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| Album, Song, and Male Artist of the Year, 1969 |
Back in 1969, the battle lines between straight society and the potheads were bright and clear, and Merle Haggard drew one of the clearest lines of all when he wrote his iconic country hit “Okie From Muskogee” and an album of the same name.
Loved by the Right and hated by the Left, the aggressively patriotic album won the Academy of Country Music award for Album of the Year, the song won Single of the Year, and Hag himself was named Top Male Vocalist.
We don’t smoke marijuana in Muskogee;We don’t take our trips on LSDWe don’t burn our draft cards down on Main Street;We like livin’ right, and bein’ free.I’m proud to be an Okie from Muskogee,A place where even squares can have a ballWe still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse,And white lightnin’s still the biggest thrill of all.We don’t make a party out of lovin’;We like holdin’ hands and pitchin’ woo;We don’t let our hair grow long and shaggy,Like the hippies out in San Francisco do.
As a kid of nine, I devoutly hated the song when it came out. I even felt compelled to write a rebuttal song (which was itself pretty awful). Like most of Haggard’s listeners, I initially missed the subtle hint of satire in the song’s ultra-right-wing lyrics and chest-thumping conservatism — despite the fact that Merle himself pointed out as much.
