“I was dumb as a rock when I wrote “Okie From Muskogee,” said Merle Haggard in 2003, after more than four decades of reflecting on one of his most famous songs.
Videos by American Songwriter
Co-written with Roy Edward Burris, “Okie From Muskogee” was the title track of the country outlaw‘s first live album with his band The Strangers in 1969. “Okie From Muskogee” hit No. 1 on the country charts, and won a CMA Award for Song of the Year in 1970.
[RELATED: 5 Songs You Didn’t Know Merle Haggard Wrote For Other Artists]
What is the meaning of “Okie,” and Where is “Muskogee”?
“Okie” is a slang word for someone who hails from the state of Oklahoma.
Muskogee is the 13th largest city in Oklahoma with a population of nearly 37,000, according to the 2021 U.S. Census, and is approximately 48 miles southeast of Tulsa.
Vietnam
Haggard, who died in 2016 at 79, said he first wrote the song after becoming disheartened by the “hippie” counterculture in America who were smoking pot and doing LSD, burning flags and protesting the Vietnam War, and didn’t respect authority.
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 livin’ right, and bein’ free
We don’t make a party out of lovin’
But 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
“When I was in prison, I knew what it was like to have freedom taken away,” said Haggard. “Freedom is everything. During Vietnam, there were all kinds of protests. 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, bitching about it. There’s something wrong with that and with [disparaging] those poor guys.”
He added, “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.”
And I’m proud to be an Okie from Muskogee
A place where even squares can have a ball
We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse
And white lightnin’s still the biggest thrill of all
Leather boots are still in style for manly footwear
Beads and Roman sandals won’t be seen
And football’s still the roughest thing on campus
And the kids here still respect the college dean
“The Fightin’ Side of Me”
Soon after being released from San Quentin State Prison on parole in 1960, Haggard first began turning his life around and focusing on his country music career.
“I wrote it [‘Okie From Muskogee’] when I recently got out of the joint,” said Haggard to author Will Kaufman in his 2009 book American Culture in the 1970s. “I knew what it was like to lose my freedom, and I was getting really mad at these protesters. They didn’t know anything more about the war in Vietnam than I did. I thought how my dad, who was from Oklahoma, would have felt. I felt I knew how those boys fighting in Vietnam felt.”
A year after releasing “Okie From Muskogee,” Haggard also released a follow-up to “Okie” with another patriotic song “The Fightin’ Side of Me.” Backing the right to fight for what one believes — I hear people talkin’ bad about the way we have to live here in this country / Harpin’ on the wars we fight, an’ gripin’ ’bout the way things oughta be / An’ I don’t mind ’em switchin’ sides, an’ standin’ up for things they believe in — Haggard still declared If you don’t love it, leave it / Let this song I’m singin’ be a warnin’ / When you’re runnin’ down my country, man / You’re walkin’ on the fightin’ side of me.
Change of Heart
Haggard later admitted that his views about the Vietnam protests, the counterculture in America at the time, and even drugs were different four decades earlier when he first wrote “Okie From Muskogee.”
“I had different views in the ’70s,” shared Haggard. “As a human being, I’ve learned [more]. I have more culture now. I was dumb as a rock when I wrote ‘Okie From Muskogee.’ That’s being honest with you at the moment, and a lot of things that I said [then] I sing with a different intention now.”
Haggard continued, “My views on marijuana have totally changed. I think we were brainwashed, and I think anybody that doesn’t know that needs to get up and read and look around, get their own information. It’s a cooperative government project to make us think marijuana should be outlawed.”
“Okie” Covers
Over the decades, acts who used the drugs (at some point) condemned in Haggard’s lyrics, have covered his country classic, including The Beach Boys, Grateful Dead, The Flaming Lips, Phil Ochs, Hank Williams III, and The Melvins.
Statue From Muskogee
The Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame is commissioning a bronze statue of Haggard that will be erected in the small Oklahoma town. Haggard’s statue is set to stand outside the Muskogee Civic Center, where he first recorded the 1969 classic during a live concert.
Photo: Beth Gwinn/Getty Images
