Lynyrd Skynyrd - The Ballad Of Curtis Lowe

This is one of my favorite songs. mostly because it mirrors a lot of things i grew up with. its about the singer as a kid. he'd get up early to collect soda bottles to turn in for money. he'd give that money to Curtis Lowe who'd sit on the sidewalk getting drunk with that money and playing the blues with that whiskey money.

"the people would say he was useless...but them people all were fools...cause Curtis Lowe was the finest picker ever to play the blues."

all the white people this guy knew would talk about how Curtis was useless and this little white kid could see that they didn't know what the hell they were talking about. he saw the value of this person whom that world wouldn't give the time of day. the kid would risk a whippin' just to hear this fella play music and entertain.

I can't tell you how strong this song hits me when i hear it in a bar. growing up around the racism and the BS that i knew in my surroundings and family as a kid. But as a kid, i knew it was BS and i saw the value in those around me. those that were 'worthless'. i knew better and that's about the proudest thing i recall when i think about being a kid. i knew better even if the adults around me didn't. i knew there were these people that were called 'trash' but i never saw it that way. they were funny and talented and good hearted. i learned as much from those folks as i did from my schooling. i grew up poor around even poorer folks that taught me my own value. To this day i tell people i'm fron Clarksdale, MS as if i were saying i was born with a silver spoon in my mouth. it makes me feel rich. it taought me an awful lot at an awfully young age.

"Cause Curtis Lowe was the finest picker to ever to play the blues"...