Tuesday, October 04, 2022

Coal Miner's Daughter by Loretta Lynn

 Well, I was borned a coal miner's daughter

In a cabin, on a hill in Butcher HollerWe were poor but we had loveThat's the one thing that daddy made sure ofHe shoveled coal to make a poor man's dollar
My daddy worked all night in the Van Lear coal minesAll day long in the field a hoin' cornMommy rocked the babies at nightAnd read the Bible by the coal oil lightAnd ever' thing would start all over come break of morn
Daddy loved and raised eight kids on a miner's payMommy scrubbed our clothes on a washboard ever' dayWhy I've seen her fingers bleedTo complain, there was no needShe'd smile in mommy's understanding way
In the summertime we didn't have shoes to wearBut in the wintertime we'd all get a brand new pairFrom a mail order catalogMoney made from selling a hogDaddy always managed to get the money somewhere
Yeah, I'm proud to be a coal miner's daughterI remember well, the well where I drew waterThe work we done was hardAt night we'd sleep 'cause we were tiredI never thought of ever leaving Butcher Holler
Well a lot of things have changed since a way back thenAnd it's so good to be back home againNot much left but the floor, nothing lives here anymoreExcept the memory of a coal miner's daughter



2 comments:

Dan Tschirhart said...

Here's a couple of things I learned about Loretta

Her career spanned six decades with many gold albums

One of her sisters was Crystal Gayle

She had many duets with famous artists - including Sinatra, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, and quite a few with Conway Twitty

She was on the Muppet Show and Sesame Street

Now I'm not a fan of country, so I don't know her music with the exception of this song

But she apparently was one helluva a lady and the world lost another gem

RIP Loretta

Anonymous said...

I suppose I’ve never really heard of Loretta Lynn. I’m sure I have heard her but never really knew who she was. That probably makes me an idiot. She reminds me of old photos of Ryan’s mom from the 60’s. But she probably songs better. This song seems like it was written by some rich asshole and disguised as a song to celebrate being poor. This is an effective technique when trying to make poor people feel good about their situation.