Newman is noted for his practice of writing lyrics from the perspective of a character far removed from Newman's own biography. For example, the 1972 song "Sail Away" is written as a slave trader's sales pitch to attract slaves, while the narrator of "Political Science" is a U.S. nationalist who complains of worldwide ingratitude toward America and proposes a brutally ironic final solution. One of his biggest hits, "Short People" was written from the perspective of "a lunatic" who hates short people. Since the 1980s, Newman has worked mostly as a film composer. His film scores include Ragtime, Awakenings, The Natural, Leatherheads, James and the Giant Peach, Meet the Parents, Seabiscuit and The Princess and the Frog. He has scored many Disney-Pixar films: Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Cars, Toy Story 3, Monsters University, Cars 3 and most recently Toy Story 4.
He has been awarded an Academy Award, three Emmys, four Grammy Awards, and the Governor's Award from the Recording Academy. Newman was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2007, Newman was inducted as a Disney Legend.
Newman grew up in a musical family with Hollywood connections; his uncles Alfred and Lionel both scored numerous films. By age 17, Randy was staff writer for a California music publisher. One semester short of a B.A. in music from UCLA, he dropped out of school. Lenny Waronker, son of Liberty Records’ president, was a close friend and, later, as a staff producer for Warner Bros., helped get Newman signed to the label.
Newman’s early songs were recorded by a number of performers. His friend Harry Nilsson recorded an entire album with Newman on piano, Nilsson Sings Newman, in 1970. Judy Collins (“I Think It’s Going to Rain Today”), Peggy Lee (“Love Story”), and Three Dog Night - for whom “Mama Told Me (Not to Come)” hit #1 - all enjoyed success with Newman’s music.
Newman became a popular campus attraction when touring with Nilsson. His status as a cult star was affirmed by his critically praised debut, Randy Newman, in 1968, which featured his own complex arrangements for full orchestra, and later by 1970’s 12 Songs. He also sang “Gone Dead Train” on the soundtrack of Performance (1970). Live and Sail Away were Newman’s first commercial successes, but his audience has been limited to some degree because his songs are often colored by his ironic, pointed sense of humor, which is rarely simple and frequently misunderstood.
Good Old Boys, for example, was a concept album about the South, with the lyrics expressing the viewpoint of white Southerners. Lyrics such as “We’re rednecks, and we don’t know our ass from a hole in the ground” made people wonder whether Newman was being satirical or sympathetic. He toured (to Atlanta and elsewhere) behind the album with a full orchestra that played his arrangements and was conducted by his uncle Emil Newman.
Little Criminals, in 1977, contained Newman’s first hit single, “Short People,” which mocked bigotry and was taken seriously by a vocal offended minority. “Baltimore” from that album was covered by Nina Simone. Following that album’s release, Newman toured for the first time since 1974. He claimed that in the interim he’d done nothing but watch television and play with his three sons. In 1979 his Born Again featured guest vocals by members of the Eagles. In 1981 Newman composed the soundtrack for the film Ragtime (the first of many soundtrack assignments) and was nominated for two Oscars (Best Song, Best Score). His 1983 album, Trouble in Paradise, included guest appearances by Linda Ronstadt, members of Fleetwood Mac, and Paul Simon, who sang a verse of “The Blues.” That album’s “I Love L.A.” became something of an anthem, thanks in part to a flashy music video directed by Newman’s cousin, Tim Newman (who went on to shoot popular videos for ZZ Top, among others). Land of Dreams (#80, 1988) spawned a minor hit in “It’s Money That Matters” (#60, 1988). It would take Newman 10 more years to make another studio album, 1999’s critically acclaimed Bad Love. With that record peaking at #194, he continues to meet his biggest success in Hollywood, where he spent most of the ’90s becoming one of the town’s most sought-after film composers. Although the material on his own records is literate and biting, the songs he writes for movies are decidedly simpler and with a sunnier outlook - and they usually meet with more success. Both “I Love to See You Smile” from Parenthood and “When She Loved Me” from Toy Story 2, for instance, were nominated for Oscars; in 1998 alone, Newman garnered three Oscar nominations for three different movies.
In 1995 Newman wrote a musical adaptation of Goethe’s Faust. Both the play and the accompanying CD (which featured guests such as Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, Elton John, Don Henley, and James Taylor in the role of God) were commercially unsuccessful. In 2000 he received the Billboard Century Award.
