31 Best Songs About Alabama Ever

The Three Great Alabama Icons by The Drive-By Truckers

Song Year: 2001

This song is more than a tribute to Alabama. It’s also a reflection on the people that made the state famous.

The lyrics paint a picture of some of Alabama’s most famous people. Not all of them are flattering. The song uncompromisingly grapples with questions of race and segregation.

But what comes through is The Drive Through Truckers’ appreciation for Alabama and its people. It’s a peculiar song, more like a short story than a composition. But its breadth, depth, and scope make it well worth listening to.

The Alabama Waltz by Hank Williams

Song Year: 1974

“The Alabama Waltz” is a love song in more ways than one. Partly it’s a love song to a place. The lilting waltz rhythm of the melody perfectly renders the romance and nostalgia of home.

But it’s also about romantic love. Lyrics are scarce in this song, but the few there describe how dancing with a loved one and dreaming about the home you left behind are enough to make all one’s troubles melt away.

It’s catchy, sentimental, and a gorgeous tribute to home and love in all shapes and sizes.

Stars in Alabama by Jamey Johnson

Song Year: 2008

“Stars in Alabama” is a song pregnant with longing for a home.

Like other songs on this list, the lyrics grapple with the wandering lifestyle of musicians everywhere. This speaker is in Tennessee, and while it’s still part of the South, it isn’t home.

In addition to aching homesickness, “Stars in Alabama” is full of beautiful imagery. That’s appropriate because it’s the beauty of home that inspires such homesickness.

It’s a longing typified by the stars. Stars are everywhere, and if the speaker looks up, they offer a reprieve from the endless country roads. But because they aren’t Alabama’s stars, they are lackluster though still beautiful.

Merry Christmas Alabama by Jimmy Buffet

Song Year: 1996

This sweet holiday serenade isn’t what people think of when they think about songs about Alabama. Indeed, it wishes a Merry Christmas to a variety of states.

But it’s a heartfelt holiday song. It’s slower than many traditional carols, giving it extra weight and sincerity. Buffet’s voice is perfect for it. It’s rich, velvety, and full of holiday goodwill.

All in Alabama by Hank Williams Jr.

Song Year:1980

Earlier, we discussed Hank Williams, but he wasn’t the only musician in the family.

As the lyrics of “All in Alabama” relate, Williams Jr. left Alabama to start a music career. He hoped to distinguish himself from his father, and he did.

But the experience left him homesick for the place he grew up, and “All in Alabama” is his musical tribute to the home he loved.

What Was I Thinking’ by Dierks Bentley

Song Year: 2003

Despite featuring an irate parent brandishing a shotgun, “What Was I Thinking” plays as a comedy.

There’s a Loony-Toons sensibility to the way the shotgun-motor car chase escalates. And it all takes place, as the lyrics make clear, in rural Alabama.

Part of the song’s appeal is that it’s a love song when you get down to its bones. Take away the hi-jinks, and it’s about a couple of young people who want to spend their evening dancing together, whatever the consequences.

All Summer Long by Kid Rock

Song Year: 2007

This song about Alabama opens with a musical riff on the intro to “Werewolves of London.”

But although there’s a long-haired protagonist, there are no werewolves in Kid Rock’s song. But the speaker does change.

In this nostalgic tribute to summers in Alabama, the speaker stands on the brink of adulthood. The lyrics explore the shift from child to adult and the misadventures they had getting there.

Alabama Rain by Jim Croce

Song Year: 1973

Finally, “Alabama Rain” fondly recalls not the hot, sunny summers of other songs but the languid walks the speaker used to take with friends in the rain.

It’s a poetic song. It’s also unusual because most people choose to remember their favorite times and places as perpetually sunny idylls.

 The rain gives this a gently melancholy atmosphere and keeps it from becoming too sentimental. As songs about Alabama go, this one might be our favorite.

Top Songs About Alabama, Final Thoughts

By now, you should realize that songs about Alabama are as varied as the artists who wrote them.

Some are about specific places. Some are love songs. And some are thoughtful commentaries on the state’s complicated past.

However you feel about Alabama, one thing is clear. All these songs are memorable and deservedly so. For better or worse, fewer places inspire such musical commentary as does Alabama.