Song of the South Trivia Quiz

Answer: sweet potato

Sweet potato pie dates back to at least Colonial America. It is a dessert or meal item that has always been popular in the Southern states. Sweet potato pies are usually made by mixing creamed, boiled sweet potatoes with various ingredients, including sugar, milk, and eggs.

This mixture is baked into a pie crust, and is often topped with whipped cream. Yum yum! (Perkins, "The Laurel Health Cookery", 1911).

Answer: looking back again

"Gone With the Wind" is a classic novel about the South during the Civil War. The title derives from a poem by Ernest Dowson called "Non Sum Qualis eram Bonae Sub Regno Cynarae". Alabama sings about the changes affecting rural Southern America, noting that people are looking forward to the future--not back to what had once been.

This is an especially telling lyric, as Southerners in the United States have historically been very attached to the past, including their own heritage and traditions.

Answer: rich

Cotton farmers were among the hardest-hit workers during the economic downturn of the 1920s and 1930s. Loss and repossession of farms caused many of them to leave their homes and embark upon days of poverty and struggle. (USC, "The History of Cotton", 2007)

Answer: Democrat

Southern Democrats are people who espouse the beliefs of the Democratic party, even though they reside in southern U.S. states. The song specifically describes a Great Depression-era Southern man who is ready to vote for Democrats. The Democrats of the 1920s and 1930s were interested in including African Americans to the fabric of a new economy. (nationmaster.com)

Answer: Wall Street

Wall Street is the geographic location in New York City where many of the United States' stock exchanges conduct business. The stock market crashed on October 29, 1929 and was considered a harbinger of The Great Depression. Many Americans had enjoyed unprecedented economic success in the early 1920s and prior, so the crash on Black Tuesday sent shock waves across the nation--indeed, the world.

In this song, however, Alabama points out that many people never enjoyed the good economic times anyway, so the fall of Wall Street had little immediate impact upon them. ("Stock Market Crash of 1929", Money-Zine.com, 2007)

Answer: tall

This line is another reference to the barren cotton fields and bleak conditions farmers were faced with in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The cotton, which represents prosperity and livelihood to farmers, was being overtaken by weeds, the literal and metaphoric representation of ruin. "Farmers not only faced a global economic slowdown of historic proportions, but they also faced one of the worst and longest droughts in America's history". (livinghistoryfarm.org)

Answer: Roosevelt

Franklin Roosevelt was the President of the United States from 1933-1945, and was pivotal to the New Deal, which aimed to help Americans who were suffering from the Great Depression. MacDonald, Hitler, and Daladier were three of his European contemporaries and political counterparts. Ramsay MacDonald was the British Prime Minster from 1929-1935.

He represented the Labour Party of the United Kingdom. Adolf Hitler was the Chancellor of Germany from 1933-1945. He was aligned with the National Socialist German Workers Party. Finally, Édouard Daladier was the Prime Minister of France in both 1933 and 1934.

He was a member of the Radical Socialist Party.

Answer: farm

Many of the farmers who struggled during the Great Depression united with one another to survive the worldwide economic crisis--and to hold on to their farmlands. Their struggle was exacerbated by natural conditions, such as droughts and unusual hailstorms.

Some farm families were successful, and managed to keep their properties by living almost entirely off of what their land produced. Unfortunately, for many others, keeping their farms and lands became an impossibility. Failure to pay rents, taxes, and other bills resulted in the loss and repossession of farms and homes. (Morain, "The Great Depression Hits Farms and Cities in the 1930s", iptv.org).

Answer: washing machine

Many dislocated Southern farmers eventually found new jobs, and were able to buy their families luxury items that had not been possible before. These items included: electric toasters, refrigerators, washing machines, gas ranges, radios, flat irons, and much more! (Kyvig, "Daily Life in the United States, 1920-1940", 2004).

Answer: Southern literature

Bob McDill was a professional country music songwriter. A Texas native, he found inspiration from his country roots, as well as from other musicians. He considered "Song of the South" to be a higher type of song, and stated that his love for Southern Literature translated into the creation of "Song of the South".

The song went to number one on the Billboard charts in 1989 and remains one of Alabama's most well-loved songs. (americansongwriter.com)