"Saturday Night Special" | ||||
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Single by Lynyrd Skynyrd | ||||
from the album Nuthin' Fancy | ||||
B-side | "Made in the Shade" | |||
Released | May 19, 1975, 2000 (25th Anniversary Re-issue) | |||
Recorded | August 1974 | |||
Genre | Southern rock, hard rock | |||
Length | 5:09 | |||
Label | MCA | |||
Writer(s) | Ed King, Ronnie Van Zant | |||
Producer(s) | Al Kooper | |||
Lynyrd Skynyrd singles chronology | ||||
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"Saturday Night Special" is a song by Lynyrd Skynyrd. It is the opening track on their album Nuthin' Fancy. The song addresses the issue of gun control.
Its lyrics refer to the cheap handguns popularly associated with the term Saturday night special, and associates them with impulsive violence; the following examples being given: a man being shot by a home intruder or shooting a cheating man in bed with his wife, a poker gambler shooting his gambling partner between the eyes during a losing night, and accidentally shooting oneself while intoxicated. Notably, it argues that they "[a]in't good for nothin' / 'Cept for puttin' a man six feet in a hole."
"Saturday Night Special" is on the soundtrack of the 1978 movie Blue Collar, starring Richard Pryor, Yaphet Kotto and Harvey Keitel.
The song is featured in a Season 2 episode of the American television show Supernatural titled "What Is and What Should Never Be."
The song is also featured in the scenes involving the police in both the original The Longest Yard from 1974 and the remake from 2005.
The song is played in Season 3 episode 5 of The Walking Dead, during the staged fight scene.
The song is featured in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned.
The song is featured in James Hardy's part in Fallen Footwear's "Ride the Sky" (2008).
A live version is on the Lynyrd Skynyrd album, Live At Winterland, which was released in 2009.
The song was recorded at Studio One in Doraville, Georgia. Engineered by Rodney Mills, who engineered albums by The Atlanta Rhythm Section.