Merle Haggard's 5 Most Underrated Songs

by Julian Spivey
Merle Haggard has been one of the most influential singer-songwriters throughout the great history of country music. The hall of famer has had 40 No. 1 hits during his career which include “Mama Tried,” “Okie From Muskogee,” “Sing Me Back Home” and “Workin’ Man Blues,” but Haggard has also had some singles and non-singles in his career that stand out among his very best works.
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Here are Merle Haggard’s five most underrated songs:

1. “Irma Jackson”
Merle Haggard wanted “Irma Jackson” to be his follow up single to his smash 1969 No. 1 “Okie From Muskogee,” but his record company said no way. The song was about an interracial relationship and executives didn’t think the conservative fanbase of country music would take too kindly to such a song in the late ‘60s. Haggard knew that love was colorblind and it didn’t matter who you loved and recorded the song a few years later for his 1972 release Let Me Tell You About a Song, but unfortunately it’d never be released as a single for him. Tony Booth would release his cover of “Irma Jackson” as a single in 1970, but it would go nowhere on the charts.

2. “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 a darn shame because it’s probably one of his 10 best vocal performances throughout his illustrious career. “Back to the Barrooms Again” is the quintessential country music, weeping in your beer, heartbreak song. If somebody wanted to know what true country music was all about this one would make a great start. It should’ve been a single and it may have given Haggard yet another No. 1.

3. “Misery & Gin”
Merle Haggard’s 1980 album Back to the Barrooms was simply filled with terrific country heartbreak tunes, like the one previously mentioned on this list. But, “Misery & Gin” from that album is almost as great. “Misery & Gin,” about a man who always winds back up at a bar to drown his memories and sorrows away, was released as a single in 1980 and made it all the way to No. 3 on the Billboard country chart. It’s one of Haggard’s top vocal performances of his great career.
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4. “Carolyn”
Can a song that actually made it to No. 1 on the Billboard country chart actually be considered “underrated”? When you’ve scored 40 No. 1s as an artist and some of those songs are bound to be forgotten or at least remembered less than they should be over the years sure a No. 1 can still be underrated. “Carolyn,” Merle Haggard’s 1971 No. 1 hit off of his album Someday We’ll Look Back, is just one of those examples. “Carolyn” was written by Haggard’s dear friend and mentor Tommy Collins and is about a man whose woman has completely given up and ignored him and that’s forced him to leave and find love elsewhere. It’s a truly heartbreaking tune that stands out in a discography filled with similar themes.

5. “America First”
Merle Haggard stopped releasing singles in the late ‘90s, because he realized country music radio wasn’t playing the old guys anymore. But, he’s still put out terrific albums since then and one of those was 2005’s Chicago Wind that included some of Haggard’s most controversial tunes. Haggard has never been one to shy away from recording songs about his beliefs and one of the best of his career was “America First” from that album. “America First” was very critical of the war in Iraq, when important things in this country were being ignored. The song probably didn’t sit well with many of Haggard’s more conservative fans, but it’s doubtful he gave two thoughts about that.  

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