Today I started loving you again I'm right back where I've really always been; I got over you just long enough to let my heartache mend, Then today I… - Merle Haggard

I've lived through 17 stays in penal institutions. Incarceration in a penitentiary. Five marriages, a bankruptcy, a broken back, brawls, shooting incidents, swindlings, sickness, the death of loved ones and more. I've heard tens of thousands chant my name when I couldn't hear the voice of my own soul. I wondered if God was listening and I was sure no one else was.

We don’t smoke marijuana in Muskogee We don’t take our trips on LSD We don’t burn our draft cards down on Main Street We like living right and being free.

One of these days when the air clears up And the sun come shining through We'll all be drinking free bubble up And eating some rainbow stew.