Because I am a child of the 70's, I had the opportunity to see many of todays legends. Merle, Charlie Daniels, Hank Jr, George Strait, Willi Nelson, Conway Twitty, John Conlee, Waylon Jennings, and a few more. What a time I had. Great reaction. Thanks Tasha.

Hi Tasha, to answer your question about what made Merle get into all the trouble he got into when he was younger…. His father died when he was 9 years old and he never truly recovered from that. But he does have an awesome life story to say the least! I think his son, Marty summed it up best when he said… My dad is proof of the American dream he went from San Quintin prison to meeting Presidents at the White House! One of the best things about Mr.Haggard was he never forgot where he came from, and always made time to see his old friends when he would come back to Bakersfield.

A rainbow stew is when u are promised something but usually you don't get what they say will give u.

Free Bubble up and rainbow stew are the promised things politicians give you that never happens. That’s my interpretation.

Bubble Up was a soda pop, a direct competitor to 7Up. As for the Rainbow Stew reference, I can't speak to his meaning exactly, but I've always been under the impression that by Rainbow Stew he meant we'll all be eating well and joyfully in this time of all other things getting better. Free Bubble Up and Rainbow Stew. Sounds like a vision of a beautiful and more innocent place, where pollution and politics have been cleaned up and all else is becoming well with the wider world..

One of my favorites...Damn I love Merle,

Merle Haggard, is one of the greatest Country artists EVER!

Flashback in my head just then, newly married out on a Saturday night dancing to this with hubby

Rainbow stew is made with red, green, and yellow bell peppers, carrots, jicama, red onions, sausage and chicken. It is amazing but you have to spend a lot of time chopping. When we make it we chop one night and cook the next night.

Merles just talking about people being honest, cleaning up the environment and being good humans!

Really wish I'd gotten to see Merle before he passed 😢

Love, love, LOVE this song!!

This was recorded live at Anaheim Stadium in 1979(I think). At the time, Reagan was beginning his presidential run. He and President Reagan became good friends. Their relationship began when Reagan pardoned Haggard.

When Merle passed away, his friend Willie Nelson recorded a beautiful, touching tribute song called 'He Won't Ever Be Gone.' Sometimes I still get teary-eyed sometimes, when I listen to it.

My #1.a. and 1.b. songs from Merle is this one and "Big City".

I love Merle! One of my first creushes.🤣 I don't think he ever done a song I didn't enjoy! He's in my top 5 with Don Williams, John Conlee, Ronnie Milsap, and Roy Clark!

My all time favorite song. Thanks for doing this one.

It's a metaphor that society as a whole will never be as good as it can be.

Merle was funny, and Rainbow Stew was forty years ahead of its time.

Bubble up is a type of soda pop I believe. Lemon lime.

The premise is life is hard as hell and requires responsibility and sacrifice. There are free loaders who fail to understand this and/or intentionally refuse to take on personal responsibility as they expect the good life to be handed to them without putting the work in.

Fun song. I think he was trying to say when all wrongs are righted and we live in a perfect world we’ll all enjoy some free bubble up and rainbow stew. But I have no friggin idea what those are lol!! 😅

Bubble Up is a lemon-lime soft drink brand created in 1919, by Sweet Valley Products Co. of Sandusky, Ohio. It is now manufactured by the Dad's Root Beer

Rainbow stew is also called hobo stew. Pretty much what ever you can find to put in it.

The war was Vietnam, the president was Nixon. The Hag said what he felt, and if you didn't like it, he didn't really care or give a damn

Merle we miss him here in Bakersfield

He’s basically saying when all this other impossible shit comes true we’ll be doing good. He’s basically being a smart ass and taking a shit on the promises of politicians. Rainbow stew is a euphemism for when someone promises something more amazing than anything real precisely because it ain’t real. Bubb a lub is a slang term for beer, kinda similar to the term chug a lug which means to gulp down a strong drink.

