I have never paid attention to the lyrics before and you are right... It is referring to incest.

There is no reference to incest in the lyrics. Alabama is one of the poorest of the United States, with a rural population, no really big cities, and a very bad ranking in terms of the level of education. In the past, it was one of the states that resisted the abolition of slavery, being part of the Confederacy in the US civil war. Many American intellectuals and city dwellers have an uneasy relationship with rural, redneck America, with overtones of racism, illiteracy and poverty. Way back in the early 1970s, Neil Young was a very successful singer songwriter, who made songs with civil rights themes - Ohio, Southern Man, Alabama. Lynyrd Skynyd's Sweet Home Alabama was reportedly inspired by the Neil Young songs - an affectionate but self-critical anthem to life in the south, by a group of southern musicians.. There is no reference to incest in the lyrics; I don't know what board you were on to see that. Incidentally "big wheel keeps on turning" is a reference to another popular song of that era, Proud Mary by Credence Clearwater Revival - this one is affectionate. https://www.countryliving.com/life/entertainment/a43715/sweet-home-alabama-song-meaning/ There's more than you could ever want to know about the background to the song and the meaning of the lyrics at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Home_Alabama Ohio https://youtu.be/UxdqEjocEQQ Alabama https://youtu.be/9QGMz9beIL0 Proud Mary https://youtu.be/gq1roSoMS84

The comments don't have anything to do with the song or lyrics directly. They are making jokes about the perceived culture in the Southern United States, including Alabama, where incest is supposed to happen. I'm not aware of any evidence that supports this, but the jokes still remain.

oh

Thank you so much for the information and the links added, Michael. It was very useful!!