In Popular Culture
"Sweet Home Alabama" appears on the soundtrack of the 1994 film Forrest Gump, as the title character dances with his beloved friend Jenny in the living room of his Alabama home during a rainstorm. In the 1997 film Con Air, the song is played as the list of main characters is seen in the end credits. During the film, it is also played on the plane as some of the convicts dance, prompting Garland Greene (Steve Buscemi) to comment on the irony of "a bunch of idiots dancing on a plane, to a song made famous by a band that died in a plane crash." The song (in edited form) is also heard at the beginning of the 2010 film Despicable Me. The song also appears in the 1995 film Crimson Tide. As the ballistic missile submarine USS Alabama sets sail, the crew in the enlisted mens mess are playing the song on a portable stereo. It is also used in the opening to the film Joe Dirt and features David Spade lip syncing the opening "turn it up" lyric. It is used in the 2002 Reese Witherspoon / Patrick Dempsey movie of the same name.
The song is often heard at U.S. Cellular Field whenever Chicago White Sox ace Jake Peavy is pitching. Peavy was born in Mobile, Alabama.
As of 2009, the State of Alabama has begun using the phrase "Sweet Home Alabama" as an official slogan on license plates for motor vehicles, with Governor Bob Riley noting that Lynyrd Skynyrd's anthem is the third most-played song referring to a specific destination. (This is also the second Alabama license plate in a row to make reference to a popular song, with the state's previous plate having featured "Stars Fell on Alabama".)
World Wrestling Federation (WWF) used Sweet Home Alabama as the theme song for their pay-per-view Armaggeddon in 2000.
The song has been used in multiple advertising campaigns. In September 2007, Alabama Governor Bob Riley announced the phrase "Sweet Home Alabama" would be used to promote Alabama state tourism in a multi million dollar ad campaign. No indication has been given if the song itself will be included in the campaign.
The song was used as the theme song to the 2001 EA Sports video game NASCAR Thunder 2002
The song is played at every home football game for the University of Alabama with the phrase "Roll Tide Roll" following the title lyrics.
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Famous quotes containing the words popular culture, popular and/or culture:
“Like other secret lovers, many speak mockingly about popular culture to conceal their passion for it.”
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“Party action should follow, not precede the creation of a dominant popular sentiment.”
—J. Ellen Foster (1840–1910)
“When we want culture more than potatoes, and illumination more than sugar-plums, then the great resources of a world are taxed and drawn out, and the result, or staple production, is, not slaves, nor operatives, but men,—those rare fruits called heroes, saints, poets, philosophers, and redeemers.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)