Loretta Lynn – Coal Miner’s Daughter

She was the greatest female singer-songwriter of the 20th century…Jack White

This is one country song that even rockers know and of course, the movie with the same title doesn’t hurt either. I remember the movie when I was younger and hearing this song constantly. She wrote it and she wears it like a badge of honor singing it.

In 1976 Loretta wrote an autobiography and named it Coal Miner’s Daughter. That book is what they made the movie on. I always looked at Loretta as the Punk of country music. What I mean by that is she wrote about subjects that weren’t talked about…much less in country music. Songs like The Pill and Rated X just to name a couple. While talking…she had no filter at times and told you exactly how she felt.

In life and in this song Lynn’s main point is that she is proud of where she comes from and the morals her family values. She is not ashamed of her poverty or rural upbringing, but appreciative of her family’s hard work ethic, love for each other, and the bond that happens in hardships.

The song was on the album of the same name released in 1970. What made this one different is that it crossed over to the pop charts. It peaked at #1 on the Billboard Country Charts and Canada’s Country Charts. I also peaked at #83 on the Billboard 100 in 1970.

The song was released in 1980 with Sissy Spacek singing her version of the movie…it peaked at #7 in Canada (Country Charts) and #24 in the Billboard Country Charts.

The movie Coal Miner’s Daughter was released in 1980. It starred Sissy Spacek as Loretta Lynn as well as co-stars Levon Helm, Tommy Lee Jones, Beverly D’Angelo, and more.

The producer Owen Bradley told Lynn to drop off four additional verses that she had. Loretta Lynn: “He said, There’s already been one ‘El Paso,’ and there’s never going to be another one, so I fiddled around and fiddled around, and finally I got four verses that I took off of ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter.’ I wished I hadn’t, but I did.”

Sadly those verses were lost to time because she left them in the studio.

Loretta Lynn: “I remember that, in one of the verses, I talked about Mommy papering the wall with movie magazines, and she named me after Loretta Young, because she had Bette Davis and Claudette Colbert and Loretta Young up on the wall. And the day before I was born, she said, ‘If this baby is a little girl, I’m going to name her after one of them girls.’ And she said, ‘I kept looking at the pictures, and I thought Loretta Young was the prettiest, so I named you Loretta.’ And I’m glad she did.”

“I didn’t think anybody be interested in my life, I know everybody’s got a life, and they all have something to say. Everybody has a story about their life. It wasn’t just me. I guess I was just the one that told it.”

Coal Miner’s Daughter

Well, I was borned a coal miner’s daughter
In a cabin, on a hill in Butcher Holler
We were poor, but we had love
That’s the one thing that daddy made sure of
He shoveled coal to make a poor man’s dollar

My daddy worked all night in the Van Lear coal mines
All day long in the field a hoin’ corn
Mommy rocked the babies at night
And read the Bible by the coal oil light
And ever’ thing would start all over come break of morn’

Daddy loved and raised eight kids on a miner’s pay
Mommy scrubbed our clothes on a washboard every day
Why, I’ve seen her fingers bleed
To complain, there was no need
She’d smile in mommy’s understanding way

In the summertime we didn’t have shoes to wear
But in the wintertime we’d all get a brand new pair
From a mail order catalog
Money made from selling a hog
Daddy always managed to get the money somewhere

Yeah, I’m proud to be a coal miner’s daughter
I remember well, the well where I drew water
The work we done was hard
At night we’d sleep ’cause we were tired
I never thought of ever leaving Butcher Holler

Well, a lot of things have changed since a way back then
And it’s so good to be back home again
Not much left but the floor, nothing lives here anymore
Except the memories of a coal miner’s daughter

…

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

26 thoughts on “Loretta Lynn – Coal Miner’s Daughter”

      1. Evidently, Loretta Lynn’s heart was in the right place.

        Didn’t you even meet her once on her ranch when you were a child? Or am I mixing her up with another famous artist I know you once met, who was humble and kind. Or might it even have been Dolly Parton? Sorry for my terrible memory…

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      2. Yes when I was 8 years old I was at her ranch and ate breakfast with her when she invited my mom and me…just out of the blue. Great lady. She put on no airs at all…just an ordinary person…a very nice person.
        I also met Don Williams quite a few times…he lived in my small town…he was a great guy as well.

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      3. Glad to see not all of my brain cell have been destroyed by music and there’s some memory left! 🙂

        That’s really a nice experience you had with Loretta, which will likely always stay with you. And now that you mentioned him, I also recall you previously noted encounters with Don Williams. Didn’t he frequently cut the grass in your town? 🙂

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      4. LOL…
        Yes…Don cut the Ashland City park grass and the High School baseball field grass…anything to help the community he did. He also, right before he died, raised a lot of money for his church to build a new building….that building is probably 2 miles from me.

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      5. Thanks, and don’t worry, I stop asking silly questions! 🙂

        I just want to add I truly love it when prominent music artists and other celebrities give back to their communities. And when you know it’s not some PR stunt but reflects true kindness!

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      6. Ask any questions you want man!!! The only thing I’m doing now is cleaning our turtle tank out lol.
        It means a lot for those stars to do that. We had Mel Tillis living here also and he did things. Nicole Kidman and her husband lives here some also. From what I hear they are really nice.

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      8. LOL…we also have Martha but she goes outside…we have a fenced in backyard thank goodness! You wouldn’t want to clean up after a 140lb dog lol.
        We were feeding those turtles too much…we have now learned that.

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  3. Well-written song and she seemed like a good lady as I seem to remember you telling us from firsthand knowledge. Too bad she couldn’t remember the full lyrics she wrote originally.

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  6. She went way beyond entertainment, especially with “Don’t Come Home a-Drinkin'” and “The Pill”. As Lisa said, she gave voice to the voiceless with those songs, speaking of things that were only said in hushed tones and around the right people.

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  8. Did she record the extra 4 verses or just jot them down. I would not be surprised if someone had them somewhere either way. It would be a kick to have them recorded.

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