Song 685: This week the playlist applauds Down in the Boondocks by Billy Joe Royal, written by Joe South, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. The Fab Four had rocked my world in the middle of my seventh-grade year, and initially I mostly paid attention to them and their fellow British invaders, but by the time the summer arrived the following year, I had heard a few sounds coming from the western side of the Atlantic Ocean, including one written by a guy with the name South and performed by a fellow with a Royal name that had a bit of country flavor in its tone. While my school teachers never spoke about class differences in U.S. society, I did understand the message about the side of town that I grew up in and how coming from Down in the Boondocks might give someone a reason to put me down. I enjoyed singing along with the chorus lines on this anthem when it lit up the transistor radio during the warm weather months before I started HS, and four years later I got a way to move from the old shack.
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