AT 79, MERLE HAGGARD STOPPED PERFORMING — BUT ONE SONG WOULDN’T LET HIM GO. In his final winters, Merle Haggard no longer lived like a legend. He rarely opened the door. Silence felt safer than conversation. A window, a worn chair, and a guitar resting on his knee were enough to get through the day. One song kept coming back — “If I Could Only Fly.” He didn’t play it for a record. He didn’t play it for a crowd. He played it slowly, stretching each chord like time might loosen its grip if he asked gently enough. It sounded less like music and more like a quiet conversation with the man he was becoming. Whenever he reached the line, “I’d bid this world goodbye,” he paused. Not from fear. From understanding. 🎸
AT 79, MERLE HAGGARD STOPPED PERFORMING — BUT ONE SONG WOULDN’T LET HIM GO.In his final winters, Merle Haggard no…