Randy Newman - Birmingham Lyrics

Listening in 2020

Here because of Heli Deinboek

Yes blame, ok. But it's art. Only one sentence. It's the art of Randy Newman. Never mention it. Just 3 words in the last sentence.

Naw you goober his name was bear im from Birmingham coach bear Bryant

I just have to wipe away a few tears, because I have a 2nd personality named Jesslin who misses England a lot. My ex girlfriend also liked this song so much

Kop op Arjen!

That's my home. Birmingham, The "Magic City". Hey, we ain't perfect...but what city is? Hey, after Birmingham l love NYC. But it ain't perfect eithrr.

I would not take anything for having seen him in Birmingham at The Civic Center. What a wonderful show.

Tongue in cheek song it’s quite sad but great writing by Randy...

truth here...love Randy, all of your truths thanks

I love the 'Ham!

My daddy was also born in Tuscaloosa and died right there in Birmingham.

Mooi, mooi, mooi, mooi,

'Get 'm Dan'. Randy knows life aint about owning a big black dog. Cudo's to the Man.

This is excellent stuff. Over the heads of those not willing to dig deeper into the meanings.
"What?! Newman hates southerners and short people? What a clown!. My gram is short and she has plenty of reasons to live ... Why doesn't Randy Newman like my gram?"

Got a big black dog, his name is Dan... Get 'em Dan.... perfect

what a sad city that is

Peter Simson What is sad about it?

Ben Smith
He doesn't even know. It's sad because now it's an entirely black city with crime rates that would suprise you. I live 25 miles away from B-ham.. that's what's sad.
Not the BS that happened 60 years ago

When this song was written, Randy Newman was traveling all throughout the South to get inspiration for his album Good 'Ol Boys in 1973 and '74 (when it was released). This song was the first release from it. A lot of songs have been written about the city. I know as "the city" 50 miles to my south, the first city of major regards to the rural town where I live. No matter the history, when this song was written it was becoming the town it is today.

Full of a lot of kinds of people and much better and wiser than it once was. It's more than just the place of the Bull Conner hoses or the KKK bombing that took the lives of those three precious girls. It is the Empire of The South like it says on the old Gray lady (Graymont Avenue's) Legion Field, the home of the first SEC Championship Game, the game that changed college football forever. Roll Tide and Go Gators. The home of Fannie Flagg and it's the city that made famous Fried Green Tomatoes, the food and the movie. The best silent movie actress of her time, Talulah Bankhead got her start in the famed Alabama Theatre. The birthplace of Condi Rice, Nell Carter, Courtney Cox, Kate Jackson, (Charlie's Angels) Bo Jackson, the voice of the NY Yankees, Mel Allen, Charles Barkley, Erskine Hawkins (mentioned on a lot of BET shows with his trumpet savvy) and band leader Lionel Hampton. Not to mention Captain Trapper from MASH, Wayne Rogers, Emmylou Harris and four well-known American Idol contestants, Ruben Studdard, Taylor Hicks, Bo Bice and Diana DeGarmo. The home of Vulcan, the first southern city to manufacture steel (and then came with it iron ore and coal processing it still does). It's the place where I play and will teach tennis someday. It is the best city in all of Alabam, it is Birmingham.

I think it's so beautiful to express pride in the town your from. as the world's least known Martian, i salute you.

Ben-Laden Bernanke Well said of my home town.

You had me until the American Idol thing.

well it's a shithole now mate

What a sad sick history this city has (based on photos).

Noe Berengena Why is it 'sick'? Sorry, I don't understand. Does it need medical help?

Birmingham has an awesome history. Everyone thinks of Bull Connor and the racists, which isn't unfair, but no one likes to think about the Alabamians who started the greatest civil rights movement the world has seen, sacrificing their lives and safety to challenge the world wide problem of racism and discrimination, which is unfair.

Noe Berengena
Fuck off commie. Not everyone is a soyboy pansy like you. I live right outside Birmingham and it is ran by blacks now, and now it's a piece of shit town with shootings every other night and crime is on the rise. We haven't had a white Mayor in 30 years... Birmingham Police department is 99 percent black....
The truth is Birmingham was a beautiful city when these photos were taken. Now it is a garbage City because of the amount of black inhabitants who vacate B-ham.
When most of your in-city population doesn't work and lives off of Welfare, then how are you supposed to collect city taxes and update? Well you can't. Because hardly any sane white people want to live in B-ham. So we have all moved outwards in every direction away from B-ham.
Look at Atlanta, Georgia and you will see the same thing....

Go back to fucking your sister you inbred racist scumbag.

get em dan.

"Birmingham" — Randy Newman — 1974
From Randy Newman’s 1974 “Good Old Boys” album

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

Birmingham, Birmingham
The greatest city in Alabam'
You can travel 'cross this entire land
But there ain't no place like Birmingham

My 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

Birmingham, Birmingham
The greatest city in Alabam'
You can travel 'cross this entire land
But there ain't no place like Birmingham

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Randy Newman’s 1974 “Good Old Boys” album
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Old_Boys_(Randy_Newman_album)