Released: September 10, 1974

Songwriter: Randy Newman

Producer: Russ Titelman Lenny Waronker

[Intro]
Last night, I saw Lester Maddox on a TV show
With some smart ass New York Jew
And the Jew laughed at Lester Maddox
And the audience laughed at Lester Maddox too
Well, he may be a fool, but he's our fool
If they think they're better than him, they're wrong
So I went to the park, and I took some paper along
And that's where I made this song

[Verse 1]
We talk real funny down here
We drink too much and we laugh too loud
We're too dumb to make it in no Northern town
We're keepin' the niggers down

[Verse 2]
We got no-necked oilmen from Texas
Good ol' boys from Tennessee
College men from LSU
Went in dumb, come out dumb too
Hustlin' 'round Atlanta in their alligator shoes
Gettin' drunk every weekend at the barbecues
They're keepin' the niggers down

[Chorus]
We're rednecks, rednecks
We don't know our ass from a hole in the ground
We're rednecks, we're rednecks
We're keeping the niggers down

[Verse 3]
Now, your northern nigga's a Negro
You see, he's got his dignity
Down here, we too ignorant to realize
That the North has set the nigga free

[Verse 4]
Yes, he's free to be put in a cage
In Harlem in New York City
And he's free to be put in a cage on the South-Side of Chicago
And the West-Side
And he's free to be put in a cage in Hough in Cleveland
And he's free to be put in a cage in East St. Louis
And he's free to be put in a cage in Fillmore in San Francisco
And he's free to be put in a cage in Roxbury in Boston

[Bridge]
They're gatherin' 'em up from miles around
Keepin' the niggers down

[Chorus]

Randy Newman

Randall Stuart Newman (born 28 November 1943) is a singer-songwriter and composer, and known for his distinctive voice, caustic satire and movie scores.

He’s released 12 studio albums and has scored many movies including The Natural, Seabiscuit, Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Cars, Toy Story 3 and Monsters University. He’s won two Academy Awards and six Grammy Awards. He’s also been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

About his life, Newman has