Fifty-four years ago today (March 14, 1970), Merle Haggard scored his ninth No. 1 hit with his single "The Fightin' Side of Me." The song comes from his live album of the same name.

Haggard wrote "The Fightin' Side of Me" in response to the military action in Vietnam: "Runnin' down the way of life / Our fightin' men have fought and died to keep," he sings in the tune. "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."

Merle Haggard The Fightin Side of Me Cover
Capitol
loading...

"The Fightin' Side of Me" stayed at the top of the charts for three weeks and became one of the biggest songs of Haggard's career. But while the California native took a strong stand in support of conservative politics at the time, his beliefs changed over the years: The Country Music Hall of Fame member, who wrote a song called "Hillary" in support of Hillary Clinton's run for president in 2008, said in more recent years that he wanted to stay far away from politics.

“I’ve got to be honest. I met President Obama, and he was a nice fellow, but I’m not going to vote for him, and I’m not going to vote for Romney. So, that leaves me without many options,” Haggard said in 2010. “I don’t see much that I like in either of them. It’s a tough world, and I don’t think either of them is capable of representing this country right now.”

In 2016, ahead of the presidential election and when asked about Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Haggard admitted that the business mogul's non-political background worried him.

"I don’t think he understands the way things work in Washington ... I don’t think he realizes he can’t just tell somebody to do something and have it done, you know,” Haggard said. “I think he’s dealing from a strange deck.”

The "Okie From Muskogee" singer said in 2012 that he was not very hopeful about the future of the country he once sang about so proudly.

"The home front, it is kind of fiddling while Rome burns," he told CNN. "We are in trouble economically. I don't think we can blame it all on one black man. I think we spent 50 years getting ourselves in trouble, and it may take a long time to get ourselves out of it. It is going to take more years than I got left."

Haggard died on April 6, 2016, his 79th birthday.

This story was originally written by Gayle Thompson, and revised by Annie Zaleski.

Merle Haggard, "The Fightin' Side of Me" Lyrics:

I hear people talking bad / About the way they have to live here in this country / Harping on the wars we fight / And griping 'bout the way things ought to be / And I don't mind them switching sides / And standing up for things they believe in / But when they're running down our country, man / They're walking on the fighting side of me

They're walking on the fighting side of me / Running down a way of life / Our fighting men have fought and died to keep / If you don't love it, leave it / Let this song that I'm singing be a warning / When you're running down our country, hoss / You're walking on the fighting side of me

I read about some squirrely guy / Who claims that he just don't believe in fighting / And I wonder just how long / The rest of us can count on being free / They love our milk and honey / But they preach about some other way of living / And when they're running down our country, man / They're walking on the fighting side of me

They're walking on the fighting side of me / Running down a way of life / Our fighting men have fought and died to keep / If you don't love it, leave it / Let this song that I'm singing be a warning / When you're running down our country, man / You're walking on the fighting side of me

You're walking on the fighting side of me / Running down a way of life / Our fighting men have fought and died to keep / If you don't love it, leave it / Let this song that I'm singing be a warning / When you're running down our country, hoss / You're walking on the fighting side of me

Remembering 90s Country Artists We Lost Far Too Soon

The 1990s were one of country music's most impactful decades and marked the emergence of a new crop of artists who left a lasting impact on the genre. Take a look at the talented artists whose careers were tragically cut short after finding success during the genre's golden era.

Gallery Credit: Lorie Liebig

More From Catfish 100.1