No. 62

Are The Good Times Really Over - Merle Haggard (1983) Video - I'll give a big shout-out to anyone reading this who knows this song or who is even familiar with Merle Haggard. At some point, probably about the mid-90s, it became very en vogue to answer the what-type-of-music-do-you-like question with, "anything but country." When Shania Twain was dominating the country charts with watered down pop, I think that was an entirely legitimate albeit lazy response. However, the pure country sounds of Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, George Strait, and early Garth Brooks stands up very well to the best music of the last half century.

Merle Haggard is a bit of a country Bruce Springsteen. He appeals to the working man, to traditional values, and to genre purists. By and large, country music today is pathetic. It's watered down pop with cheesy, redneck lyrics and "artists" who can't play their instruments. It's just not any good at all. Now, I will accept the fact that some people just don't like country music, but I think a closer examination of classic country will reveal a lyrically rich genre with some seriously beautiful music.

Merle Haggard was a small-time criminal who served 3 years in San Quentin where he observed 3 Johnny Cash concerts that encouraged him to turn his life around and continue performing. A few years later, he told Johnny how much he'd enjoyed one of those concerts. Cash said, "Merle, I don't remember you playing with us that day." Haggard said, "Johnny, I wasn't on the stage, I was in the audience."

While Haggard is a hardcore conservative with a bent for traditional values, he seems to spread blame and praise where it's due, regardless of party affiliation. Thanks Dad, I'd never have heard Merle if not for you. I think with a couple changes, this song would play even better today:

"I wish a buck was still silver and it was back when the country was strong, back before Elvis and the Vietnam War came along, before the Beatles and Yesterday when a man could still work and still would. Is the best of the free life behind us now and are the good times really over for good?

Are we rollin' downhill like a snowball headed for Hell? With no kind of chance for the flag or the Liberty Bell? I wish a Ford or a Chevy would still last 10 years like they should. Is the best of the free life behind us now and are the good times really over for good?

I wish Coke was still cola and the joint was a bad place to be. It was back before Nixon lied to us all on tv. Before microwave ovens when a girl could still cook and still would. Is the best of the free life behind us now and are the good times really over for good?

Stop rollin' down hill like a snowball headed for Hell. Stand up for the flag, and let's all ring the liberty bell. Let's make a Ford or a Chevy that'll still last 10 years like they should. The best of the free life is still yet to come and the good times ain't really over for good."