Merle Haggard - "Fighting Side Of Me" (Don't Love It Leave It)

YouTube ^ | Merle Haggard

[OneVike]

The Fighting Side Of Me

Long before Trump said if you don't like this country you should leave, Merle Haggard sang it in a song. He even sang the song in the White House as a guest of President Richard Nixon.
Here are the lyrics to the song.

"The Fightin' Side Of Me"

I hear people talkin' bad,
About the way we have to live here in this country,
Harpin' on the wars we fight,
An' gripin' 'bout the way things oughta be.
An' I don't mind 'em switchin' sides,
An' standin' up for things they believe in.
When they're runnin' down my country, man,
They're walkin' on the fightin' side of me.

Yeah, walkin' on the fightin' side of me.
Runnin' down the way of life,
Our fightin' men have fought and died to keep.
If you don't love it, leave it:
Let this song I'm singin' be a warnin'.
If you're runnin' down my country, man,
You're walkin' on the fightin' side of me.

I read about some squirrely guy,
Who claims, he just don't believe in fightin'.
An' I wonder just how long,
The rest of us can count on bein' free.
They love our milk an' honey,
But they preach about some other way of livin'.
When they're runnin' down my country, hoss,
They're walkin' on the fightin' side of me.

Yeah, walkin' on the fightin' side of me.
Runnin' down the way of life,
Our fightin' men have fought and died to keep.
If you don't love it, leave it:
Let this song I'm singin' be a warnin'.
If you're runnin' down my country, man,
You're walkin' on the fightin' side of me.

Yeah, walkin' on the fightin' side of me.
Runnin' down the way of life,
Our fightin' men have fought and died to keep.
If you don't love it, leave it:
Let this song I'm singin' be a warnin'.
If you're runnin' down my country, man,
You're walkin' on the fightin' side of me

[OneVike]

We need to get this to Rush, Hannity and other talk show conservatives so they can all play it on their shows.

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

Merle strayed pretty far out in left field before he died.

[Migraine]

One line in there never made any sense to me: “Let this song that I’m singin’ be a warning...”

If I ever sang a song to warn someone I was about to kick his ass, he’d most likely laugh his ass off before I could kick it.

[OneVike]

Not as far as some false stories claimed. Ever listen to Charlie Daniels? Charlie was a good friend of his and talked about him when he died and mentioned that he was a Democrat, but not a leftist like many thought.

Charlie was also a Democrat. He was one of those Reagan Democrats even. Then Bill Clinton became President, and he woke up and got politically educated. Now he’s pretty conservative.

[dainbramaged]

Merle Haggard died on his 79th birthday in 2016.
Merle and Willie live from 2009 doing "Okie from Muskogee".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4AgZST_TG8

[gunsequalfreedom]

YouTube will demonetize it and then ban it.

[kimoajax]

Became a huge Haggard fan later in life. Came from similar Bakersfield roots.

Unbelievably gifted singing, song writing and musical talent...as confirmed by many comments from many other artists over many years from across the various parts of of the domestic and international music industry, as well as the many prestigious awards given in his honor while he was alive and some of the tribute songs put out by fellow artists after his death...like Vince Gill and Willy Nelson.

Merle could never categorically be simply defined by his music alone...even though a strong sense of patriotism and populism clearly runs through many of the lyrics with some of his hundreds of published songs...not just “The Fighting Side of Me.” He died leaving in his estate a huge trove of unpublished written songs.

Yes I always thought some of his songs would make great theme songs for political campaigns. Unfortunately his Okie from Muskogee and The Fighting Side of Me served to more or less make him persona non grata with America’s counter culture of the 60s...the progenitors of today’s libtards.

[OneVike]

Yes Haggard was quite unique. Few even realize that he was inspired by Johnny Cash. Haggard was in prison and saw Cash do a concert for the convicts. Haggard being one of those convicts.

Years later he was invited on Jonny Cash’s television variety show. Which brought out millions of complaints. Oh, how dare Cash bring a convict on his show to sing.

Haggard was a man who learned his lesson, and went on to become famous for his talent. He was an original American story if there ever was one. He loved America, because America gave him another chance to become something besides an ex-convict.