Wallace

”Sure, I look like a white man. But my heart is as black as anyone's here.”

- George C. Wallace

Siden denne blogger fik kendskab til, at en stor del af det lukkede amerikanske magasin Life’s billedmateriale er lagt på nettet, er der blevet søgt på må og få i det. Søgeordene har været mange, lige fra det, for undertegnede, obligatoriske Bob Dylan til Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Rummeligere kriterier, som Indians og Towns, er der også blevet forsøgt med. Under sidstnævnte søgning dukkede nogle fotografier op af den tidligere og nu forhåbentlig stendøde, guvernør fra Alabama, George C. Wallace.

I 2001 udgav Alabama-bandet Drive-By Truckers ’Southern Rock Opera’, der som sådan ikke har noget med en opera at gøre, men var tænkt som et skuespil, før det blev til en plade. På albummet finder man sangen ’Wallace’, der ifølge sangskriveren Patterson Hood, foregår i helvede og skal forestille Satans velkomst til George C. Wallace.

”Throw another log on the fire, boys, George Wallace is coming to stay
When he met St. Peter at the pearly gates, I'd like to think that a black man stood in the way.
I know "All should be forgiven", but he did what he done so well
So throw another log on the fire boys,
George Wallace is a coming…

Now, he said he was the best friend a black man from Alabama ever had,
And I have to admit, compared to Fob James, George Wallace don't seem that bad
And if it's true that he wasn't a racist and he just did all them things for the votes
I guess Hell's just the place for "kiss ass politicians" who pander to assholes.

So throw another log on the fire, boys, George Wallace is coming to stay
I know, in the end, he got the black people's votes, but I bet they'd still vote him this way.
And Hell's just a little bit hotter cuz He played his hand so well
He had what it took to take it so far

Now the Devil's got a Wallace sticker on the back of his car

[ Now the Mule-ettes walk out in devil horns and tails, raise their hands in the air and sing:]"OH ALABAMA…”

© Patterson Hood / Drive-By Truckers