Merle Haggard: Get haircuts, you filthy hippies.
I briefly got my grimy, greasy, grubby fingers on a copy of the original sheet music of “Okie from Muskogee,” the 1969 anti-Hippie anthem that was a smash hit for Merle Haggard and the Strangers. Haggard has hinted that the song was sort of a satire, but the joke was probably lost on the residents of Muskogee, Oklahoma, and on record buyers all across America’. It inspired an answer song from Chinga Chavin called “Asshole from El Paso.”
Haggard, who was a real-life outlaw before creating the Bakersfield sound with Buck Owens, co-wrote “Okie” with Roy Edward Burris. Here are the lyrics:
“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 livin’ right, and bein’ free.
I’m proud to be an Okie from Muskogee,
A place where even squares can have a ball
We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse,
And white lightnin’s still the biggest thrill of all
The sheet music cost a buck back in the day.
We don’t make a party out of lovin’;
We like holdin’ hands and pitchin’ woo;
We don’t let our hair grow long and shaggy,
Like the hippies out in San Francisco do.
And I’m proud to be an Okie from Muskogee,
A place where even squares can have a ball.
We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse,
And white lightnin’s still the biggest thrill of all.
Leather boots are still in style for manly footwear;
Beads and Roman sandals won’t be seen.
Football’s still the roughest thing on campus,
And the kids here still respect the college dean.
We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse,
In Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA.”
More Miscellaneous Media:
- Beatles Film Festival Magazine (1978)
- ABA Pictorial (1968-69)
- Tom Seaver’s Baseball Is My Life. (1973)
- Hockey Digest (1973)
- World’s Fair Guide (1964)
- World’s Fair Guide (1939)
- Buffalo Braves Yearbook (1972-73)
- New York Nets Yearbook (1976-77)
- “Tom Dooley” sheet music.