Key: G
Introduction: G D C G D
G D C G D
To the man that waited on me at the Starbucks down on Main, I hope you understand
G D C G
When I put on that t-shirt, the only thing I meant to say is I'm a Skynyrd fan
C Em D
The red flag on my chest somehow is like the elephant in the corner of the south
G D C
And I just walked him right in the room
C Em
Just a proud rebel son with an 'ol can of worms
D G C
Lookin' like I got a lot to learn, but from my point of view
G D
I'm just a white man comin' to you from the southland
C G D
Tryin' to understand what it's like not to be
G Bm
I'm proud of where I'm from but not everything we've done
C G D
And it ain't like you and me can re-write history
Em D
Our generation didn't start this nation
G C
We're still pickin' up the pieces, walkin' on eggshells, fightin' over yesterday
G C D G
And caught between southern pride and the southern blame
G D
They called it Reconstruction, fixed the buildings, dried some tears
C G D
We're still siftin' through the rubble after a hundred-fifty years
G D
I try to put myself in your shoes and that's a good place to begin
C G D
But it ain't like I can walk a mile in someone else's skin
G D
'Cause I'm a white man livin' in the southland
C G D
Just like you I'm more than what you see
G Bm
I'm proud of where I'm from but not everything we've done
C G D
And it ain't like you and me can re-write history
Em D
Our generation didn't start this nation
G
And we're still paying for mistakes
C
That a bunch of folks made long before we came
G C D G
And caught somewhere between southern pride and southern blame
(verse-rap)
C G D
Now my chains are gold but I'm still misunderstood
I wasn't there when Sherman's March turned the south into firewood
C G
I want you to get paid but be a slave I never could
D
Feel like a new fangled Django, dodgin' invisible white hoods
Am
So when I see that white cowboy hat, I'm thinkin' it's not all good
I guess we're both guilty of judgin' the cover not the book
C
I'd love to buy you a beer, conversate and clear the air
But I see that red flag and I think you wish I wasn't here
G D
I'm just a white man, Comin' to you from the southland
(If you don't judge my do-rag)
C G D
Tryin' to understand what it's like not to be
(I won't judge your red flag) (yeah)
G
I'm proud of where I'm from
(If you don't judge my gold chains)
Bm
But not everything we've done
(I'll forget the iron chains)
C G D
it ain't like you and me can re-write history
(Can't re-write history baby)
G
Oh, Dixieland
(The relationship between the Mason-Dixon needs some fixin')
D C
I hope you understand, what this is all about
(Quite frankly I'm a black Yankee but I've been thinkin' about this lately)
C
I'm a son of the new south
(The past is the past, you feel me)
Am G C
And I just want to make things right
(Let bygones be bygones)
Am G C
Where all that's left is southern pride
G
(RIP Robert E. Lee but I've gotta thank Abraham Lincoln for freeing me, know what I mean)
(It's real, it's real It's truth)