Rock and Roll Contenders # 23: Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Gimme Back My Bullets"
I seen the hard times and the pressure's been on me.
Not everyone looks on hillbillies with fondness. Hicks. Backwoods freaks. Longhaired country boys. I’m a bit of a hillbilly myself with roots in a small coal town in Western Pennsylvania. Isolated. Woodsy. Guns and beer. Looking for deer at night with a spotlight and a sixpack. Friday night football and campfires. On Saturday you step into a cornfield and shoot pheasants.
Riding around and drinking beer was top of the line entertainment in my teens and early twenties because there wasn’t much else to do. A movie or a mall was forty-five minutes away. So you’ll excuse me if I feel an overinflated affinity for those Florida hillbillies in Lynyrd Skynyrd, and especially for a song like “Gimme Back My Bullets.”
Ronnie Van Zandt ain’t takin’ shit from nobody, and his ethos is derived from the fact that he drank enough whiskey to float a battleship around. Well, that and the fact that the fat cats and pencil pushers don’t really impress him. In fact, they’d better get out of his way.
Nobody expects Lynyrd Skynyrd to take a philosophical turn, but those dudes are keenly aware that nothing in this life is static. Life is strange because the universe is in flux. You can’t predict anything, not really, and hard times will befall you. But you can keep on workin’ like a workin’ man do and get your act together.
When you mix your philosophy with loud Gibson guitars and a solid groove, people are gonna dance and sing along, even after they run you out of town. You’re always a step ahead of them, anyway.
I can’t really be sure who took Ronnie Van Zandt’s bullets, or why it’s necessary to get them back on the day when he writes this song. At the same time, I have no doubt that he’ll get the ammunition and move on in this life without a care for politicians or corporations or city fathers.
This is rock and roll we’re talking about, an American game of freedom and self reliance. Civil disobedience. Regardless of how many times you push old Ronnie’s face in the mud, he’s gonna get up and march to his own drummer. He’ll sing his song and be proud. He sure as hell ain’t gonna see a barber. He might not get a shower this week if things get too crazy, but you won’t hear him cry because he doesn’t sing the blues.
I've always been impressed with the fact that Skynyrd (the core members anyway) were a working band for *10 years* before getting signed & releasing their first album. And the last 5 of those years were with the same lineup that made that first album. Not only does that show incredible perseverance, it's one of the things that makes a real band great - years of playing live together and paying dues. These guys were seasoned pros on their first record, and they sounded like it.
I like pretty much all of their music, however I consider "Street Survivors" to be something of an under-rated masterpiece. Steve Gaines was an absolute mofo on guitar, may he rest in peace. "That Smell" may be over-played, but skip ahead and listen to Gaines on "Honky Tonk Nighttime Man" or "I Know A Little." Holy moly!
Quite possibly my favorite Lynyrd Skynyrd song. I suppose "bullets" can be read literally, but I think it's a metaphor for "moxie" or "confidence" or "power." The groove on this song is so thick and tight yet airy and loose. That's the contradictory energy that LS was able to seamlessly create so often, and what makes them legendary in my eyes.