There’s something about this song that doesn’t rush you. It doesn’t beg for attention, doesn’t rise with fanfare — it simply sits with you, like a close friend on a quiet evening. “That’s the Way Love Goes” is one of those rare country ballads that doesn’t explain love. It shows it — in its gentlest, most honest form.
Originally written by Lefty Frizzell and Sanger D. Shafer, the song had already been recorded before, but it was Merle Haggard’s 1983 version that gave it a whole new life — and a Grammy. And maybe that’s because Merle didn’t just sing it. He understood it. Every word carried the weight of someone who had lived through the ups and downs, the breakups and makeups, the long roads, and quiet returns.
It’s not a song about grand gestures. It’s about the kind of love that lingers — the one that makes it through the hard years and still wakes up beside you in the morning. It’s not flashy. It doesn’t demand. It simply stays.
When Merle sings, “Love is just a gamble / And I’m so glad that I am losing,” he’s not being clever — he’s being real. Because love, real love, isn’t about winning. It’s about surrender. And trusting that the person next to you will still be there when the song fades out.
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Lyrics
[Verse]
I’ve been throwing horseshoes over my left shoulder
I’ve spent most all my life searching for that four-leaf clover
Yet you ran with me, chasing my rainbows
Honey, I love you too and that’s the way love goes
[Chorus]
That’s the way love goes, babe
That’s the music God made
For all the world to sing
It’s never old, it grows
Losing makes me sorry
You say “Honey, now don’t worry”
Don’t you know I love you too?
And that’s the way love goes
[Chorus]
That’s the way love goes, babe
That’s the music God made
For all the world to sing
It’s never old, it grows
Losing makes me sorry
You say “Honey, don’t worry”
Don’t you know I love you too?
And that’s the way love goes