Rednecks
Randy Newman Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
With some smart a** 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
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
And we're keepin' the n*****s down
We got no necked oilmen from Texas
And good ol' boys from Tennessee
And colleges men from LSU
Went in dumb, come out dumb too
Hustlin' 'round Atlanta in their alligator shoes
Gettin' drunk every weekend at the barbecues
And they're keepin' the n*****s down
We are rednecks, we're rednecks
We don't know our a**
From a hole in the ground
We're rednecks, we're rednecks
And we're keeping the n*****s down
Now your northern n*****'s a negro
You see he's got his dignity
Down here we're too ignorant to realize
That the North has set the n***** free
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
They're gatherin' 'em up from miles around
Keepin' the n*****s down
We're rednecks, we're rednecks
We don't know our a**
From a hole in the ground
We're rednecks, we're rednecks
We're keeping the n*****s down
We are keeping the n*****s down
Randy Newman's "Rednecks" is a song that takes a satirical take on the racial tensions of the American South in the 1970s. In the song, Newman describes his experience watching Lester Maddox (a former Governor of Georgia and segregationist) on television alongside a "smart a** New York Jew." The Jew laughs at Maddox, and the audience follows suit. But Newman reminds the listener that Maddox is their "fool," and if anyone thinks they're "better than him," they're wrong. He then goes on to describe the culture of the "rednecks" in the South; they "talk real funny," "drink too much," "laugh too loud," and are "too dumb to make it in no Northern town." They keep the "n*****s down," referring to the continued oppression and discrimination of African Americans in the South.
Newman then goes on to compare the situation in the South to the North, claiming that the North may have "set the n***** free," but they are still putting them in cages in places like Harlem, the South Side of Chicago, East St. Louis, and other African American neighborhoods throughout the country. The song concludes with the repetitive phrase "we're rednecks, we're rednecks, we don't know our a** from a hole in the ground," once again poking fun at the ignorance and bigotry of a certain portion of the American population.
Overall, the song is a commentary on the racial divide in America during the 1970s, with Newman using satire and humor to shed light on the inequalities and prejudice still present in society.
Line by Line Meaning
Last night I saw Lester Maddox on a TV show
I watched Lester Maddox on TV
With some smart a** New York Jew
A Jewish man from New York was on the show as well
And the Jew laughed at Lester Maddox
The New Yorker laughed at Lester Maddox
And the audience laughed at Lester Maddox too
The crowd also laughed at Maddox
Well he may be a fool but he's our fool
Maddox may not be smart, but we support him anyway
If they think they're better than him they're wrong
The people who laughed at Maddox are not superior to him
So I went to the park and I took some paper along
I went to the park and wrote this song
We talk real funny down here
Our Southern accent is peculiar
We drink too much and we laugh too loud
We consume an excessive amount of alcohol and our laughter is boisterous
We're too dumb to make it in no Northern town
We lack the intelligence needed to succeed in the North
And we're keepin' the n*****s down
We are actively oppressing Black people
We got no necked oilmen from Texas
There are oilmen from Texas who have short necks
And good ol' boys from Tennessee
There are old-fashioned men from Tennessee
And colleges men from LSU
There are college-educated men from Louisiana State University
Went in dumb, come out dumb too
Even college graduates from LSU are not intelligent
Hustlin' 'round Atlanta in their alligator shoes
Some people in Atlanta wear expensive alligator shoes while trying to make money
Gettin' drunk every weekend at the barbecues
People in the South often consume alcohol at weekend barbecues
And they're keepin' the n*****s down
They are still actively oppressing Black people
We are rednecks, we're rednecks
We proudly call ourselves rednecks
We don't know our a**
We are ignorant
From a hole in the ground
We are not knowledgeable about anything
And we're keeping the n*****s down
We are actively oppressing Black people
Now your northern n*****'s a negro
Black people in the North are still Black
You see he's got his dignity
Black people in the North are respected for their dignity
Down here we're too ignorant to realize
We are too uneducated to understand
That the North has set the n***** free
Black people in the North are supposedly free
Yes he's free to be put in a cage
Black people are technically free but still subjected to oppression
In Harlem in New York City
Black people in Harlem are still oppressed
And he's free to be put in a cage
Blacks are still being oppressed in cities like Chicago, San Francisco, and Boston
On the South Side of Chicago
Black people on the South Side of Chicago are marginalized
And the West Side
Blacks on the West Side of Chicago are oppressed too
And he's free to be put in a cage
Blacks are still being oppressed in Cleveland too
In Hough in Cleveland
Black people in Hough are not free
And he's free to be put in a cage
Blacks are still being oppressed in East St. Louis
In Fillmore in San Francisco
Black people in Fillmore, San Francisco are oppressed
And he's free to be put in a cage
Black people in Roxbury, Boston are still oppressed
In Roxbury in Boston
Black people in Roxbury, Boston are oppressed
They're gatherin' 'em up from miles around
Blacks are being oppressed everywhere, no matter where they are from
We're rednecks, we're rednecks
We proudly call ourselves rednecks
We don't know our a**
We are ignorant
From a hole in the ground
We are not knowledgeable about anything
We're rednecks, we're rednecks
We proudly call ourselves rednecks
And we're keeping the n*****s down
We are actively oppressing Black people
We are keeping the n*****s down
We are actively oppressing Black people
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: RANDY NEWMAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind