Merle Haggard (Pt. 2): Surviving Christmas, Cosmic American Aliens, and Cocaine Clarity

DISGRACELAND

Jake Brennan

True Crime, Music, Society & Culture

4.6 • 13.1K Ratings

🗓️ 2 December 2025

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A cosmic-country dust-up with Gram Parsons. A months-long cocaine spiral. An alien obsession, and a bleak Christmas single that wouldn’t quit. Death threats, pistols, pardons, and “Pancho & Lefty.” Listen to find out how Merle Haggard survived another December and lived to rewrite country music. For the full list of contributors, visit ⁠⁠disgracelandpod.com⁠⁠ To listen to Disgraceland ad free and get access to exclusive content and more, become a Disgraceland All Access member at ⁠⁠disgracelandpod.com/membership⁠⁠. Sign up for our newsletter and get the inside dirt on events, merch and other awesomeness - ⁠⁠GET THE NEWSLETTER⁠⁠ Follow Jake and DISGRACELAND: ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠X⁠⁠ (formerly Twitter) ⁠⁠Facebook Fan Group⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Double Elvis.
0:07.1	Think about cheese.
0:08.9	Make your thoughts cheesier.
0:11.3	Now add 100% chicken breast fillet,
0:13.4	Chipotle sauce and amegro cheese melt.
0:15.4	And it's giving the new cheesy chicken stack at McDonald's.
0:19.2	Did we mention it's cheesy?
0:20.9	Cheese.
0:22.9	Availments at the 4th of Jan, 2026 from 11am.
0:25.2	Price and participation may vary.
0:26.3	Subjects availability.
0:27.9	Discreeland is a story about survival.
0:45.6	It's about a branded man with a guitar in one hand and a pistol in the other.
0:50.3	How about a joke that was taken seriously and a country poet whose sense of humor was taken the wrong way.
0:56.7	A story about death threats and unexpected pardons.
1:00.8	And it's also a story about losers, about houseboats and hedonism, cocaine and come to Jesus clarity.
1:09.3	It's about wanting a girl named Dolly and needing a guy named
1:13.1	Willie, and about a friend who didn't make it through the night. This is a story about Merle Haggard.
1:21.5	So, of course, it's about great music, some of the greatest, most authentic country music of all time. Unlike that clip I played
1:30.7	for you at the top of the show, that wasn't great music. That was a preset loop from my Melotron
1:36.7	called Love Boat Blues MK2. I played you that loop because I can't afford the rights to Midnight Train to Georgia by Gladys Knight and the Pips.
1:48.7	And why would I play you that specific slice of that nitty-gritty red-eyed cheese could I afford it?
	...

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