Grizzled country star Merle Haggard has given presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton a boost by recording a new song for her.

The revered singer/songwriter wrote Hillary after becoming impressed with President Bill Clinton's wife and her political ambitions, but he never thought to record the song.

Now he's planning to release it to country radio after friends insisted he'd have a hit if he released the tune, which features the line, "This country needs to be honest/This country needs to be large/Something like a big switch of gender/Let's put a woman in charge."

Haggard insists he's not trying to make a big political statement with the song: "I'm just reacting to the news."

The country star tells Billboard.com, "Never before in history has there ever been a woman anyone seriously thought to be a possible candidate for president. A couple of women in the past had that in mind but never had a chance to win."

And now news has leaked about the song, Haggard admits even Clinton's campaign chiefs have been in touch with him, urging him to release the tune: "I recorded it and nobody's heard it, but they're talking about it all over the country. It's got me thinking it might be worth putting out there."

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)