On This Date: Merle Haggard Was Topping The Charts With His Classic Country Heartbreaker, “Things Aren’t Funny Anymore,” In 1974

Merle Haggard country music

My allergies are SO bad this time of the year…

Actually, to be honest, I’m a little teary-eyed thanks to Merle Haggard and his classic country heartbreaker, “Things Aren’t Funny Anymore.”

On this date in 1974, he was topping the country charts with his 17th #1 hit that spent 10 weeks on the charts that year.

A solo write by The Hag, he finds himself sad and alone after a breakup with a girl he used to laugh with all the time. As he tries to pick up the pieces and move on with his life, he realizes that nothing is funny anymore without her…

I mean, just rip my damn heart out, Merle:

“We used to laugh a lot
We never cried
But things are all different now
Since your sweet love has died
Seems we’ve lost the way to find
All the good times we found before
Yeah, we used to laugh a lot
Things aren’t funny anymore”

Though he managed to earn a whopping 38 number one hits in total throughout his legendary career (third to only Conway Twitty and George Strait), this one is easily one of the most underrated by a long shot:

A beer bottle on a dock

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A RIFF ON WHAT COUNTRY IS REALLY ABOUT

A beer bottle on a dock