Posted on 03/05/2002 5:53:47 AM PST by BigTime
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Twenty-five years ago, a bill like this one would have been inconceivable.
Merle Haggard, the one-time king of country, supported by an all-black gospel vocal group and a Dylan/Woody protege from Brooklyn -- ha! But in 2002, legendary and American-rootsy is a wide spectrum, and these three acts are compatible in that all uphold venerable traditions -- that, and most of their kudos come from somewhere besides the radio, which doesn't play them very much if at all. In the case of the headliner, country radio's almost total blackout on the man who had more hits in the 1960s and early '70s than anyone is amazing. But Haggard's music is beloved by an amazing cross-section in age, from neo-rockabillies in their early 20s all the way to septuagenarians who were there back when ``Swinging Doors'' and ``Mama Tried'' were hits. Both of these were assayed, as well as ``The Bottle Let Me Down, ``Silver Wings'' and ``Okie From Muskogee,'' which the 64-year-old Haggard admitted onstage ``means nothing anymore.''
Unlike other good old boys, however, Hag made more than one political jab at George W. Bush (``another Bush war going on, I guess'') while heaping mountains of praise on Bush's predecessor, Bill Clinton, of whom Haggard said, ``Wasn't life wonderful then, when we was making a living and only worrying about Monica and not Osama?'' In the heartland, this might have drawn stone silence; at the El Rey, there was massive cheering.
It's all about feelings, baby, feelings when it comes to the Libs.
I feel like jumping an intern, I feel like robbing the treasury, I feel like squandering the public purse, I feel like pardoning terrorists.
On the other hand, I feel like puking whenever the subject of Libs comes up.
Absolutely disgusting are these moronic celebrity Liberals - truly the enemy of America within.
g
g
All the same, if I have to scratch Merle off my playlist, at least I'll still have folks like Waylon Jennings, Charlie Daniels and George Jones to listen to.
What's what W have to say got to do with anything?
Any old souse who's so addled he can't see the obvious cause & effect of eight years of that perjurous pantload's presidency doesn't deserve anything BUT a good trashing.
We are in this situation largely due to Clinton's inattention. Trying to villify Bush for responding to a war that was brought to us is reprehensible.
He played two songs, and was so drunk he couldn't continue.
It was pitiful to watch this formerly great country legend just fizzle out.
The headline from the orginal story is "Haggard skewers Bush" and this paragraph is listed as evidence. The article indicates this was one of several pokes he took at Bush. The comment "another Bush war" is hard to parse as anything other than hard-core fringe Leftist pap.
Seems there might be some subtle social commentary going on (and some "wishful thinking" by the article's author).
"Okie From Muskogee,´´ which the 64-year-old Haggard admitted onstage ``means nothing anymore.´´ That's more telling than the Monica/Osama remark, IMO. Maybe Haggard's thinking we've all lost something along the way.
Just a thought.
Regards
C'mon now. Suggesting that the response to 911 is another Bush war? Are you seriously trying to defend that?
And you're OK with the suggestion that everything was hunky-dory when Big Red Nose was in office when we didn't have to think about those pesky terrorists who were blowing up U.S. ships and embassies as long as it wasn't on our soil?
I think this might have been a drunken attempt at sarcasm....judging from some of his past remarks. I do so wish he would lay off the booze.
Are the Good Times Really Over for Good ?
I wish a buck was still silver, and it was back when the country was strong
Back before Elvis, and before the Vietnam war came along
Before the Beatles and yesterday, when a man could still work and still would
Is the best of the free life behind us now?
and are the good times really over for good?
Are we rollin' down hill like a snowball headed for hell
With no kind of chance for the flag or the liberty bell
I wish a Ford and a Chevy would still last 10 years like they should
Is the best of the free life behind us now?
and are the good times really over for good?
I wish coke was still cola and a joint was a bad place to be
It was back before Nixon who lied to us all on tv
Before microwave ovens when a girl could still cook and still would
Is the best of the free life behind us now?
And are the good times really over for good?
Stop rollin' downhill like a snowball headed for hell
Stand up for the flag and let's all ring the liberty bell
Let's make a Ford and a Chevy that'll still last 10 years like they should
The best of the free life is still yet to come
And the good times ain't really over for good.
-- Merle Haggard
How quickly they forget.
Oct. 12, 2000: Terrorist bombing kills 17 U.S. sailors aboard the USS Cole as it refueled in Yemen's port of Aden. The United States says Saudi exile Osama bin Laden prime suspect.
Aug. 7, 1998: Car bombs explode outside U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, within minutes of each other, killing 224 people and wounding thousands. Bin Laden is again blamed.
June 25, 1996: Truck bomb explodes outside the Khobar Towers in Dharan, Saudi Arabia, killing 19 American servicemen and wounding hundreds of other people. Members of a little-known Saudi militant group, Hezbollah, were indicted for the attack.
Nov. 13, 1995: Car bomb detonates at a U.S. military headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killing five American service personnel.
April 19, 1995: Bomb rips through the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 and wounding more than 500. Former U.S. soldier Timothy McVeigh is convicted of carrying out the attack; he was executed.
Feb. 26, 1993: A bomb explodes in a parking garage below the World Trade Center in New York, killing six people and wounding more than 1,000. Six Islamic militants were convicted in the bombing and sentenced to life in prison.
Yeah I guess Bush invented osama.
I gotta say, Merle, when you're running down my President you're walkin on the fightin' side of me.
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