Even though Merle Haggard had 38 No. 1 hits, “Okie From Muscogee” remains his most touted musical tour de force—and it remains a fan favorite. Released in 1969, Merle said he was inspired to write the tune after becoming concerned with the Vietnam protesters, student demonstrations and hippie youth movement all around—which he felt didn’t reflect the sentiments of small-town America. Just check out some of the lyrics’ anti-counterculture messages:
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
We like livin’ right, and bein’ free
We don’t let our hair grow long and shaggy
Like the hippies out in San Francisco do
While Haggard later claimed the title of the song was satirical, and that the track’s espoused conservative, working-class sentiments were somewhat tongue-in-cheek, “Okie From Muscogee” became somewhat of a redneck, Silent Majority anthem. In fact (insert irony here), the song was so popular, “Okie” and Haggard himself were embraced by the longhairs and liberals the record seemed to deride. The Grateful Dead began performing another Haggard song, “Mama Tried” the same year “Okie” was released, and went on to perform other tunes such as “Sing Me Back Home” between 1971 and 1973. Singer-activist HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Baez”Joan Baez—whose political leanings were the complete opposite of those trumpeted in “Okie”—also performed “Sing Me Back Home” and “Mama Tried” in 1969. I guess if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. (Michael Carlos)
