3 Eternal Songs by Loretta Lynn that Cement Her Legacy as the Queen of Country

In a male-dominated genre, Loretta Lynn stood out in country music because she was always willing to say what was on her mind, even if that went against the grain. Lynn, who stood for women’s rights, equal treatment, and a fine twangy melody, earned superstar status as a result and helped pave the way for others in country.

Lynn boasts several eternal songs in the genre. And here below, we wanted to explore a trio of such tunes. Three songs that leap and jump off Lynn’s guitar and tongue. Three songs that have upon their release stood the test of time. Indeed, these are three eternal Loretta Lynn country songs.

[RELATED: Loretta Lynn’s Granddaughter, ‘American Idol’ Star Emmy Russell Wakes Her Neighbors With a Performance of Worship]

“Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind)” from Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind) (1967)

A song about self-respect, this track sets boundaries and rules for the singer’s liquor-swilling man. The song, which was Lynn’s first No. 1 country song, making her one of the few women at the time to achieve that status, says clearly to the listener he is not to come home drunk and smelling of booze and expecting some loving in the bedroom. The singer is a self-respecting woman and won’t be left at home alone only to feel amorous later with a drunk back home. It’s a clever song and one that’s all too real for many. On it, Lynn sings,

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

Liquor and love, they just don’t mix

Leave that 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

“The Pill” from Back to the Country (1975)

Another song about personal (and female) autonomy, this track is as relevant (and important) today as it ever was. As the title suggests, it is about a woman’s right to control her body and the freedom she has to take birth control. The crossover hit made the Billboard Hot 100 charts, too, peaking at No. 70. Today, as courts and politicians continue to debate a woman’s right to decide about her own body, this is an important song to keep in rotation. And on the track, which was written by Lorene Allen, Don McHan, T. D. Bayless, and Lynn, she sings,

You wined me and dined me

When I was your girl

Promised if I’d be your wife

You’d show me the world

But all I’ve seen of this old world

Is a bed and a doctor bill

I’m tearin’ down your brooder house

‘Cause now I’ve got the pill

“Coal Miner’s Daughter” from Coal Miner’s Daughter (1971)

Country music has a lineage of honoring hard-working people, families, and the relationship between fathers and their children. This song, which was a No. 1 Billboard hit on the country charts, is dead center in that history as Lynn sings about growing up in rural Kentucky, the daughter of a coal miner. Times were tough but at least there was love and Lynn grew up knowing what a good man was. On the offering, Lynn sings,

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’

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