Merle Haggard released dozens of albums and sent 38 singles to the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart over the course of his long career. However, when many country fans hear his name, one of a handful of songs inevitably comes to mind. For some, “Okie from Muskogee” was Haggard’s magnum opus.
Videos by American Songwriter
Haggard wrote “Okie from Muskogee” with his band while traveling through Muskogee, Oklahoma. It started as a joke and, eventually, became one of the singer/songwriter’s signature songs. He released it in September 1969 as the sole single from the album of the same name. That November, the song went to No. 1 and occupied the top of the country chart for four consecutive weeks. Watch him perform it for a nationwide TV audience on The Porter Wagoner Show below.
No, Merle Haggard Wasn’t an Okie
During the Dustbowl, many farmers and other residents fled to California from places across Oklahoma and Kansas. Many of them lived in shanty towns or their cars and found jobs as migrant workers on farms. Locals called them “Okies.” At the time, it was a derogatory term for those who had relocated. Among those people was one James Francis Haggard, Merle Haggard’s dad.
Interestingly, “Okie from Muskogee” changed how people looked at the word. After the song became a huge hit, “Okie” didn’t seem like a derogatory term anymore. Instead, people from The Sooner State began to wear it like a badge of honor.
Haggard likely didn’t have any of this in mind when he co-penned the song with his drummer, Eddie Burris. According to Songfacts, they thought about the substance use, anti-war protests, and other counterculture behavior of the time and wondered how it would be received in a small town like Muskogee, Oklahoma.
“We wrote it to be satirical originally,” Haggard said. “Then, people latched on to it, and it really turned into this song that looked into the mindset of people so opposite of who and where we were. My dad’s people. He’s from Muskogee,” he added.
Featured Image by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.