Introduction:
In the landscape of American country music, there are songs that carry more than melody and rhyme — they carry the heartbeat of a life once lived, a love once cherished. “Today I Started Loving You Again,” one of Merle Haggard’s most enduring songs, was not just written with ink and paper. It was born out of a real moment between two people who shared not only marriage but music, struggle, and an unspoken connection that lasted long after love had faded.
Haggard often described a “heated period” of writing — a time of immense creativity that came shortly after his marriage. His wife, Bonnie Owens, was more than a partner; she was his muse, his recorder, his silent collaborator. Whenever inspiration struck, she was there — pad and pen in hand, ready to capture every word before it disappeared into the air. Without her, Haggard once said, songs like “Mama Tried” and “Working Man Blues” might never have existed. In 1968 or ’69, they shared a golden run, winning six BMI awards in a single year — all songs she helped preserve.
“Today I Started Loving You Again” was, fittingly, written for her. After a long, exhausting tour through Texas, the two returned home briefly before another leg of performances. Standing together in the Los Angeles airport, Haggard turned to her and said, half in jest, “We haven’t had much time to say hello. Today, I’ll start loving you again.” Bonnie immediately caught the spark in his words. “What an idea for a song,” she said — and as always, she was right.
Weeks later, in a small Dallas motel after a long night at Dewey Groom’s Longhorn Ballroom, the song finally took shape. Haggard, tired and reflective, sat in the middle of the bed with nothing but a torn paper bag and a pen. When Bonnie returned from fetching him a hamburger, he had written the song that would forever mark their shared history. It was pure emotion, stripped down to truth and tenderness — the kind of song that feels timeless because it was never forced.
Ironically, the song that began as a love letter would outlast their marriage. Haggard had given her half the royalties from the beginning — a gesture of gratitude and affection. After their divorce, she received even more. “All the songs I’ve written make up about half of the money,” he once said, “and Today I Started Loving You Again is the rest of it.” The song became their bridge — not as husband and wife, but as lifelong friends bound by something deeper than romance.
Years later, when Haggard visited Bonnie during her battle with Alzheimer’s, the love that inspired the song resurfaced in a hauntingly beautiful way. She no longer recognized him, yet in her room hung a photo of them together. “He’s my favorite,” she told him, pointing to the picture — unaware she was speaking of the man standing before her.
“Today I Started Loving You Again” is more than a country classic. It is a reminder that some loves, though they change shape, never truly die. They live on — in songs, in memories, and in the quiet moments when the heart remembers what the mind forgets.