10   Keep your hands to yourself (Georgia Satelites)

This one hit wonder became popular in the late 80's.  This was the only song that hit the charts by the group, but still resonates in the halls of great southren rock songs.

9   Flirtin with disaster (Molly Hatchet)

No, there is no real person named Molly Hatchet, it is the name of a group.  This song belongs in the list because of its ability to make a group of teenagers jump into one of thier daddy's pickup, drink some beer and drive around at ridiculous speeds to try and get themselves killed.  Somthing about this tune just makes you want to drive around and be dumb.

8   Achy breaky heart (Billy Ray Cyrus)

I belive Billy Ray single handedly killed the Mullet hairstyle.  His pretty boy looks and that long flowing Mullet where everywhere the summer his smash hit Achy Breaky Heart came out.  Soon though, the popularity of the song, and the singer was fading.  Except in the South, where Billy Ray today could become govener of any of the bible belt states on name recognition alone.

7   LaGrange (ZZ Top)

This song is awesome.  Most of the words are unintelligible.  You start out the song with a "You must be round, that Texas town, ho hummm daaaa deeee raannngeee"  I don't know of anyone who knows all the words to the song, but you can hum and get away with it.  And the best part is the one where they sing "Wait a minute" and the drums and heavy guitar kick in, it is classic.  Its at that point where a person who knows the song gets that "Wait a minute" look on their face, and does the air drums.  You can tell when a person is listening to that song in their car even if the windows are rolled up because of those unavoidable, unmistakeable movements.

6   Devil went down to Georgia (Charlie Daniels Band)

This classic country song is one everyones list of top southern music hits.  If you think about it, being a bearded, pot bellied violin playing man, and coming off cool is pretty hard to pull off.  But Charlie Daniels did it.  This great classic seems to have an affect on young groups of southern boys.  Somthing about it makes them get all uppity and ready for a bar room brawl.

5   Just the good ole boys (Waylon Jennings)

The theme song to the Dukes of Hazzard.  The show was of course based in the south, and was about those Duke boys, Bo and Luke.  This show made white trash cool.  Think about it, they lived in a shack with no floor, had no jobs, lived in a county that only had dirt roads, and every single bridge was washed out, you cant tell me that they didnt mess around with cousin Daisy and had no visible means of support except for the illegal production of alcohol.  But they all had great cars.  The lesson I learned from this show was "if you get pulled over by the police, Run!".  Great stuff.  Listening to the theme song just made you want to go speed in front of a cop, jump over the creek and watch the cop go into the water while you sped away in your unmarked car after a 100 yard jump.

4 Freebird (Lynyrd Skynyrd)

The classic southern rock group.  Often imitated, even Eminem gave it a shot, never duplicated, Lynyrd Skynyrd defind southern rock.  The song Freebird I am conviced was made to be a concert song.  They named the song only one word so drunk people could request it.  "FREEBIRD!!!"  Every documentary on the band at a live concert, that is all you would hear being yelled from the crowd. This song also is classic because I belive that rap music was affected by it.  You know how in rap music they will take a word with one sylabyle and sing it with two?  Example "Put your hands in the Aiy-er, if your a true player".  This was done for artistic effect, and to make words that would not rhyme rhyme.  But they do not match the creator of this idea Lynyrd Skynyrd.  I defy you to find a song that takes a one sylabyle word and changes it into a 10 sylabyle word.  Can't remember this word?  How bout "And this bird you cannot Chay-yah-yah-yah-yah-yah-yah-yah-yah-ange!".  This marked the moment in the song where the fifteen minute guitar solo broke out and we can all stand up and dance like drunk white people.  Classic music of America.

3   Dueling Banjos (Who knows)

The movie "Deliverance" almost made me not move to my homestate of Virginia.  If you have not seen the movie, alot of this wont make alot of sense to you, but I will try and give you a condensed version.  Deleverence is about some city boys going rafting in the Ozark mountians, a typical wrong turn is made and they end up with the evil Ozark mountian people, the ones who turned to the dark side.  Lets say they got their entertainment from sodimising with the new folk.  Of course this is where the song first became popular in this movie.  Most people who hear this popular southern song do not remember where it came from, or they would  have a quiver down their spine.

2   Mountian Music (Alabama)

The group is named after a southern state for gods sake.  Of course they make this list.  Mountian music was a great song, that starts out with a harmonica, this should set of alarms in itself.  Then it speaks of the great past times of southren children.  Taking long naps, playing baseball with explosives and skinning live cats.  Sounds like those evil ozarkians are back to me.  The part of the song where it breaks down to just a drum beat, and the members of the group each singing a different line is only beaten by the next part of the song where the beat slows down to just a "Dum Dum, Dum Dum" and then that part gets repeated over and over, faster and faster and at the end the fiddle kicks in.  This inevitibally leads  to alot of knee slapping, and more white folks trying, and failing miserably to dance.

1   Sweet Home Alabama (Lynyrd Skynyrd)

Number one without a doubt.  They have all the makings for a number one in this song.  Great southern group, southern state in the name.  A movie was named after it for the love of god!  Note: if you are in a coverband, and traveling in the south, nothing will bring the roar of approval from the crowd like playing the first "Dum Dum Da nah, Dum Dum Da nah, Dum Da Dah nah, numa numa numa numa, Turn it up".  You will be gauranteed a return contract.