Birmingham

Album: Good Old Boys (1974)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song sounds like an autobiographical tribute to the city of his birth, but Newman was born in Los Angeles and spent his childhood oscillating between Los Angeles and New Orleans. In this song, he assumes the character of a steel mill worker in Alabama who oozes pride in his Birmingham heritage.
  • Good Old Boys is a concept album, and "Birmingham" is a typical offbeat Newman song written slightly tongue-in-cheek. Reviewer Sean Nelson described this and the other songs on the album as "heavily critical studies of trash, loonies, drunks, dirty politicians, and bigots." >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Alexander Baron - London, England, for above 2
  • Newman wrote this song to flesh out the character he created in the song "Rednecks."

Comments: 1

  • Bill from UsLove the Joplin/Ragtime piano on this song, but what I really love is how they pop that pedal steal note before he sings about his wife. It sounds like something Oscar Hammerstein and Jerome Kern could have written in the 30's too.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

JJ Burnel of The Stranglers

JJ Burnel of The StranglersSongwriter Interviews

JJ talks about The Stranglers' signature sound - keyboard and bass - which isn't your typical strain of punk rock.

John Doe of X

John Doe of XSongwriter Interviews

With his X-wife Exene, John fronts the band X and writes their songs.

Glen Burtnik

Glen BurtnikSongwriter Interviews

On Glen's résumé: hit songwriter, Facebook dominator, and member of Styx.

Dino Cazares of Fear Factory

Dino Cazares of Fear FactorySongwriter Interviews

The guitarist/songwriter explains how he came up with his signature sound, and deconstructs some classic Fear Factory songs.

George Harrison

George HarrisonFact or Fiction

Did Eric Clapton really steal George's wife? What's the George Harrison-Monty Python connection? Set the record straight with our Fact or Fiction quiz.

Steely Dan

Steely DanFact or Fiction

Did they really trade their guitarist to The Doobie Brothers? Are they named after something naughty? And what's up with the band name?