Political Statement Marketing for Artists
Through semi-autobiographical songs, Merle Haggard is an ideal symbol of patriotism and the working class. Through songs like “Okie from Muskogee” and “The Fightin’ Side of Me”, Haggard bonds with his audience by use of his own struggles and established love for tradition and family. His struggles began in his youth, as a fire seized Haggard’s family farm and home forcing his family to live in an old railroad car; eventually Haggard found himself living in the heart of country music rebellion against Nashville commercialism, Bakersfield, California (LaChapelle, 2007). Musical elements such as thin texture, chicken picking melodies, duple meter, and crunchy timbre lend themselves as a tool in favor of American patriotism and working class. Haggard uses texture in a unique way in both songs. First, the homophonic texture in “Okie From Muskogee” gives rise to the Bakersfield Country genre in being thin and stripped down. Throughout most of the recording, the texture avoids