Fightin’ Words: On This Day in 2003, Merle Haggard Backs Free Speech and The Chicks—Even Though He Had No Clue Who They Were

When country legends circle the wagons, you’d expect them to aim at rebels—not ride with them.

Merle Haggard defended The Chicks after their anti-Bush backlash, and it was so unexpected that people are still talking about it more than two decades later.

“I don’t even know the Dixie Chicks,” Haggard wrote on his website in July of 2003. “But I find it an insult for all men and women who fought and died in past wars when almost the majority of America jumped down their throats for voicing an opinion. It was like a verbal witch-hunt and lynching.”

In March of the same year, Chicks singer—and Texas native—Natalie Maines told a London, England, audience that she was embarrassed that President George W. Bush was from her home state and that he was president. The United States hadn’t invaded Iraq yet, but it was just a matter of time.

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A Verbal Witch-Hunt and Lynching

“Just so you know, we’re on the good side with y’all,” Maines told the crowd. “We do not want this war, this violence.

The fallout against the Chicks was brutal, swift, and long-lasting. Country radio stations refused to play their songs – some even held community events to destroy the trio’s albums.

“I feel the President is ignoring the opinions of many in the U.S. and alienating the rest of the world,” Maines later clarified. “My comments were made in frustration, and one of the privileges of being an American is you are free to voice your own point of view.”

Maines later backtracked. Bush embraced her criticism as her First Amendment right, calling the freedom of speech “the great thing about America.” It didn’t matter – fans and the media raged.

Merle Haggard was Fightin’ Mad

Many of Haggard’s most popular songs lean towards the conservative side of politics. In “Okee from Muskogee,” he sang: 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

In “The Fightin’ Side of Me” he sang: They’re walkin’ on the fightin’ side of me/Runnin’ down a way of life/ Our fightin’ men have fought and died to keep/ If you don’t love it, leave it/ Let this song that I’m singin’ be a warnin’/ When you’re runnin’ down our country, hoss/You’re walkin’ on the fightin’ side of me

At face value, it seems Haggard’s lyrics support those lashing out against The Chicks. However, that isn’t true. According to his statement, he was insulted by those who sought to dampen Maines’ freedom of speech, which men also fought and died to keep.

Haggard went on to explain: “Because they don’t like George Bush, should we take their records off? I really found that sort of scary.

“Are we afraid of criticism? And if so, why? It seems to me, we’re guilty in this country of doing everything we’ve always opposed all my life. I’m almost afraid to say something.

Merle Haggard’s Wife Told Him to Be Careful

“It got to the point where my wife said, ‘Be careful what you say.’ Well, that’s really not the America I’m used to.”

Haggard released a song in response called “That’s the News.” He sang: Suddenly the cost of war is somethin’ out of sight/ Lost a lotta heroes in the fight/Politicians do all the talkin’: soldiers pay the dues/ Suddenly the war is over, that’s the news.

Haggard told CNN that women had always been against war, so he didn’t understand the uproar over Maines’ statement.

“I don’t understand why there’s such a verbal witch hunt out for them,” he told Rolling Stone. “They’ve cut such an honest groove with their career. Let’s support the troops and leave politics out of music.”

(Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images)