In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Well it's easy for a country boy to be misunderstood
When the honky tonks are jumping and the girls are looking good
Yeah, I get excited and some people think I'm rude
It's the way my daddy raised me it's my rebel attitude
CHORUS:
I'm a southern boy
Southern born and bred
I've got Sweet Home Alabama buzzing all around in my head
I'm right at home in Georgia or down in Caroline
Yeah I'd be happy anywhere below that Mason-Dixon line
A working and a sweating 'til I hear that whistle blow
Country rock a cooking on my pick-up radio
I rush home for a shower and put on my dancing shoes
I get the Friday fever and the Sunday morning blues
I'm a southern boy
I like a rowdy crowd
Put Bocephus on the jukebox and turn that sucker way up loud
Don't need a reservation
We're just a-having fun
Yeah it's party time in Dixie
Ya'll just come on down and get ya some
From Rockingham to Birmingham
Mobile to New Orleans
Jacksonville to Copper Hill
Pike to Bowling Green
Layfayette to Somerset
Boone to Rocky Mount
If you don't live in Dixie then
You're only camping out
I'm a southern boy
I say my sirs and m'ams
I'm kinda rough around the edges but I'm mighty proud of who I am
Roll on Mississippi rock on Tennessee
If it was good enough for Elvis you know it's good enough for me
I said, if it was good enough for Elvis you know it's good enough for me
Well if the King was crazy 'bout it then you know it's good enough for me
When the honky tonks are jumping and the girls are looking good
Yeah, I get excited and some people think I'm rude
It's the way my daddy raised me it's my rebel attitude
CHORUS:
I'm a southern boy
Southern born and bred
I've got Sweet Home Alabama buzzing all around in my head
I'm right at home in Georgia or down in Caroline
Yeah I'd be happy anywhere below that Mason-Dixon line
A working and a sweating 'til I hear that whistle blow
Country rock a cooking on my pick-up radio
I rush home for a shower and put on my dancing shoes
I get the Friday fever and the Sunday morning blues
I'm a southern boy
I like a rowdy crowd
Put Bocephus on the jukebox and turn that sucker way up loud
Don't need a reservation
We're just a-having fun
Yeah it's party time in Dixie
Ya'll just come on down and get ya some
From Rockingham to Birmingham
Mobile to New Orleans
Jacksonville to Copper Hill
Pike to Bowling Green
Layfayette to Somerset
Boone to Rocky Mount
If you don't live in Dixie then
You're only camping out
I'm a southern boy
I say my sirs and m'ams
I'm kinda rough around the edges but I'm mighty proud of who I am
Roll on Mississippi rock on Tennessee
If it was good enough for Elvis you know it's good enough for me
I said, if it was good enough for Elvis you know it's good enough for me
Well if the King was crazy 'bout it then you know it's good enough for me
Lyrics submitted by hockeyguy9
Southern Boy Lyrics as written by
Lyrics © CDB MUSIC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
Thursday
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.