Oh dear, dear Loretta.
The first time I ever remember trying to decide who my favorite singers were, it was Loretta Lynn at the top of the ladies’ heap. (Favorite Male Singer, of course, was no contest: Barry Manilow.) Still today, when I’m listening to Loretta, it’s hard to imagine a singer/songwriter more brave and honest.
Along with Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn helped fill the void that Patsy Cline’s death in 1963 left in the country-music world, and both women dragged country music into the present lyrically.
Tammy, of course, became famous for singing about contemporary issues like D-I-V-O-R-C-E, but many of her songs (including that one) were penned by others. Loretta started out as a writer, so her personality and perspective were very clear.
There have always been “my husband is cheating on me” songs, but I think Loretta was the first to write songs about how a) that tramp isn’t good enough to keep him, b) she’s going to knock the bejeezus out of her and tear the hair off her head if she sees her, and c) she’s staying with her husband anyway (but if he comes home all hammered wanting to have sex with her, he’s sorely mistaken).
She also wasn’t afraid to expose the double standards women lived with and the bullshit they had to put up with every day, bringing a lot of serious issues out of the darkness. Even though she didn’t write the lyrics to the first popular song about birth control (“The Pill”), it’s hard to imagine anyone else at that time who could have pulled it off.
Oh, wait — the song! I’m supposed to post a song. Here’s Loretta’s classic of young love and self-hatred from 1970.
Loretta Lynn – Wings Upon Your Horns from 1970’s Wings Upon Your Horns
… and here’s what I had in my head as I woke up this morning …
Loretta Lynn, singing “One’s On The Way” on The Muppet Show in 1978:
Boy, once you’ve seen that, you never forget it.
(Although it fits perfectly into the Loretta Lynn vibe, “One’s On The Way” was written by Nashville Songwriters’ Hall Of Fame composer Shel “Boy Named Sue/Put Another Log On The Fire” Silverstein.)
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YAY! one vegetable is on the way!! think it’ll come out looking like one of them muppets?
I hope so, but so far the ultrasounds look more like Gonzo…