"Grandma Harp" is a song written and recorded by American
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
artist
Merle Haggard
Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler.
Haggard was born in Oildale, California, toward the end of the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled af ...
and
The Strangers. It was released in March 1972 as the second single from the album ''
Let Me Tell You About a Song''. The song was Merle Haggard and
The Strangers 12th No. 1 on the ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''
Hot Country Singles
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States.
This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...
chart in May 1972, staying atop the chart for two weeks, and spending a total 14 weeks in the top 40.
Content
The song is a reflection of a young man's (Merle Haggard) grandmother, Martha Frances Arizona Belle “Zona” Villines Harp,
[Martha Harp at Find a Grave]
/ref> (aka "Grandma Harp") the family matriarch and title character who was born in Newton County, Arkansas
Newton County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the population was 8,330. The county seat is Jasper, Arkansas, Jasper. Newton County is Arkansas's 46th county, f ...
, and lived for 90 years.
The protagonist (who sings the song in first person) says that her life story can be told in only a few short lines, but reflects on how Grandma Harp (along with Grandpa, whom she married in 1901) was a rock that held the family together. The album version includes a spoken word prologue, where Haggard reflects how his grandmother lived through an era of tremendous historical and social change, from the first automobiles to two world wars and the first man to walk on the moon.
Chart performance
References
1972 singles
1972 songs
Merle Haggard songs
Songs written by Merle Haggard
Song recordings produced by Ken Nelson (American record producer)
Capitol Records singles
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