From The Associated Press, 7/25/03:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/07/25/entertainment/main565038.shtml
"Suddenly it's over, the war is finally done/Soldiers in the desert
sand still clinging to a gun/No one is the winner and everyone must
lose/Suddenly the war's over, that's the news."
Merle Haggard, in "That's the News"
"I don't even know the Dixie Chicks, but I find it an insult for all
men and women who fought and died in past wars when almost the
majority of America jumped down their throats for voicing an opinion.
It was like a verbal witch-hunt and lynching."
Merle Haggard
(CBS/AP)
A new Merle Haggard song that is critical of the media's coverage of
the war in Iraq is being rushed to thousands of radio stations around
the United States.
Tom Thacker, vice president of Hag Records, says the song "That's the
News" is generating intense interest around the country from media and
fans.
"We're mailing it out as we speak," Thacker said.
"It's going to a broad range of stations."
"It's another one of Merle Haggard's social commentaries," he said.
"This time it's kind of opposed to the tone of 'The Fightin' Side of
Me."'
That 1970 song was a pro-America anthem at the height of the Vietnam
War.
Haggard also scored a hit back in those days with "Okie from
Muskogee," which slammed anti-war protesters and boosted his
popularity in some quarters to the point that he got a full pardon in
1972 from then-California Gov. Ronald Reagan.
He was already out on parole at the time, after being a model prisoner
at San Quentin serving time for a burglary conviction.
Haggard's new song chides the media for focusing on celebrity news and
the death of Laci Peterson and her unborn child while fighting
continues in Iraq. Murder charges brought against Scott Peterson for
allegedly killing Laci and their unborn son have attracted wide media
attention in much of the United States.
Haggard sings, "Suddenly it's over, the war is finally done/Soldiers
in the desert sand still clinging to a gun/No one is the winner and
everyone must lose/Suddenly the war's over, that's the news."
The song ends with the lines, "Politicians do all the talking,
soldiers pay the dues/Suddenly the war is over, that's the news."
The single will be included on Haggard's new album, "Haggard Like
Never Before," to be released in October.
Haggard's song strikes a different tone than two recent country hits
that supported war with Iraq: Darryl Worley's "Have You Forgotten?"
and Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue (The Angry
American)."
It also follows a sharp backlash against the country music trio Dixie
Chicks earlier this year after singer Natalie Maines made a remark
about President George W. Bush at a London concert shortly before the
Iraq war.
"Just so you know," Maines said, "we're ashamed the president of the
United States is from Texas."
Maines apologized for the phrasing of her remark, but sales of the
Texas trio's discs plummeted and some radio stations banned their
singles.
In an essay on Haggard's Web site, the 66-year-old singer writes, "I
don't even know the Dixie Chicks, but I find it an insult for all men
and women who fought and died in past wars when almost the majority of
America jumped down their throats for voicing an opinion. It was like
a verbal witch-hunt and lynching."
_____________________________________________________
"Suddenly it's over, the war is finally done/Soldiers in the desert
sand still clinging to a gun/No one is the winner and everyone must
lose/Suddenly the war's over, that's the news."
"Politicians do all the talking, soldiers pay the dues/Suddenly the
war is over, that's the news."
Merle Haggard, in "That's the News"
Harry
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