It sure sounds like country legend Merle Haggard is getting tired of songs about beer and tailgates

Back in the early 80s, country music legend Merle Haggard reminisced about the good times in his hit “Are the Good Times Really Over (I Wish a Buck Was Still Silver).”

Haggard sang about the times “when the country was strong,” a “Coke was still Cola” and “a joint was a bad place to be.”

Nearly 35 years later, the Hag still pines for the good ole days — of country music.

“I can’t tell what they’re doing,” he recently told The Forum of Fargo-Moorehead. “They’re talking about screwing on a pickup tailgate and things of that nature. I don’t find no substance. I don’t find anything you can whistle, and nobody even attempts to write a melody. It’s more of that kids stuff. It’s hot right now, but I’ll tell you what — it’s cooling off.”

In fact, the only good thing he had to say about the current flock of country music artists was in regards to Sturgill Simpson, who recently served as Haggard’s tour opener on September 6 in Minnesota.

“He comes out and does a great show,” Haggard said in the interview. “”As far as I’m concerned, [Simpson]’s the only one out there. The rest of them sound like a bunch of shit to me.”