I went to a Randy Newman concert at the Philadelphia Academy of Music sometime in the 70s. Mainly him and a grand piano onstage. I very much enjoyed a lot of his hits—"Short People", "Sail Away", "Mama Told Me Not to Come," "You Can Leave Your Hat On."
When he started to sing "I Think It's Going to Rain Today," he suddenly looked stricken, got up from the piano and went backstage. Somebody in the audience said he had just lost a friend, another rocker had died—wish I could remember who. It was a touching moment. He came back after a few minutes and finished the song (audience sang along with the chorus) and the rest of the concert.
I like “Rednecks”, because what most people don’t realize when they hear it, is that it’s not the South he’s putting down.