Multi award winning American singer-songwriter Loretta Lynn, who sadly passed away in her sleep, aged 90 years, at her home in Hurricane Mills, Humphreys County, Tennessee, United States, on October 4th, 2022, last; was buried on her Hurricane Mills ranch, beside her husband, Oliver Lynn, on October 7th, 2022.
Music tastes change as we age, with our teenage years consumed by more intense music, while our later early adulthood years, are inclined to seek out more contemporary tones, as we begin to search for closer relationships.
Perhaps today, younger Irish women fail to recognize fully, how Loretta Lynn, through her 160 songs, 60 albums and 16 No. 1 singles, established herself as an advocate for ordinary working-class women, often criticising upper-class feminism for ignoring the needs and concerns of the former.
In rejecting being labelled a feminist, she declared “I’m not a big fan of women’s liberation, but maybe it will help women stand up for the respect they’re due.”
At the height of her popularity, some of her songs were banned from radio airplay. Much of her chosen music discussed and highlighted many women’s issues; e.g. “Harper Valley P.T.A” (written by Tom T. Hall), “The Pill” (latter written by Lorene Allen, Don McHan, T. D. Bayless, and Loretta Lynn and banned on the radio) “One’s on the Way” (written by Shel Silverstein) “You Ain’t Woman Enough” (written by Loretta Lynn) and “Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin‘ (written by Loretta Lynn and her sister Peggy Sue Wright)
The song “Dear Uncle Sam“, written by Loretta Lynn and released in 1966, during the Vietnam War, describes a wife’s anguish at the loss of a husband killed in war. It was later included in her live performances during the Iraq War.
Dear Uncle Sam.
[The name Uncle Sam remains a popular symbol of the U.S. government in American culture and a manifestation of patriotic emotion.]
Dear Uncle Sam I know you’re a busy man,
And tonight I write to you through tears with a trembling hand.
My darling answered when he got that call from you.
You said you really need him, but you don’t need him like I do.
Don’t misunderstand, I know he’s fighting for our land.
I really love my country, but I also love my man.
He proudly wears the colours of the old red white and blue,
While I wear a heartache, since he left me for you.
Dear Uncle Sam I just got your telegram.
And I can’t believe that this is me shaking like I am.
“For it said I’m sorry to inform you………”
Loretta Lynn always insisted that her music had no specific politics, rather an emphasis on what she believed to be morally right.
Proof, if proof was needed, she allowed ‘People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ (PETA) to freely use her song “I Wanna Be Free”, in a public service campaign to discourage the chaining of dogs outdoors, especially in winter weather conditions.
Not surprisingly, each of her songs that were banned, became chart toppers.
In ár gcroíthe go deo.
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