideology that I hate?
On that note… time for some prayer…
Goodnight, and thank you!
I like this. It opens up the complexity of culture. We like things despite what their deeper meanings can be. Or conversely, we hate things despite what their deeper meanings can be. Humanity. Wow.
Barby, Tyson, & L.L.,
Thanks for your thoughtful comments. Each of you have opened up the subject even beyond what I was thinking when I originally posted. Lots to ponder here.
Peace,
Ed G.
Ed,
I have had this same feeling in reliving my love for bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd. As a Jr./Sr HS kid I never understood what they were saying (or even who they were addressing) when, in one of my favorite songs of all time they say “I hope Neil Young will remember, a southern man don’t need him around”. . .
Love the music! Hate the (newly understood) sentiment!
Joel.
Ed-
About 4 years ago I went through a similar trauma with my now 10 year old daughter over Lynard Skynard’s “Sweet Home Alabama”. Somewhere in the 90’s, when I found my heart moving unabashedly toward the very American rock and roll of my youth–think Mellencamp, Fleetwood Mac, and of course Tom Petty–I added Sweet Home to my playlist.
Years later, delighted to find my little Grace loved the Beatles and was wide open to all kinds of rock, I played it for her. Almost immediately I regretted it, because (in true 6 year old fashion) she had to hear it over, and over, and over again.
Suddenly, the lines dissing Neil Young, and praising (or at least not having a problem) with Nixon’s Watergate, lines I was willing to dismiss because I liked the way it rocked, now pierced me like dentist drills each time I heard them.
Thank God she’s since forgotten about Sweet Home. Ditto Dire Straits “Money For Nothing”, which I also loved that she loved, until I realized the damage the repetition of “…the little faggot with the earring and the mink coat…the little faggot he’s a millionaire,” was eventually going to do.
We’ve always known that the pop culture we love is not necessarily from God’s own heart. This is how we learn our lessons.
I just got your book Reconciliation Blues from the library, can’t wait to read it.
I don’t like to see a Rebel Flag but when you talk to people about it being offensive they say the war wasn’t about slavery but states rights..ugh, yea, the “right” to own people!
I love your blog.
Carole
[…] told the story before about how, when I was editor of Today’s Christian, I heard it big time from Confederate […]
Hey Ed. A little late to the party, I know. I’m a first generation Texan. Family immigrated from Alabama. When I was a teenager, I supported the use of the Stars and Bars for “heritage” purposes. Though some people who aren’t from the South may not understand this, but I knew racial inequality was wrong. I knew that the social and economic systems that existed at the time were wrong. I knew the lingering emotions, feelings and actions that had been around for so long were wrong. In my mind, I sort of compartmentalized the issues and viewed the flag as a source of pride of who I was.
My view on the flag changed drastically in college. I didn’t even go to one of those “evil liberal” colleges! It was a small, po-dunk college in Montana. A couple of the African American kids on campus and I had a lot in common. I was sensitive to their background and the fact that they were an extreme minority in that area.
I don’t like seeing the Stars and Bars. I cringe when I hear things like the South will rise again. I’m a post-segregation, white Southerner. Among my friends are every sort of person within God’s creation. While saying this, I can still say that this song touches me on an emotional level. Not from some twisted perspective that clings to the ‘Ol South. But from a point that we Southerners have a steep hill to climb within the national perception. Tom’s words, “one foot in the grave and one on the pedal” embodies the feeling that so many people that I knew growing up felt. It speaks to the knowlege that whenever a Southerner opens his mouth and his/her drawl is heard, others automatically put him/her in a box. The song speaks to the fine line between being proud of who you are and where you come from and being a crazy wingnut. Most issues, like this one, are more complex than people want to know.
I appreciate your words in your blog. God bless.
Thanks, Ray. I still think about the themes of this post a lot, even three years later, so I appreciate your reflections on the subject. As you say, most issues — and people — are more complex than we sometimes care to know. But it’s important to deal forthrightly with issues like this one if we’re really serious about moving forward. I appreciate your honesty.
Seriously? are you people naieve? the watergate line in sweet home alabama was intended srcastically as was most of the song, and this verifiable. Also, how does having southern pride hurt racial healing? I am a trued redneck, i fly the rebel flag, but some of my best friends and co workers are black.Ignorance abounde here. do some reserach and you will seee that the AMERICAN FLAG was the one that flew over slave ships coming from africa. northerners had slaves as well, it just wanst as publicized because the agricultural industry wasnt as widespreda as it was in the south. Grant and sherman, 2 of the NORTHS greatest generals owned slave while lee and jackson, 2 of the SOUTHS biggest generals DID NOT own slaves. Also the “rednecks” who often fly that flag are actuall the ones who were usually to poor to own slaves. I haved lived in the country a long time and in memphis as well. What i realized was that in the south, the rebel flag is no bif deal to blacks anymore. there are even some blacks who wear and fly it. Because they know its truth and TRUE meaning. In the city , blacks just wanna keep finding a reason to hate white people. Do some reserach. Ignorance abounsin this article and these posts.
Just a cool song from a great song writer with a little honesty in it . I’m from ole Florida so I guess I get it
Hey, Edward! Thanks for a complex and heartfelt treatment of a difficult song and subject. I can barely imagine the discipline it must have taken to treat the subject with so much keen-eyed detachment and empathy.
I’m from Illinois, descended from German and Scots-Irish factory workers and farmers. The one ancestor we can trace to the Civil War was a Dutchman, Union infantryman who was captured at Chickamauga and did his time in Andersonville. But survived. I have no idea if he signed on as a matter of conscience, or if he was looking for a way to pay the bills and feed the kids.
I myself am a veteran of the Persian Gulf War… but frankly, my motivations were pretty mercenary. I wanted, and got, college money. With good grades, that initial push took me to an M.A. in English, and a job at a large academic library. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit it was a relief to have an indoors, no-risk, sit-down, no exposure to industrial or agricultural toxins job. Most from where I come from don’t get that. First the coal left, then the factories, and now Big Ag is coming for the farms. I should be grateful, and sometimes am.
And yet, everyday, I’m surrounded. My well-meaning co-workers and bosses can’t comprehend a path like mine… people like me don’t get nice houses in safe neighborhoods and stable marriages. How could this have happened? I read the same magazines and newspapers as these cultured coastal and suburban people, and vote the same way. What? How? My choice of clothes, my accent (Midwestern, but country), my dentition argue against it. (Forgot to mention… I’ve been a Skoal-dipper for 40-some years… addictions will tell on a body).
When I hear this song, I feel a subtle defiance, a little push-back against the people that think they know me after the first handshake, even though I’m not at all a Rebel… in the capitalized sense. But I also know that a song means… HAS to mean, different things to different people. I certainly don’t have your experience in life.
Anyway, thanks for your well-considered viewpoint. Another flashlight in the dark, to look and think again, about a well-loved song, and how it can strike another man’s ear. Rich food for thought.