regarding the drive-by truckers

it has been said, that only a southerner can truly appreciate the transcendent power of redemption. within the bounds of american culture, it is the south that bears the burden of having been on the wrong side of the slavery issue. within the bounds of american history, it is the south that bears the burden of having drug it's collective feet into a racially tolerant society. and within the bounds of american mythology, it is the south that bears the burden of living with the dark secrets and social ills it's culture and past has brought upon it. there is a humility inherent in any southerners sense of pride. a deep seeded recognition that if you peel back the layers to the ego and bravado of a proud southerner, you will find contrition and regret. the drive-by truckers, a power packing, ax slinging, whiskey drinking band from alabama, might argue that all of that is bull shit.

the dbts sing a lot about sin. they sing a lot about murder, racism, bigotry, homophobia, hard times, desperation, and sex, and drugs, and rock and roll, and i mean to say they sing a lot about rock and roll. they also sing a lot about the tension created between owning up to the past, and distancing themselves from the wrongs committed. take for instance the first verse of their blazing song "ronnie and neil" off their record "southern rock opera."

church blew up in birmingham / four little black girls killed for no goddamn good reason / all this hate and violence can't come to no good end / a stain on the good name. / a whole lot of good people dragged threw the blood and glass / blood stains on their good names and all of us take the blame

paterson hood, one of three frontmen and songwriters for the dbts, penned those lyrics which offer a counterpoint. there is an acknowledgement of the crimes of the past, and an understanding that no matter what, the south will have to live with the consequences of a few bastards, but they also give a voice to the southerner who hates what has happened, and will transcend the past. the dbts are able to take the slogan, "the south will rise again," and turn it from a threat, into a hope.



the dbts concede that there is an element in the south that continues to stain the good name. jason isbell creates a character in the song "never gonna change" off the record "the dirty south" who embodies the evil they hope to expose.

you can throw me in the colbert county jailhouse / you can throw me off the wilson dam / but there ain't much difference in the man i wanna be and the man i really am / we ain't never gonna change

mike cooley, in "sounds better in the song" off the record "decoration day" offers this reality:

well the drifter, he holds on to his youth just like it was money in the bank / and "lord knows, i can't change" sounds better in the song / than it does with hell to pay

the truth the dbts expose transcend the south. we all live with a universal shame. years ago, robert pinsky (at the time, the u.s. poet laureate) said at a reading, "we are all descendents of royalty, and we are all descendents of rape." it's not simply the south's responsibility to own up, and it's not simply the south's burden to distance themselves from the unexamined. but then again, the understanding of true redemption is not simply the south's to know.

the dbts website