Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1970 | |
The Fightin' Side of MeBuy The Fightin' Side of Me now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it. | |
Wikipedia article'"The Fightin' Side of Me"' is a song written and performed by American country music artist Merle Haggard and The Strangers. It was released in January 1970 as the first single and title track from the album 'The Fightin' Side of Me'. The song became one of the most famous of his career. In reference to his own 2002 song, "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)," Toby Keith once called this song "the original 'Angry American' song." ContentLike "Okie from Muskogee," "The Fightin' Side of Me" catered to the conservative working-man's values and politics; Bill Janovitz of Allmusic called the song "patriotic (if not outrightly jingoistic)."Janovitz, Bill, [ "Okie from Muskogee"] at Allmusic Here, the singer fills the role of a man frustrated with people deriding the country, particularly those who are "harpin' on the wars we fight" and "runnin' down my countrymen," a reference to the then-ongoing Vietnam War.Ace Collins, Songs Sung Red, White and Blue, New York: Harper Collins, 2003, pp. 75-79. People who do this, claims the singer, are "walkin' on the fightin' side of me" and warns them that "if you don't love it, leave it." Chart performance and popularityLike its predecessor "Okie from Muskogee," "The Fightin' Side of Me" immediately broke in popularity when released in January 1970. The song reached No. 1 on the 'Billboard magazine' Hot Country Singles chart, where it remained for three weeks. It also charted in the lower regions of the 'Billboard' Hot 100 chart. In addition to the studio version of the song, a live version of "The Fightin' Side of Me" was issued as part of Haggard's live album of the same name. AwardsIn 1970, "The Fightin' Side of Me" was nominated for Song of the Year and Single of the Year by the Country Music Association. The song did not win either award, with it losing the Single award to "Okie from Muskogee."[http://cmaawards.com/2007/database/ArtistDetail.aspx?artistId=10 Merle Haggard] - Country Music Association Awards Database ReferencesFurther reading*Collins, Ace. 'Songs Sung, Red, White, and Blue: The Stories Behind America's Best-Loved Patriotic Songs'. HarperResource, 2003. Category:1970 singles Category:1970 songs Category:Merle Haggard songs Category:Songs of the Vietnam War Category:Songs written by Merle Haggard Category:Song recordings produced by Ken Nelson (American record producer) Category:Capitol Records singles | |
Buy The Fightin' Side of Me now from Amazon <-- Return to songs from 1970 This work is released under CC-BY-SA. Some or all of this content attributed to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1057631109. |