God & Guns

Since I began contributing to Conservative Hideout 2.0 many of you have gotten to know me as a staunch Conservative, unabashed and unafraid of that label. But there is another side to me that may surprise some of you. I spent the better part of two decades traveling this great nation of ours as the road manager of a rock band that I would bet none of you have heard of. But in that capacity, I made acquaintances with many names you might in fact know. I also worked for some of those bigger names. My band toured with Head East and we also did shows with Dereck St. Holmes of Ted Nugent band, James “J.Y.” Young of STYX and Gregg Allman from the Allman Brothers’ band. In addition to that I have met many more people in the classic rock music business, both those on stage and off. Even though at that stage in my life I rarely paid attention to politics, looking back I can see that the vast majority of them are conservative in their outlook on life.

Why do I tell you all this? No, I am not just trying to drop names, but rather I want to discuss a particular band. I will admit that I only personally met and talked with one of them, but I know that they are a good bunch of people. About 5 or 6 years ago I was working with Head East in the capacity of road manager; we did a show in Columbia, MO with Eddie Money and Lynyrd Skynyrd. It was quite a day on that college campus and I was pretty excited to be there with not only Head East, but to see two really big names from my youth. Before they went on, I got to meet and talk with Rickey Medlocke, one of the guitar players for Skynyrd. I had a copy of the famous “Street Survivors” Skynyrd album and he signed it for me. Rickey was nice, articulate and came across as a down to earth guy next door.

Now I turned on the TV the other night and Sean Hannity had Lynyrd Skynyrd on his show, they were there to announce that they would be headlining his Freedom Concerts and also to tout their new album, God & Guns. All too often, when a celebrity makes a political statement these days it is usually in favor of Chavez or some other leftist dictator or at the very least it is to put down those of us on the right. This album, this message, and this affirmation of the majority of Americana is why I am writing this article. I would like to review it and share some of its message with you all.

Lynyrd Skynyrd - God & Guns

God & Guns is probably one of Skynyrd’s best studio albums of the last two decades, if not of their entire career. Of the twelve tracks on this album, only the title track, God & Guns was not written by the band. Johnny Van Zant, the lead singer of the band said, “It’s the only song that we actually did not write on the CD, but our management brought it in. And it was just a guy with an acoustic guitar and the words and the meaning of it was so…it hit us, it hit home with us. And we said ‘There’s our album. There’s our album title.’ This is what we stand for, you know.”

The title track, God & Guns is very powerful. It comes across as a simple song, with not much accompaniment, but its the lyrics that pull you in and get your attention. Toward the end of the song, the momentum builds and they end it in typical Skynyrd southern rock fashion, that is to say strong.

Last night I heard this politician
Talking ’bout his brand new mission
‘Liked his plans, but they came undone when he got around to God and guns
I don’t know how he grew up
But it sure wasn’t down at the hunting club
Cause if it was he’d understand a little bit more about the working man

(Chorus)
God and guns keep us strong
That’s what this country was founded on
Well we might as well give up and run
If we let them take our God and guns

Out here in my neck of the woods
Where God is great and guns are good
You really can’t know that much about ‘em
If you think we’re better off without ‘em

Well there was a time we ain’t forgot
You could rest all night with the doors unlocked
But there ain’t nobody safe no more
So you say your prayers and you thank the Lord

For that peace maker in the dresser drawer

God and guns (God and guns), keep us strong
That’s what this country, Lord was founded on
Well we might as well give up and run,
If we let ‘m take our God and guns.
Yeah we might as well give up and run
If we let ‘m take our God and guns

Another stand out song on this album is called That Ain’t My America; a song that hits home with the political dynamic that confronts Conservatives in America today. The subtle references to “Hope & Change” in the first verse and to the now infamous quote by Obama about people in mid-America “clinging to their bibles and their guns” in the third verse made me smile when I heard it for the first time.

Sometimes I wanna light up underneath the no-smoking sign
Sometimes I wished they’d tell me how justice got so blind
I wish they’d just leave me alone cause I’m doing alright
You can take your change on down the road and leave me here with mine

Cause that ain’t my America, that ain’t this country’s roots
You wanna slam old Uncle Sam but I ain’t lettin’ you
I’m mad as hell and you know I still, bleed red white and blue
That ain’t us, that ain’t my America, that ain’t my America

Yeah I was standing there in Dallas, waiting on a plane
I overheard an old man tell a young soldier thanks
Young soldier hung his head and said “Its hard to believe
You’re the only one that took the time to say a word to me”

And the old man said…

That ain’t my America, that ain’t this country’s roots
You want to slam old Uncle Sam but I ain’t lettin you
Yeah I’m mad as hell and you know I still, bleed red white and blue
That ain’t us, that ain’t my America, that ain’t my America

It’s to the women and men in their hands they hold a bible and a gun
And they ain’t afraid of nothing when they’re holding either one

Now there’s kids that cant pray in school, hundred dollar tanks of gas,
I can tell you right now this country ain’t, ain’t supposed to be like that

No, that ain’t my America, that ain’t this country’s roots
You want to slam old Uncle Sam but I ain’t lettin you
Yeah I’m mad as hell and you know I still, bleed red white and blue
That ain’t us, that ain’t my, that ain’t my America, oh no, that ain’t my America

The entire album really is top quality Lynyrd Skynyrd at their best. I highly recommend that you go out and get a copy of it. The band has managed to breathe life into a genre that many people say is gone. This album really does please not only the Skynyrd fan, but the rock fan, the country fan, and even the metal crowd. From the harder rockin’ Still Unbroken, to the softer sounds of Unwrite That Song, to the bluesy sounding Comin’ Back For More and Storm there is something in this album for everyone. And besides, we need to reward those celebrities that are brave enough to stand up with their art and go against the main stream media and the far left stance in this country. Like they say, we might as well run, if we let them take our God and guns.