Country music often speaks for the everyman. Although fame often sets country star apart from the general public, they keep small-town, working-class sentiments alive. Merle Haggard is one such country star who has long maintained his connection to life before fame in his songs. His signature track, “Okie From Muskogee”, reveals that. Released on this day in 1969, revisit why this protest track was made below.
Merle Haggard’s Signature Song, “Okie From Muskogee”
This song is set apart from other protest songs of its era. Haggard was protesting the protesters, turning satire into a scathing rebuke of 1960s anti-war sentiment. Haggard drew on his life experiences (going to jail and getting his life back on track) to pen this song, though it wasn’t always intended to be the era-defining track it became.
“We wrote it to be satirical originally,” Haggard once said. “But then people latched onto it, and it really turned into this song that looked into the mindset of people so opposite of who and where we were. My dad’s people. He’s from Muskogee.”
The Lyrics to “Okie From Muskogee”
“We don’t smoke marijuana in Muskogee / We don’t take our trips on LSD / We don’t burn our draft cards down on Main Street / ‘Cause we like living right, and being free,” the lyrics read. The inspiration came as the band was driving through the namesake town, reflecting on the differences between life there and out West.
“During Vietnam, there were all kinds of protests,” Haggard said, sharing his opinion on the San Francisco hippie scene. “Here were these [servicemen] going over there and dying for a cause—we don’t even know what it was really all about. And here are these young kids, that were free, b**ching about it. There’s something wrong with that and with [disparaging] those poor guys. We were in a wonderful time in America, and music was in a wonderful place. America was at its peak, and what the hell did these kids have to complain about? These soldiers were giving up their freedom and lives to make sure others could stay free. I wrote the song to support those soldiers.”
People latched onto this hit, using it as a mantra for everyone who rejected the Vietnam War protests. The 1960s had a protest song from every angle. Haggard used his point of view to write a controversial antithesis to a typical song of this nature. Revisit it above.
(Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images)
The post 57 Years Ago Today, Merle Haggard Released the Defiant No. 1 Hit Inspired by Vietnam War Protests appeared first on American Songwriter.
Author: Alex Hopper