About The Song
Merle Haggard notched his 24th number one record with Cindy Walker’s “Cherokee Maiden” in November of 1976. It took more than four years for him to get his 25th, “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here And Drink.”
The period was hardly an unproductive one, though. Haggard earned nine Top Five singles, five of which stopped at #2: “If We’re Not Back In Love By Monday,” “Ramblin’ Fever,” “I’m Always On A Mountain When I Fall,” “It’s Been A Great Afternoon” and “The Way I Am.” Merle also reached #4 with a song he wrote shortly after the death of Elvis Presley: “From Graceland To The Promised Land.”
A couple of important events occurred in the meantime that had a huge impact on his music. One of those was his marriage on October 7, 1978 to Leona Belle Williams, his third wife (Haggard’s second wife, Bonnie Owens, served as a bridesmaid at the ceremony). Three weeks later, the newlyweds entered Billboard’s country singles chart with their duet, “The Bull And The Beaver,” which peaked at #10.
In early 1979, an exhausted Haggard decided to quit the music business. He holed up on his houseboat on Lake Shasta for the better part of six months and, though he wasn’t working, he kept his band on the payroll. It was an expensive way to rekindle his enthusiasm for the business.
A re-dedicated Haggard finally emerged from the houseboat and earned his 25th number one hit with the experimental “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here And Drink.” Listed at four minutes and thirty seconds, the recording featured two drummers and three lengthy instrumental solos. Merle’s label (MCA) had been pressuring him to do more uptempo songs, to which he sarcastically replied, “I didn’t know we had speedometers on records.” Nonetheless, Haggard obliged them and came up with a fast song.
Merle got the idea for “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here And Drink” from a friend’s comment. He got ideas for many of his songs that way. This particular time, a friend called Haggard at home one night (later, Merle commented that he didn’t even remember who it was) and Merle invited him to come on over to the house. The guy said, “No thanks, I just wanted to call and say ‘hello.’ I think I’ll just stay here and drink” and hung up. Merle grabbed a pen and wrote that down quickly, and soon delivered the fast song that MCA requested.
“I Think I’ll Just Stay Here And Drink” reached #1 on January 10, 1981. It was Haggard’s only official Billboard chart-topper during his four-year association with MCA Records. A new contract with Epic Records marked the beginning of a new string of #1 hits (twelve more in all), starting with “My Favorite Memory” on November 28, 1981 and ending with Merle’s 38th tune to reach the top (3rd most in history): “Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Star” on February 20, 1988.
Video
Lyrics
Could be holding you tonight
Could quit doing wrong, start doing right
You don’t care about what I think
I think I’ll just stay here and drink
Hey, putting you down, don’t square no deal
Least you’ll know the way I feel
Take all the money in the bank
Think I’ll just stay here and drink
Listen close and you can hear
That loud jukebox playing in my ear
Ain’t no woman gon’ change the way I think
I think I’ll just stay here and drink
Hurtin’ me now, don’t mean a thing
Since love ain’t here, don’t feel no pain
My mind ain’t nothing but a total blank
I think I’ll just stay here and drink, yeah
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