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.
Wait a Little Longer Please Jesus
Merle Haggard Lyrics
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And our weary hearts're yearning for a rest
And I find we're getting anxious to be in that happy home
Where we'll receive such peace and happiness
But wait a little longer please Jesus there are so many wandering out in sin
Just a little longer please Jesus a few more days to get our loved ones in
Maybe we can help them find a way
But if waiting is the cost dear ol' Lord then I'll be lost
And that's the only reason why we say
Wait a little longer please Jesus
A few more days to get our loved ones in
The lyrics of Merle Haggard's song Wait a Little Longer Please Jesus express the weariness and longing of workers who are tired of their labor and yearning for rest. They are anxious to be in a happy home where they can receive peace and happiness. However, despite their eagerness, they ask Jesus to wait just a little longer because there are still many people wandering in sin who have not yet received salvation. The workers hope to get their loved ones in, so they need a few more days to help them find their way.
The song speaks to the tension between rest and work, between salvation and sin. It acknowledges the desire for rest and peace but also the responsibility to help others find their way. The workers are torn between their own weariness and the need to continue working to bring their loved ones to salvation. In essence, the song is about the struggle to balance personal desires and responsibilities to others.
Overall, Wait a Little Longer Please Jesus is a poignant plea for more time, for more grace, and for more opportunity to do good. It is a reminder to us all to find a balance between our own desires and responsibilities to others in our lives.
Line by Line Meaning
Here the labor is so hard and the workers they are tired
We are tired from our hard labor
And our weary hearts're yearning for a rest
Our hearts are tired and we want to rest
And I find we're getting anxious to be in that happy home
We are anxious to go to our happy home
Where we'll receive such peace and happiness
We will receive peace and happiness in our happy home
But wait a little longer please Jesus there are so many wandering out in sin
Please wait a little longer Jesus, there are many people who are lost and need to be saved from sin
Just a little longer please Jesus a few more days to get our loved ones in
Just a little longer Jesus, we need a few more days to bring our loved ones to you
Family scattered here and there and thought Lord we love them dear
Our family is scattered and we love them dearly
Maybe we can help them find a way
We hope we can help them find their way
But if waiting is the cost dear ol' Lord then I'll be lost
If waiting means losing our chance to be saved, then we will be lost
And that's the only reason why we say
That is the only reason why we ask to wait a little longer
Wait a little longer please Jesus
Please wait a little longer, Jesus
A few more days to get our loved ones in
We need a few more days to bring our loved ones to you
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: HAZEL MARIE HOUSER
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...