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Merle Haggard has had more hits than almost anyone in the business. But these days, country radio seems to have little in common with Haggard’s gruff, hard-wrought tales. That might be why it’s been a few years since Haggard released any new music. And that’s also what makes his new disc, If I Could Only Fly, such a treasure. Haggard provides everything country radio artists lack – insight, history, depth, and genuine warmth. If I Could Only Fly finds the outlaw coming to terms with his past and getting old, looking back over where he’s been and finding himself satisfied with where he is. “(Think About a) Lullaby” is sung to his child, and “Proud To Be Your Old Man” is a thank-you to his wife for making it “fun to get old”. But if the outlaw is happy in his old age, the ghosts of his former life still haunt him. “Wishing All These Old Things Were New” finds him pining for his past addictions, while he tries to explain his checkered past to his child on “I’m Still Your Daddy”. If I Could Only Fly is a welcome introspection from a man whose past deserves a place in the present.
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