I've got two good travel stories about Sweet Home Alabama. I was in a huge bar day drinking in Nice France. Most every song was French. And no one I spoke with knew any English. And then randomly in the mix, Sweet Home Alabama comes on, and the place goes crazy, with the packed bar screaming every line.
Another time I was in Madrid with a beautiful Spanish girl named Rose. She was showing me around, and two of her friends joined us bar hopping. One of the dudes was a Netherlands pilot who loved the USA. He wouldn't stop talking about what a great country the USA is, he wants his pickup and a dog, and to move out west, yada yada. Rose takes us to a very spanish bar 4:00 am. It is so overcrowded, rowdy, smokey, joints are being passed, as is a guitar. They keep playing spanish songs, everyone singing loudly with spanish pride. Well after a bit, the Netherlands dude call for the guitar....(I'm thinking uh oh, how is this going to go down)......well he starts playing Sweet Home Alabama and everyone is screaming every line again, absolutely loving it.
Both those scenes are etched into my memory. And I realized the power of music, and Sweet Home Alabama.