After calling out Merle Haggard during his acceptance of the MusiCares Person of the Year award, Bob Dylan has clarified, saying that he was criticizing one point in Merle's career.

"I wasn't dissing Merle, not the Merle I know," Dylan says in an interview on his website.

"What I was talking about happened a long time ago, maybe in the late '60s.

Merle had that song out called 'Fighting Side of Me,' and I'd seen an interview with him where he was going on about hippies and Dylan and the counter culture, and it kind of stuck in my mind and hurt, lumping me in with everything he didn't like.

But of course times have changed, and he's changed too . . . He's a complete man, and we're friends these days. We have a lot in common."

In his acceptance speech, Dylan said "Merle Haggard didn't even think much of my songs. I know he didn't."

Haggard hit Twitter to reply, "Bob Dylan, I've admired your songs since 1964. 'Don't Think Twice' Bob, Willie Nelson and I just recorded it on our new album."