Top 20 Merle Haggard Songs: You Take Me For Granted (#10)

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Now I'm moving into the top ten of my favorite Merle Haggard songs. Halfway through I suppose I should point out that these are just his hits, not any of his duets such as "Just Between the Two of Us" with then-wife Bonnie Owens or the recent "It's All Gone to Pot" with Willie Nelson. #10: You Take Me For Granted When most people think of beautiful ballads like this they think of a smooth voice to accompany it, such as the late, great Jim Reeves or Don Williams. The "cry in your voice like Haggard" that the Statler Brothers referenced in "How to Be a Country Star," superficially, doesn't seem to fit this ballad. And yet, can you imagine anyone else singing this heartbreaking love song? Haggard coaxes every drop of emotion out of this marvelous song written by Leona Williams (who was married to Haggard at the time). In many ways, it sounds like a "storms on the horizon" song, a warning bell that a divorce is about to happen (Haggard and Williams divorced the year this song hit #1). But oh, that wonderful tag line in this song: "As sure as the sun shines I'll be a lifetime not knowing if I've done my part." You Take Me For Granted Written by Leona Williams From Going Where the Lonely Go, 1983