Introduction:
Marty Robbins’s “El Paso” was a massive hit in 1959, reaching #1 on the Billboard country chart and crossing over to the pop charts as well. It spawned countless imitations, cashing in on the song’s dramatic, novelistic storytelling and catchy melody. One of the most successful of these was Marty Haggard’s “Okie from Muskogee,” released in 1969.
Haggard, a son of the Dust Bowl and a former convict, had become a country music superstar by the late 1960s. His songs often reflected the lives of working-class Americans, and “Okie from Muskogee” was no exception. The song is a first-person narrative by a proud Oklahoman who is deeply skeptical of the counterculture movement of the 1960s. He criticizes long-haired hippies for smoking marijuana and protesting the Vietnam War, declaring that “we don’t take to drugs or dirty sheets.
The song was a massive hit, reaching #1 on the country charts and crossing over to the pop charts as well. It became an anthem for many Americans who were uncomfortable with the social and political changes of the time. However, it also drew criticism from those who saw it as a racist and homophobic attack on the counterculture.
Haggard himself was ambivalent about the song’s message. In later years, he acknowledged that it was a product of its time and that he didn’t necessarily agree with all of its lyrics. However, he also defended the song’s right to exist, arguing that it was simply a reflection of the views of many Americans.
“Okie from Muskogee” remains a controversial song, but it is also an important document of American history. It captures the anxieties and divisions of a nation in the midst of profound social and political change.
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