đ” Song Information
Title: Today I Started Loving You Again
Artist: Merle Haggard and Bonnie Owens
Writers: Merle Haggard & Bonnie Owens
First Released: 1968 (as B-side to “The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde”)
Album: The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde
Genre: Country
Label: Capitol Records
Producer: Ken Nelson
Originally released as a B-side, âToday I Started Loving You Againâ didnât chart initiallyâbut it slowly became one of Merle Haggardâs most enduring and covered songs. Co-written with his then-wife Bonnie Owens, the song has since been recorded by dozens of artists, becoming a country standard thanks to its timeless lyrics and raw emotional core.
đïž Song Content
âToday I Started Loving You Againâ is a tender and haunting ballad about love that refuses to fadeâeven after heartbreak, time, and distance. The songâs narrator realizes, perhaps to his own surprise, that the love he once thought he had let go is still very much alive.
The lyrics unfold gently, revealing that this isnât a story of rekindled romance, but rather one of internal realization. The pain never fully left; the memories never faded; and despite his best efforts, he still loves herâmaybe even more than before.
Haggardâs delivery is slow and reflective, filled with regret and vulnerability. The instrumentation is soft and understated, allowing his voice to take center stage. Itâs the kind of song that doesnât shoutâbut instead whispers truths many are afraid to admit: that some loves are never really over.
This emotional honesty is what makes the song resonate so deeply with audiences, and why it has remained a beloved classic in the country music world.
đ Emotional Explanation
The powerful hookââToday I started loving you againââis deceptively simple. On the surface, it suggests the beginning of something new, but in reality, it speaks to something much sadder and more complex: the inability to let go of a past love.
The song isnât about reconciliation. Itâs about the realization that time hasnât healed the wound. That despite the distance, the pain, and perhaps even new relationships, that person still lives quietly in your heart. Itâs about how love can hide in the background of our lives, only to resurface in the most unexpected moments.
This emotional undercurrent hits particularly hard because it feels deeply personal. Many people have experienced the ache of lingering loveâof moving on in appearance, while silently carrying someone in their soul. Haggard and Owens capture this feeling with both lyrical precision and lived emotional weight, perhaps drawing from their own complex romantic history.
Itâs this vulnerability that has made the song timeless. Whether youâre mourning a lost love or simply remembering one, âToday I Started Loving You Againâ offers a quiet kind of solaceâthe acknowledgment that youâre not alone in still feeling.