THE TRUTH BEHIND MERLE HAGGARD’S WINTER MASTERPIECE

Merle dropped “If We Make It Through December” in OCTOBER like a man who knew his song would slow-burn its way into every cold kitchen, truck cab, and broken heart by Christmas. By the time December hit, the damn thing was #1 and America was cryin’ in their Folgers.

Then the album didn’t even come out until February, because Merle didn’t give a single solitary damn about “release cycles” or “content calendars” or whatever Nashville interns clutch their laptops over today. He just wrote the truth, released it when he wanted, and let the song do the heavy liftin’. Try pullin’ that off in 2025 Nashville.

Despite how deeply December is woven into its bones, “If We Make It Through December” was never meant to be a Christmas gimmick. Merle wrote it for a holiday-themed record he was piecing together, but the song immediately broke out of the seasonal box.

This wasn’t a jingle. It wasn’t a novelty. It was a working man’s blues dressed as a single father’s fear. Merle tapped into something bigger than holidays — he tapped into survival.

THE RELEASE THAT MADE ZERO MARKETING SENSE (AND ALL THE MUSICAL SENSE)

Single released: October 1973 Album released: February 1974 Show that timeline to a modern Nashville marketing team and watch their hair catch fire.

But Merle didn’t play the industry’s game. He played his own.

The song hit radio in October and did exactly what he expected: it clawed slowly into the hearts of the people who needed it most. By December, the whole country was holding its breath with him. After its October release, the single rose like a cold front creeping across the plains:

#1 on Billboard Hot Country Singles (December 1973) Held the top spot for four straight weeks Crossed over into the pop charts

It was one of Merle’s most successful singles ever — not because it was polished, but because it was true.

“If We Make It Through December” works because it isn’t wrapped in tinsel or coated in sugar.

It’s about: layoffs, cold paychecks, fear you can’t hide from your kids, pride that’s taken a beating, and the thin hope that things might get better when the calendar flips.

It’s the kind of truth you don’t forget, especially if you’ve ever watched a winter bill stack up while the thermometer drops.

Merle wasn’t writing hits. He was writing hard life, sung soft enough for the whole country to feel it. Half a century later, the song still lands like a reminder of what country music was built on.

Real stories. Real fear. Real hope.

Merle didn’t follow trends. He didn’t take advice from suits. He didn’t schedule releases around playlists or cross-promotional campaigns. He wrote a song people needed — and he let that song walk into December on its own two feet.

Nashville can try to bottle that magic, but they can’t recreate it. Not in 1973. Not in 2025. Not ever.

—Pancho’s Picks

Riding for the real ones, dodging the rhinestone pretenders.

Workin’ Man: Willie Sings Merle — The Last Ride with the Family

There’s a lot of talk about legacy these days. Folks try to write their own eulogies before the dirt’s even turned.

But Willie Nelson don’t have to. He’s been writing his in melody and hard livin’ for nearly ninety years — and Workin’ Man: Willie Sings Merle feels like another chapter in that living testament.

This record ain’t about reverence; it’s about connection. Willie’s always had a way of turning tribute into communion.

Merle Haggard wasn’t just another outlaw in the lineup — he was a kindred spirit. The two of them traded verses, shared smoke, and carved out what became the gospel of the working man: pride, sin, and redemption sung with a cracked smile.

But listen close — there’s something deeper woven through this new album.

Beyond the love for Merle, you can hear the spirits of Paul English and Bobbie Nelson — his ride-or-die drummer and his sister on the keys.

Both gone, but not forgotten. Their names sit in the credits like headstones carved in rhythm and grace.

They called Paul “the Devil in a Sleeping Bag,” but Willie said it with a grin — the kind you give the only man who ever kept you on beat through hell and high water.

And Bobbie — her piano always felt like the heartbeat of the Family. She didn’t just play notes; she played memory. On this album, her touch is softer, almost angelic — like she knew the circle would never be unbroken.

So yeah, Workin’ Man might wear Merle’s hat, but the soul under it still belongs to the Family Band.

It’s Willie tipping his hat to Haggard, while whispering thanks to the Devil who kept time and the sister who gave the music its mercy.

This isn’t an album of goodbye songs — it’s a campfire still burning, even if a few of the chairs are empty.

Panchos Dust

There has always been some debate about who did it better. Pancho and Lefty. Do you like the Townes Van Zandt version or Willie and Merle’s?

I am probably the biggest fan of the original cut the one written and performed by Townes Van Zandt himself. I have always preferred originals I believe that’s the way it was supposed to be and tbe way the songwriter intended it to be. Just yesterday I heard someone say that they thought Willie Nelson wrote the song.. ummmm NO!

Willie and the Hag did a bang up job on the song. I will give them credit for making it famous. I also adore the fact that they let Townes be in the music video for it. Those were special times back then. The Music Video in its newest form. Does anyone even watch them today?

Many have covered the song and if I had to listen to a cover of Pancho and Lefty I used to would say it would be the Willie Nelson/ Merle Haggard version, however in recent years I have changed my mind. Shane Smith and the Saints was my favorite cover of it. Recorded in rough form from the hills of Terlingua Texas in the middle of a Pandemic. Yeah that was up until yesterday.

The Golden Roses released their version of the song yesterday. According to John Mutchler of the Roses the song has already received over 100 streams. John appeared on the Podcast Texas River Tonk yesterday. He announced that this was the first release of a 4 song EP. The new EP will feature 4 covers that the Golden Roses most identify with their style of old school Dance Hall music.

I first found the Roses with their Debut album Terlingua Graveyard and I have nothing but love and respect for this band. They have also announced a new full album of their own songs in the near future.

Y’all give ‘em a spin and support the music. Many dates in and around Austin can be seen on their website. https://www.thegoldenrosesatx.com/ they will be in the Famed Luckenbach Dance Hall with Vincent Neil Emerson on May 12.

Livin on the road is gonna keep me free and clean.

Pancho.