Like its predecessor, Southern Rock Opera, the album examines the state of the South, and unveils the hypocrisy, irony, and tragedy that continues to exist.

Patterson Hood's "Tornadoes" was originally written in 1988 in reaction to the closing concert for the Adam's House Cat Nightmare Tour.

Cooley's "Carl Perkins' Cadillac" recounts the celebrated Sun Records, Sam Phillips, and the music industry in general.

Isbell's second track on the album, "Danko/Manuel," is a departure from the usual southern gothic lyrical style written by Cooley and Hood.

Cooley's "Cottonseed" tells a story of corruption, crime, killing, greed, fixed elections, guns, drugs, prostitution and alcohol and uses subtle imagery to provide a very negative interpretation of Pusser.

"Lookout Mountain" was written around 1990 by Hood, and can be heard in its original incarnation on Adam's House Cat's LP Town Burned Down.

"Goode's Field Road" was eventually rerecorded for 2008's Brighter Than Creation's Dark; however, the cut that was dropped from The Dirty South managed to see the light of day on The Fine Print: A Collection of Oddities and Rarities.