Soundtrack of the Heart: The Top 20 songs about Alabama

From the red clay of the northern hills to the white sands of the Gulf Coast, Alabama has long been the muse of American music. It's a state where bluegrass, country, rock, jazz, and blues converge to tell stories of grit, grief, and homecoming. -From the red clay of the northern hills to the white sands of the Gulf Coast, Alabama has long been the muse of American music. It's a state where bluegrass, country, rock, jazz, and blues converge to tell stories of grit, grief, and homecoming. Whether you are driving down I-65 or watching a Gulf Coast sunset, this curated list of the top 20 songs about the Yellowhammer State captures the true soul of Alabama. Vocalist Emmylou Harris performs with British recording artist Elvis Costello and his band the Imposters at the Bank of America Pavilion in Boston, Saturday, July 23, 2005. Written in the wake of the tragic loss of her mentor and singing partner Gram Parsons, Harris uses her birthplace as a spiritual destination. The soaring chorus—vowing to walk all the way from Colorado to Alabama just to see his face again—remains one of the most devastatingly beautiful expressions of grief in American music. Bonnie Raitt, left, and John Prine perform during the Americana Honors & Awards show Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2019, in Nashville, Tenn. Prine's masterpiece of empathy paints a vivid picture of a middle-aged woman daydreaming of escape while standing over a sink of soapy water. Her longing for an 'angel from Montgomery' to take her away from a stagnant life has become a legendary anthem of the quiet desperation in everyday life. Tim McGraw performs with Lynard Skynard in a tribute to southern rock at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards Sunday, Feb. 13, 2005, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. No list is complete without the ultimate Southern rock anthem. Born as a tongue-in-cheek response to Neil Young's critiques of the South, its iconic guitar riff and defiant pride made it a global phenomenon and the unofficial national anthem of the state. Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit performs at the 2013 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival on Friday June 14, 2013 in Manchester Tennessee. 4. 'Alabama Pines' — Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit A modern masterpiece of geographic longing. Green Hill native Jason Isbell perfectly captures the displacement of a traveling musician renting rooms in unfamiliar towns, mapping out a heartbreak that stretches along I-65 and the speed traps of Boiling Springs. This haunting country ballad details an artist's late-night visit to the grave of Hank Williams on New Year's Eve. Jackson captures the ghost of the country music pioneer whispering in the wind, a chilling tribute to the legends that still walk the state's red roads. John Coltrane's original musical plans for his influential masterpiece"A Love Supreme," Charlie Parker's alto saxophone and Thelonius Monk's smoking jacket, are among jazz items on display during a press preview in New York, Thursday Jan. 20, 2005. Items from the estates of some of jazz's most famous artists will be up for auction at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York on Feb. 20. A masterpiece of instrumental grief. Coltrane composed this devastating jazz elegy in response to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, mirroring the cadence of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s eulogy to the four young girls lost that day. Patterson Hood delivers an Odyssean spoken-word poem dissecting the complex cultural legacies of Bear Bryant, Ronnie Van Zant, and George Wallace, brilliantly exploring the duality of pride and pain in the Southern identity. Singer Jim Croce is seen as he appeared at his last performance in Natchitoches, La. , Sept. 21, 1973. After this appearance, he and five others were killed when his plane crashed near Natchitoches airport. Croce's nostalgic, acoustic ballad paints a picture-perfect Southern summer, filled with dusty roads, drive-in movies, and the soothing sound of July rain under the magnolias. FILE - In this March 18, 2011 file photo, country singer Eric Church performs at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tenn. The first iHeartRadio Country Festival will be held March 29, 2014, in Austin, Texas, with Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, Eric Church, Carrie Underwood, Lady Antebellum and Florida Georgia Line heading up the initial lineup. Church uses the legendary speedway not just as a location, but as a metaphor for fleeting youth. It's a driving anthem about friendship, cold beer, and trying to freeze time before the checkered flag falls on your best years. Country singer Tracy Lawrence waves as he arrives for the 39th annual Academy of Country Music Awards at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Wednesday, May 26, 2004. A classic country tear-jerker where a heartbroken man asks a beachside painter to paint him a picture of the Birmingham home where his lost love still waits for him. While the guitar man travels far and wide, the song's peak energy hits when he lands in Mobile, Alabama, playing at Big Jack's bypass club and finding his musical promised land along the Gulf of Mexico. The country recording group Alabama, Jeffrey Cook, left, Randy Owen, center, and Teddy Gentry, right, rehearse their song,"I'm in the Mood," for the upcoming 37th Academy of Country Music Awards, Tuesday, May 21, 2002, in Los Angeles. . The show will be telecast Wednesday, May 22, 2002 on CBS. The definitive anthem of the legendary country band that took the state's name. It serves as a love letter to their roots, declaring that no matter where the road leads, they remain 'Southern born and Southern bred. 'Parton sings of a displaced Southerner trapped in the cold concrete of New York City, aching for the warmth of a Mobile Bay sunset and the peace of a rural evening. Buffett's tribute to the resilient beach bars along the Alabama Gulf Coast, celebrating the locals, the cold drinks, and the classic jukeboxes that survive every storm. FILE - David Allan Coe, sporting Willie Nelson braids, performs at the Willie Nelson July 4th Picnic, on July 4, 1983 at Atlanta International Raceway in Hampton, Ga. A legendary country ghost story where a hitchhiker hitching a ride from Montgomery to Nashville is picked up by a mysterious stranger who turns out to be the ghost of Hank Williams. Fans surround crooner Frank Sinatra as he arrives in Pasadena, Calif. , Aug. 11, 1943, for Hollywood film and singing engagements. Inspired by the historic 1833 meteor shower over the state, this classic jazz standard transforms the natural phenomenon into a romantic fairy tale. Popular folk singer Joan Baez, wears the long hair and high-necked sweater which are trademarks of female folk singers, as she strums her guitar in Boston, Nov. 8, 1963. Purists question Miss Baez' interpretation – a matter of themes, vocabulary and voice. But she has built up a major following. A solemn folk song documenting the civil rights struggle in Birmingham, keeping the memory of the four young victims of the church bombing alive with quiet, powerful dignity. An underrated, brass-heavy track where a young Buffett begs a Mobile radio DJ to play his acoustic songs, capturing the early hustle of a Gulf Coast music legend. Riley Green arrives at the CMT Music Awards on Wednesday, June 5, 2019, at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. Green lists the places that shaped him, asking to eventually be laid to rest under the Alabama stars, surrounded by the lifestyle and landscapes of his youth. A classic close-harmony gospel/country tribute to their home state, celebrating the simple joys of Alabama family, faith, and rural beauty. Download the WTVY News4 app to get alerts and stories the moment they are published. Available for FREE in theToddler dies after shooting himself with unattended gun; uncle facing chargesPolice: Dothan man charged, Discord chats uncovered with lewd photos of childrenFormer attorney convicted of attempted murder after trying to shoot ex-wife in restaurant