About The Song
Yes, it is American country singer-songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler Merle Ronald Haggard. Although we’re saddened for his passing due to pneumonia on his 79th birthday 6 years ago, his poignant music still lives on. One of these is his ‘Silver Wings‘.
Let’s fly high with The Hag’s 1969 hit Silver Wings as we unravel its ‘golden story‘.
Although it wasn’t a no. 1 hit, Silver Wings has endured as one of Haggard’s greatest heartbreakers, on par with Mickey Newbury at his most mournful.
In an interview with the UK magazine Uncut, Merle Haggard recalled the story of this mournful song saying
“It was written on a plane – a 707 coming out of Phoenix, Arizona going to LA with Bonnie Owens. I looked out and those silver wings were just gleaming. I thought, ‘What a great premise for a song.’”
Romanticizing an airplane’s “silver wings” that took away his lover, Haggard sang so intimately that you wondered if you were eavesdropping. Even the way he plays his instruments, one couldn’t finish the song but be moved by this tear-jerking music.
…Don’t leave me, I cried
Don’t take that airplane ride
But you locked me out of your mind
And left me standing here behind…
Incarcerated several times in his youth, Merle Haggard managed to turn his life around and launch a successful country music career. He gained popularity with his songs about the working class. These occasionally obtained themes in contrary to the prevailing anti-Vietnam War sentiment of the much popular music of the time.
Between the 1960s and the 1980s, he had 38 number-one hits on the US country charts, several of which also made the Billboard all-genre singles chart. Haggard continued to release successful albums into the 2000s.
Moreover, he received many honors and awards for his music. Among his accolades include a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006, a BMI Icon Award in 2006. He also received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2010
Video
Lyrics
Silver wings
Shining in the sunlight
Roaring engines
Headed somewhere in flight
They’re taking you away
And leaving me lonely
Silver wings
Slowly fading out of sight
Don’t leave me, I cried
Don’t take that airplane ride
But you locked me out of your mind
And left me standing here behind
Silver wings
Shining in the sunlight
Roaring engines
Headed somewhere in flight
They’re taking you away
And leaving me lonely
Silver wings
Slowly fading out of sight
Silver wings
Shining in the sunlight
Roaring engines
Headed somewhere in flight
They’re taking you away
And leaving me lonely
Silver wings
Slowly fading out of sight
Slowly fading out of sight