Merle Haggard's 10 Greatest Songs

by Julian Spivey
Merle Haggard has one of the most iconic voices in country music. Haggard’s voice, in fact, is quintessentially country music. Haggard has recorded an incredible 38 number one songs during his half century in the recording industry, so choosing 10 of his greatest isn’t an easy task.

But, here are Haggard’s 10 best …

1. “Mama Tried”
“Mama Tried” isn’t completely autobiographical of Merle Haggard’s life, but there are some truths to it. He was never serving a life term in prison, but he did turn 21 in prison at San Quentin for a robbery stint and the song is from the point of view of an inmate who’s let down his hardworking mother who tried the best she could to stop him from the pain and suffering he’d lead her through by his life of crime. Haggard’s fifth No. 1 of his career, released in 1968, was his biggest hit of his career at that time and remains the song most synonymous with him to this day.

2. “Sing Me Back Home”
A lot of Merle Haggard’s early singles dealt with his experiences of time behind bars at San Quentin from “Mama Tried” to “I’m a Lonesome Fugitive” to “Branded Man.” One of the very best of these was “Sing Me Back Home” from 1967, which became Haggard’s third career No. 1. The inspiration for “Sing Me Back Home” came from a friend and fellow inmate of Haggard’s at San Quentin who went by the nickname of “Rabbit.” “Rabbit” would be executed after an escape attempt went bad and resulted in the death of a security guard.
 
3. “If We Make It Through December”
“If We Make It Through December,” Merle Haggard’s 16th No. 1 of his career in 1973, is the greatest Christmas song ever written by a popular recording artist. The song tells the struggle of a man who’s recently been laid off from his factory job around the Holidays and doesn’t know how he’s going to cheer up his daughter for Christmas. However, he’s optimistic that the next year will find things better off for the two of them. It’s a brutal song, even with the hopefulness the next year might bring. It’s one of Haggard’s poetic best.

4. “Back to the Barrooms Again”
“Back to the Barrooms Again” from Merle Haggard’s 1980 album Back to the Barrooms was never released as a single, which is interesting because it’s one of Haggard’s greatest vocal performances of his career and would have no doubt been a classic cry-in-your-beer drinking song. Haggard’s performance on this is one fans should turn to when they want to hear something that is unquestionably and unequivocally what country music is supposed to sound like. “Back to the Barrooms Again” is Haggard’s best deep cut.

5. “Ramblin’ Fever”
“Ramblin’ Fever” is Merle Haggard at his honky tonk rocking best. It’s also his outlaw side shining through on one of his best tracks. The song, from his 1977 album of the same name, was perhaps Haggard’s loudest and most rocking tune to date and sounded like something that might have fit perfectly on a Waylon Jennings or even a Lynyrd Skynyrd album. It’s one of the most fun songs to hear Haggard perform live to this very day.

6. “Carolyn”
Country music is no stranger to incredibly heartbreaking ballads of lost love. Merle Haggard’s best such song is the heart-wrenching “Carolyn” from 1971, which would become his 11th career No. 1. This beautifully sad vocal on the part of Haggard tells of a man whose woman simply no longer pays much attention to him so he sets out for the bright lights of the big city in hopes of finding a woman who cares. The song was written by Haggard’s good friend and mentor Tommy Collins, whom Haggard would later pay tribute to in his 1980 song “Leonard.”

7. “My Favorite Memory”
Merle Haggard’s 27th career No. 1 hit was “My Favorite Memory” from 1981 and it’s his most beautiful love song and one of the best love songs ever recorded in the country music genre. The song sweetly tells of his favorite memories with the woman he loves like the “first time we met was a favorite memory of mine.” Oftentimes the greatest loves songs are the ones that come off as sweet and simple, take Elton John’s “Your Song” for instance, and Haggard’s “My Favorite Memory” is as sweet and simple and brilliant as they come. 

8. “Big City”
“Big City,” released in early 1982, was Merle Haggard’s 28th career No. 1 hit and to this day remains an anthem for people wanting to break free from their monotonous life and find something better outside of the big city. The truly great thing about “Big City” is it can be a stand in for any particular place and time in your life that you’d like to escape and Haggard makes “turn me loose, set me free/somewhere in the middle of Montana” seem so attractive that you just can’t help but consider packing up your bags and heading for the Big Sky Country.

9. “Workin’ Man Blues”
Merle Haggard has always been referred to as the “working man’s poet” because his simple and yet beautifully written country songs always seem to speak to the everyday life of the working men and women of America. This side of his is no more represented than by his 1969 No. 1 hit “Workin’ Man Blues.” “Workin’ Man Blues” tells the story of a hardworking man who’d like to catch a train to another town and try to live out his dreams, but he’s got a wife and nine kids to take care of and raise and will always go back working on Monday morning. “Workin’ Man Blues” is definitely a fan-favorite among Haggard’s fans who go crazy when he performs it in concert.

10. “Okie from Muskogee”
“Okie from Muskogee,” a No. 1 hit for Merle Haggard in 1969, is one of the most misunderstood songs ever recorded, not just in the genre of country music but any popular genre. A lot of this has to do with the song being tongue and cheek and some of its listeners not really getting this. That is partly to blame on Haggard himself who at times in his career saw that people were identifying with the narrator of the song (whom he was poking a bit of fun at in the writing) and played it up a bit. Haggard always seems to walk a line with “Okie from Muskogee” even to this day in interviews sometimes admitting to the song being satirical and other times seeming to be more in agreement with the narrator. It’s a bit of a genius move on his part as to not irritate any aspect of his fan base.

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