Country music has had a long love affair with strong women, and you don't get much stronger than the Coal Miner's Daughter, Loretta Lynn.Married at 14 (officially it was 16, but she had 4 children before she was 18; do the math). Turbulent 50 year marriage to a man who cheated and hit her. Pretty easy to dismiss her as a Hillbilly shrinking violet.
Easy, but wrong. She said that she hit him back twice for each time he hit her. Her songs were controversial - her 1975 single "The Pill" (about a housewife liberated by birth control) hit the top 10 despite initial bans. Her songs spoke to women about issues they cared about.
The word "Feminist" has taken on a somewhat jaundiced color, after a generation of post-modern "Feminist Theory", but in the 1970s Loretta Lynn sang of standing up and fighting for your place. "Rated X" sang about society's view of a divorced woman. When her husband was flirting with another woman, she wrote "You're not woman enough (to take my man)."
Her first big hit was "Don't Come Home A' Drinkin' (With Lovin' On Your Mind)", and the album was the first ever certified gold by a female country performer. The appeal was a strong woman, singing songs about strong women.
Don't Come Home A Drinkin' (With Lovin' On Your Mind) (Songwriters: Loretta Lynn, Peggy Sue Wells)
Well you thought I'd be waitin' up when you came home last night
You'd been out with all the boys and you ended up half tight
But liquor and love that just don't mix leave a bottle or me behind
And don't come home a drinkin' with lovin' on your mind
No don't come home a drinkin' with lovin' on your mind
Just stay out there on the town and see what you can find
Cause if you want that kind of love well you don't need none of mine
So don't come home a drinkin' with lovin' on your mind
You never take me anywhere because you're always gone
Many a night I've laid awake and cried dear all alone
And you come in a kissin' on me it happens every time
No don't come home a drinkin' with lovin' on your mind
No don't come home a drinkin'...
No don't come home a drinkin' with lovin' on your mind
I have had the pleasure of seeing Loretta Lynn a few times. She can turn a muddy field into the grandest palace imaginable.
ReplyDeleteGrew up listening to Loretta and by the time I got to high school, her little sister Crystal Gale became a favorite of mine as well!
ReplyDeleteGood post Borepatch of one of the first women to break out of the suppressed (barefoot and pregnant) generation, and to liberate a whole new one.