The True Story Behind Merle Haggard’s “If We Make It Through December” Isn’t Exactly What You Might Think…

One of Merle Haggard’s classics.

In 1973, Merle released “If We Make It Through December” as the lead single for his Christmas album Merle Haggard’s Christmas Present, but it later became the the title track to a non-Christmas album four months later, as well.

A solo write by Merle, the song became one of the signature songs of his career, and peaked at#1 on the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart.

But it wasn’t exactly inspired by Merle’s own personal life, and rather came from a conversation he had with his guitar player, Roy Nichols. Nichols had been through multiple divorces, and they had a habit of coming at the end of the year. When Merle asked him how he was doing with this latest relationship, Nichols responded:

“If we just make it through December…”

Merle being the songwriter that he is, that line immediately jumped out at him, and he used the phrase as the inspiration to what would become one of his most beloved songs, that many of us think of as a Christmas song, but technically really could apply to any time of the year. The actual inspiration was more about a man hoping his relationship could survive through the end of the year, and if it did, it might have a chance for more long term success. Of course, Merle spun it into a song about financial success, and the struggle to make it through the end of the year, expecting a to have better luck the following year.

It tells the story of a man who got laid off at the factory and is struggling through what is supposed to be one of the happiest times of year, and he explains the sadness he feels knowing that his little girl won’t have the Christmas he wants to give her this year:

“Got laid off down at the factory
And their timing’s not the greatest in the world
Heaven knows I’ve been working hard
I wanted Christmas to be right for daddy’s girl
I don’t mean to hate December
It’s meant to be the happy time of year
But my little girl don’t understand
Why daddy can’t afford no Christmas here…”

Merle’s father died when he was only nine years old, and he grew up in poverty, watching his mom struggle, and of course, he was quite a troublemaker in his teenaged years, so I’m sure the song had a lot of personal meaning for him, as well.

“If We Make It Through December” has been covered by countless artists over the years, including ” Alan Jackson, Marty Robbins, Faron Young, and more recently, Cody Johnson and even the Pistol Annies.

But there’s just somethin’ about the way Merle delivers it that cannot be replicated or compared to… he has some of the most classically country vocals of all-time, and he delivers this song with such emotion and conviction that I believe you really only can as the person who wrote it. We all know he was a one-in-a-million voice. Maybe even lesser odds than that…

I think part of the reason so many people still love this song is because of how real and relatable it is… there are so many great things about the holiday season, but it can be a real struggle financially and emotionally too, and I think many of us wind up hoping we can just “make it through December” a lot of the time, too.

“If We Make It Through December”

This live performance is so cool too:

The post The True Story Behind Merle Haggard’s “If We Make It Through December” Isn’t Exactly What You Might Think… first appeared on Whiskey Riff.