Haggard was born in Oildale, California, during the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled after the death of his father, and he was incarcerated several times in his youth. After being released from San Quentin State Prison in 1960, he managed to turn his life around and launch a successful country music career. He gained popularity with his songs about the working class that occasionally contained themes contrary to the prevailing anti-Vietnam War sentiment of much popular music of the time. Between the 1960s and the 1980s, he had 38 number-one hits on the US country charts, several of which also made the Billboard all-genre singles chart. Haggard continued to release successful albums into the 2000s.
He received many honors and awards for his music, including a Kennedy Center Honor (2010), a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2006), a BMI Icon Award (2006), and induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (1977), Country Music Hall of Fame (1994) and Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame (1997). He died on April 6, 2016 — his 79th birthday — at his ranch in Shasta County, California, having recently suffered from double pneumonia.
Haggard's last recording, a song called "Kern River Blues", described his departure from Bakersfield in the late 1970s and his displeasure with politicians. The song was recorded February 9, 2016, and features his son Ben on guitar. This record was released on May 12, 2016.
Haggard endorsed Fender guitars and had a Custom Artist signature model Telecaster. The guitar is a modified Telecaster Thinline with laminated top of figured maple, set neck with deep carved heel, birdseye maple fingerboard with 22 jumbo frets, ivoroid pickguard and binding, gold hardware, abalone Tuff Dog Tele peghead inlay, 2-Colour Sunburst finish, and a pair of Fender Texas Special Tele single-coil pickups with custom-wired 4-way pickup switching. He also played six-string acoustic models. In 2001, C. F. Martin & Company introduced a limited edition Merle Haggard Signature Edition 000-28SMH acoustic guitar available with or without factory-installed electronics.
Right Or Wrong
Merle Haggard Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Though you're gone I can't forget
Right or wrong I'll keep on dreaming
Still I wake with the same old regret
All along I knew I'd lose you
Though I prayed that you'd be true
In your heart please just remember
[Repeat]
All along I knew I'd lose you
Though I prayed that you'd be true
In your heart please just remember
Right or wrong, I'm still in love with you
In Merle Haggard's song Right or Wrong, the singer expresses the enduring strength of his love for someone who has left him. The lyrical structure of the song is very basic, reflecting the simplicity of the message Haggard is trying to convey. The song is built around two verses, each with a phrase repeated at the end, which lend the song a form of hypnotic rhythm that reinforces the idea of constancy in love. The singer declares that he will always love his lost one, irrespective of whether his love is right or wrong. It's a stark contrast to many love songs that focus on the higher nature of love, its spiritual and universal aspects. Here, Haggard lays bare the human condition of being in love and the visceral, irrational nature of the emotion that controls us.
The song is also a reflection of the country genre's fascination with heartbreak and loss. In the storytelling tradition that country music relies on, the drama of losing love is often cast as a tragic tale, and the pain and sadness that remains long after the beloved is gone is a subject that is frequently explored. But in Haggard's version of this story, there's a sense of resilience and endurance. The singer is not bitter or despairing, despite his loss. He is hopeful, even though he knows that his love may never be reciprocated.
Line by Line Meaning
Right or wrong I'll always love you
I will love you no matter what happens, whether it is the right decision or not.
Though you're gone I can't forget
Even though you're no longer with me, I can't seem to get you out of my head.
Right or wrong I'll keep on dreaming
No matter what decision I make, I'll continue to have dreams and aspirations related to my love for you.
Still I wake with the same old regret
I wake up every morning feeling the same regret that I lost you.
All along I knew I'd lose you
From the beginning, I had a feeling that I was going to lose you.
Though I prayed that you'd be true
Even though I hoped that you would remain faithful, I knew that it was unlikely.
In your heart please just remember
I hope that you can remember the love that we shared and the memories that we created together.
Right or wrong, I'm still in love with you.
Regardless of what happened between us, I still have strong feelings of love for you.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: WANDA JACKSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Jimmy Ray
on Carryin' Fire
I'm a co-writer on this song and the lyrics are not quite right here. Instead of the word high it should be higher. The last verse is A moth slowly circles the flickering candle, the fire is all it can see...