Top 20 Merle Haggard Songs: Silver Wings (#15)
By Four Walls
@FourWalls (62126)
United States
April 9, 2016 5:15pm CST
The music world lost a giant earlier this week with Merle Haggard. Love his music or not, nearly everyone would admit that he was an icon. I'm looking back over his career with my 20 favorite Merle Haggard songs.
#15: Silver Wings
There are probably a lot of Haggard fans who think I should have this great ballad, one of his best-loved songs, ranked much higher. Again, as I said with "The Bottle Let Me Down," it's not so much that I don't like it "that much"as the fact that the songs ranked above it I like "a lot more."
"Silver Wings" is one of Haggard's great lost love songs. It proves that the man could write great, pain-filled ballads.
Strangely enough, although this is one of Haggard's best-remembered songs, it was never released as a single!
When the Nashville newspaper the Tennessean had a full-page cover tribute to Haggard one of the things refernced was birds, with silver wings, flying toward heaven away from Haggard's portrait.
Silver Wings
Written by Merle Haggard
From A Portrait of Merle Haggard, 1969
http://www.youtube.com/user/notgenewatsonsongs http://www.youtube.com/user/genewatsonsongs Recorded Live
4 people like this
3 responses
@crossbones27 (48417)
• Mojave, California
10 Apr 16
Mike Ness loved Johnny Cash And Merle Haggard. Has the same mind set from an alternative place than them. It is very upsetting to lose real people like this.
The song first made famous by Kitty Wells, later by Merle Haggard and Emmylou Harris, but never quite rocked by Mike Ness and the boys. Sorry for the subpar ...
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (62126)
• United States
10 Apr 16
That's the most unique version of "Making Believe" I've ever heard! 
Seriously, there are a lot of punks who like country music. Elvis Costello did an entire album of country songs (Almost Blue), and he's almost at Willie Nelson level with the amount of country singers he's done a duet with. The The did an entire album of Hank Williams songs (Hanky Panky), and there was even a Replacements 45 that had "Hey Good Lookin'" as the B-side.
Seriously, there are a lot of punks who like country music. Elvis Costello did an entire album of country songs (Almost Blue), and he's almost at Willie Nelson level with the amount of country singers he's done a duet with. The The did an entire album of Hank Williams songs (Hanky Panky), and there was even a Replacements 45 that had "Hey Good Lookin'" as the B-side.1 person likes this
@crossbones27 (48417)
• Mojave, California
10 Apr 16
@FourWalls He is a very underrated musician and very underrated band,except in Cali. The funny thing is he seems to know history will treat him kindly. I think he is right and you are so right about punk rock loving country. They do not miss a beat on who are the real musicians. Reggae, jazz, blues, country, hip hop and even pop. These musicians know who the real ones are.
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109857)
• Los Angeles, California
10 Apr 16
You are reminding of us of what a career this guy had. And he was from my home state!
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43421)
• Denver, Colorado
10 Apr 16
I'm not sure if I've ever heard that one before. Too bad, because it's a great song.
1 person likes this
