Merle Haggard Has Died. Here’s The Song He Sang About Colorado

Merle Haggard has died. As NPR's Felix Contreras notes, the country music legend's music "was drawn from a life that started in 1937 in a converted train box car, the family home in Bakersfield, Calif. Haggard's mother and father were part of the mass migration of people from Oklahoma who went to California looking for a better life during the Great Depression." And he really did turn 21 in prison, as the line in his song "Mama Tried" said -- San Quentin, in fact. But did you know he once sang about "Colorado"? Here's the lyrics:

There's a place where Mother Nature's got it all together
She knows just when to let wild flowers bloom
Somehow she always seems to know exactly what she's doin'
And the Lord saw fit to furnish elbow room

Have you ever been down to Colorado?
I spend a lot of time there in my mind
And if God doesn't live in Colorado
I'll bet that's where He spends most of His time

I'd love to be there watching, early in the morning
The sun comes up and crowns the mountain king
If by chance you dare to be there high upon the mountain
I swear that you can hear the angels sing

Have you ever been down to Colorado?
I spend a lot of time there in my mind
And if God doesn't live in Colorado
I'll bet that's where He spends most of His time