It’s a sad day for fans of REAL country. Here’s how I define *real* country music: Tunes that were meant to listen to on long road trips. Music rooted in badass Americana, not modern Nash-pop about how redneck your pre-diabetic Wal-Mart blue jeans are and what your first kiss was like with Peggy Sue in the Dairy Queen parking lot. Music that was about giving a middle finger to The Man, not bullshit fluff that celebrates saving it for marriage with the prom queen.
Outlaw country legend Merle Haggard has passed away at 79. The world is a little bit shittier, a little less rebellious now. A member of The Highwaymen, Haggard was from the era of IDGAF country music badassery, just like Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, and Gram Parson. Perhaps his most famous song is “Mama Tried”, a song about disappointing the living shit out of your parents with your antics.
In my opinion, it’s the best country song ever written.
To celebrate Haggard’s incredible legacy, here are six must-listen covers of Mama Tried. Turn it up and pour out a whiskey out for a legend tonight.
Grateful Dead
David Allan Coe
Joe Nichols
Johnny Cash
Old 97’s
Reba McEntire