Merle Haggard and his song “Okie From Muskogee” could be a kick-ass anthem for people living in Oklahoma, Muskogee and this young Merle Haggard singing the smash hit “Okie from Muskogee” is something that we recommend you to watch.

Okie From Muskogee, Merle Haggard

“When I was in prison, I knew what it was like to have freedom taken away. 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 states that he wrote the song to support the troops”

Those were the exact words coming from Merle Haggard himself as he tried to discuss with The Boot about how he came up with this kind of inspiration to pen the 1969 hit song that defined his career. It was revealed by Haggard that he found it disheartening watching Vietnam War protests and incorporated that emotion in the song.

Surely enough, Okie from Muskogee influenced a lot of popular culture. Stephen King used the song in his 2007 novel, Blaze. In 1978, Sam Peckinpah used this as a sound track to ‘Convoy.’ In 2010, the Muskogee Chamber of Commerce posted the song on their Youtube account while in 2015, it was played in the TV Series, ‘Mad Men’ on the episode entitled ‘The Milk and Honey Route.’

So here’s a trip down young Merle lane and the lyrics to the song:

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
We like livin’ right, and bein’ free

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

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
Football’s still the roughest thing on campus
And the kids here still respect the college dean

WAnd 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

And white lightnin’s still the biggest thrill of all
In Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA.