An Album/Song A Week: "If We Make It Through December" - Merle Haggard

 This 1973 Merle Haggard-penned song is much more than a Christmas tune as its main theme is a familiar one for Hag: economic hardships and its implications on the working man.  I first heard this song when it was appeared as the title track from a 1974 album. My Dad had this album and lots of other early 70's Hag albums.  But it originally came from Hag's first Christmas album in 1973. 

  "If We Make It Through December" deserves to be a much larger Christmas standard than it is.  My check on Spotify turns up plenty of Country covers, but very little in other genres.  It's a simple song, with a simple message that still resonates in 2021.  In 1973 it sure hit home with more than Country listeners (where it went to #1), but also Pop ones, where it became Haggard's only Pop Top 40 hit, peaking at #28. 

I often pick it in those polls that ask about Christmas songs that should be better known.  Give it a spin or put it on your Christmas playlist.