Merle haggard is my favorite singer and song writer he had his own style and I wish country music was still true to it's roots not like the crap you hear now days

Rainbow Stew is an idea you know that everything is perfect. I like to think of what Thomas Sowell has said. and that is there are trade-offs that we can make that turn out to be better for us across the board and individually. But there are no solutions to get rid of all the problems.

He's talkin about the way it's been ever since we've been a country and pretty much ever since the world has been here

If there was a pot of stew brewing at the hobo camp and someone new showed up he could eat if he had something to put in the Rainbow stew, ,even a piece of shoe leather. If he had nothing to contribute then he was only welcome to the soup, Bubble Up that bubbled up from the ingredients in the pot. Merle was saying that we will all be starving before the things he is talking about will come to pass.

He (Merle) sang that song at President Reagan's inauguration. That was the first time I heard in 1981.

Merle does have a biography.

Google the recipe. It is delicious. Do not skip the step where you add the flour to the veggies. Jimaca I find at my HEB near the plaintains. But is is great without it, I just toss in a couple red potatoes instead. Healthy and hearty. Enjoy!!

Bubble Up was a soda. Merle didn't care what anyone thought. He said what he wanted to

Bubble up was a soft drink.

Bubble up is a lime soda like 7up, drank it as a kid, don't know if it's still around.

It's symbolic sister.

Again, I learned something new from your reaction video. Thanks!

It's all in the movies by Merle

I think he’s trying to say that the world is incurably corrupt and if it wasn’t it would be like a paradise. But I’m just guessing.

Tasha, you are very perceptive... The "rainbow stew" is a metaphor for an idealistic world that contains total equality and justice, where everyone is provided for, and in turn, provides for everyone else. But the irony is that all of us common people know that ain't gonna happen. Sadly, this is one of the most unrecognized "protest" songs (as far as working class solidarity and union goes). Remember, Merle is (was, actually, RIP Merle) California country that was influenced by pro-labor activists like Woody Guthrie

I think they still make Bubble-Up, but it's kind of hard to find. Just like Coke and Pepsi killed RC Cola, 7-Up and Sprite killed Bubble-Up.

It's about things that won't happen, but most people want to happen. When a president goes to the white house and does what he says he'll do, when the air is clear and there's no more pollution, when there's no more wars... We'll all be drinking that free BubbleUp (a soda) and eating that rainbow stew Basically hoping for those things to happen is the same as hoping a soft drink company gives away their product and that rainbows become edible lol

What a cool song.

This was 1982, but the song was an album cut from the late 1970’s-the studio version wasn’t half this good. We’d just had three crappy presidents in a row: Nixon promised to end the Vietnam War but instead escalated it. Ford did very little Carter actually screwed things up. Try talk about carbon emissions now-I remember smelling unburnt gas coming from the tail pipe of 60’s/70’s cars and gas vapors from the gas caps and carburetor after they were shut off. The Cold War was coming up on its third decade and although there wasn’t any shots fired in the big picture, Korea, Vietnam, Bay of Pigs, and countless smaller conflicts sprung up as a result of Communism vs Capitalism

Old Merle was the real deal.

That experience in jail in his life growing up and all things shaped him to be the person he was and create things he created and it has blessed the world just like in a way when Joseph even though that's a way better story of course Joseph was in Egypt and went through all his stuff even though he was being faithful anyway he ended up going through many trials and saving many people's lives at the end of his story in the Bible

You have good moves

Bubble Up was a lemon lime soft drink much like 7 Up and Sprite

Awsome song Tasha, please consider doing a song called three bells by the browns. I think you will love it.

What he’s saying is good luck none of that is gonna ever happen.

Bubble up is not beer. Soda

Rainbow stew in a can

In other word’s he means when Jesus comes back.

Okay go and try to make a stew out of the next rainbow that you see. Good luck with that because there really is no substance to a rainbow.

from look on your face i couldnt miss this

30's Hobo song , up dated check movie Oh Brother Where Arth Thou , Rainbow stew , was all the free stuff gov was gona give

He's making fun of socialists and leftists.