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Birmingham Lyrics

Got a wife, got a family
Earn my livin' with my hand
I'm a roller in a steel mill
In downtown Birmingham

My daddy was a barber
And a most unsightly man
He was born in Tuscaloosa
But he died right here in Birmingham

CHORUS
Birmingham, Birmingham
The greatest city in Alabam'
You can travel 'cross this entire land
But there's no place like Birmingham

Wife's named Mary
But she's called Marie
We live in a three room house
With a pepper tree
I work all day in the factory
That's alright with me

Got a big black dog
Whose name is Dan
Lives in my backyard in Birmingham
He is the meanest dog in Alabam'
Get 'em Dan

CHORUS
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4 Meanings

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Cover art for Birmingham lyrics by Randy Newman

Interesting that Newman chose to put this song after "Rednecks," since they're basically giving off opposite messages.

@pumkinhed is it giving off opposite messages? who's the narrator of the song sicking his dog on? in Alabama?

Cover art for Birmingham lyrics by Randy Newman

The whole of the 'Good old boys' album is looking at the South from different angles and this song is a sympathetic account of one typical Southerner - I find the line about the dog, Dan, being 'the meanest dog in Alabam' very poignant

Cover art for Birmingham lyrics by Randy Newman

hahaha what the fuck this song is great

Cover art for Birmingham lyrics by Randy Newman

These few words paint such vivid pictures of ordinary people. These little observations are so odd and incidental, I assume they were drawn from people he knew.