Merle Haggard earned his “outlaw country” moniker honestly. After various stints in juvenile detention centers for offenses like truancy and petty larceny, the Hag graduated to robbery in 1956, landing himself in California’s San Quentin State Prison.
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In a matter of divine timing, he was serving a 15-year prison sentence there when Johnny Cash took the stage for his infamous 1958 performance. That experience marked Haggard’s pivot from a life of crime to one of music. He was considerably better at this, racking up 38 No. 1 country music hits over five decades. On this day (Jan. 10) in 1981, he was back to his hard-drinking roots—and back on top of the charts—with “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink.”
The track was in good company on his studio album Back to the Barrooms. Released in October 1980, Haggard’s 31st studio album featured the bluntly titled “Misery and Gin,” “I Don’t Want to Sober Up Tonight,” and “Can’t Break the Habit.”
“I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink” opens with its narrator contemplating a change in his ways (Could be holding you tonight / Could quit doing wrong, start doing right.) That flash of clarity is short-lived, however: You don’t care about what I think / I think I’ll just stay here and drink.
Merle Haggard Performed This Song During His Final Opry Appearance
On Oct. 17, 2015, the Grand Ole Opry celebrated its 90th anniversary at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. The star-studded night included performances from Trace Adkins, Larry Gatlin, Little Big Town, and more. And to the surprise and delight of everyone in attendance, Merle Haggard made an unexpected appearance.
The 78-year-old legend treated the audience to a set that included the songs “Big City,” “Silver Wings,” “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink” and “The Fightin’ Side of Me.” He took the stage against the doctor’s wishes, battling heart and respiratory issues following a lung cancer diagnosis in 2008.
Haggard died seven months later on April 6, 2016—his 79th birthday—due to complications from pneumonia. While he never became an official member of the Grand Ole Opry, he was certainly no stranger to its stage.
“I just wanna be remembered as a guy who tried to be as honest as you can be,” Haggard said in 2010. “I’ve given my life for music. And I’m in it for life. I’ll be here until I go out. I’m a lifer.”
Featured image by Paul Natkin/Getty Images
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