Introduction:
In the rich tapestry of country music, few songs have managed to resonate with audiences as profoundly—or endure as gracefully—as Merle Haggard’s “Today I Started Loving You Again.” Beyond its gentle melody and timeless words lies a story woven with love, heartbreak, and the kind of creative partnership that transforms human experience into art. It is not merely a song—it is a chapter in the shared life of Merle Haggard and Bonnie Owens, two souls whose connection transcended both music and marriage.
The late 1960s were a defining period for Haggard. Already establishing himself as one of the most authentic voices in American country music, he found in Bonnie Owens not just a companion, but a collaborator of rare devotion. Bonnie’s influence on his work was immeasurable. She wasn’t the type to stand quietly in the background; she was at the heart of his creative process. Haggard himself once said, “If I even indicated that I was going to write, she was there with a pad and a pen… there wouldn’t have been no ‘Mama Tried’ or ‘Working Man Blues’ if it wouldn’t have been for her.”
Together, they formed an artistic bond rooted in mutual respect and understanding. During one remarkable stretch—either in 1968 or 1969—Haggard won six BMI awards, all for songs whose lyrics Bonnie had carefully written down as he composed them. Yet the origin of “Today I Started Loving You Again” was far humbler than its later acclaim might suggest.
After a grueling Texas tour, the couple finally had a few days off. Sitting together at Los Angeles airport, Merle turned to Bonnie and said, almost absently, “Today I’ll start loving you again.” Bonnie, ever quick to recognize poetic potential, replied, “What an idea for a song.” That single exchange—so spontaneous, so simple—sparked the birth of a classic.
Weeks later, in the midst of a long night at Dewey Groom’s Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas, exhaustion and tension gave way to inspiration. Back at the hotel, Haggard—barefoot and worn out—scribbled the lyrics onto a torn paper bag while Bonnie fetched him a hamburger. When she returned, she found a piece of music that would eventually become one of the defining songs of his career.
Though refined over time, the song’s emotional essence remained pure—a confession of renewed love and quiet redemption. Haggard gifted Bonnie half of the song’s rights, and after their divorce, she was awarded the other half. Ironically, that same song, born of fleeting inspiration, would go on to provide nearly half of Haggard’s lifetime royalty income.
Years later, when Haggard visited Bonnie during her struggle with Alzheimer’s, she no longer recognized him by name. Yet when she gently took his arm and led him to a photograph of the two of them, she whispered, “He’s my favorite.”
That moment, tender and haunting, echoes the very heart of “Today I Started Loving You Again.” It was never just about romance—it was about connection, memory, and the enduring grace of love reborn. Decades after its creation, the song remains what it always was: a quiet masterpiece, written by two people who, even after everything, never truly stopped loving each other.