Coal Miner's Daughter (song)

"Coal Miner's Daughter" is an autobiographical 1969 country music song written and made famous by Loretta Lynn. Released in 1970, the song became Lynn's signature song, one of the genre's most widely known songs, and provided the basis for both her autobiography and a movie on her life.

1 About the song
2 Chart performance
3 Legacy
4 Cover versions

[edit] About the song

"Coal Miner's Daughter" tells the story of her life growing up "in a cabin on a hill in Butcher Hollar", while her father, Melvin "Ted" Webb, worked all night in the Van Lear Coal Mine. The song depicts the real story of Lynn's life growing up in rural Kentucky, and discusses how she and her seven siblings lived off of a coal miner's salary ("Daddy loved and raised eight kids on a miner's pay"), and that her father always made sure there was love in the Webb household.

Subsequent verses recall Lynn's other childhood experiences and hardships, such as her mother reading the Bible by a coal-oil light or having bloody fingers from constantly using an abrasive washboard (while doing the family's laundry), ordering shoes from a mail-order catalog, and working so hard everyday that everyone slept because "they were tired."

In the song's final verse, the now-adult Lynn returns to her homestead, which has since been abandoned ("Not much left but the floor; nothing lives here anymore ..."). However, she remarks that the "memories of a coal miner's daughter" remain.

"Coal Miner's Daughter" was unlike anything Lynn had ever recorded previously. She had become known for her sassy back-talking songs, including "Don't Come Home A' Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind)" (an angry-wife's warning to a hard-drinking husband not to come home drunk and intent on making love) and "Fist City" (wherein a married woman threatens her husband's would-be temptress). However, fans quickly reacted to the song with praise and turned the song into one of country music's iconic hits.

[edit] Chart performance

Lynn recorded "Coal Miner's Daughter" in October 1969, but the song's release was delayed until mid-1970. The song slowly climbed the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart during the latter half of the year, and reached No. 1 on December 19.

In addition to reaching No. 1 on the Country charts, "Coal Miner's Daughter" also became Lynn's first single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 83.

An album of the same name was also released in 1970, and despite the fact that the title track was the lone single, Coal Miner's Daughter became quite successful.

[edit] Legacy

"Coal Miner's Daughter" served as the name of Lynn's 1976 autobiography, Coal Miner's Daughter: The Autobiography, which Lynn co-wrote. The song title also served as the name of Lynn's 1980 biographical motion picture on her life, Coal Miner's Daughter. The movie starred actress Sissy Spacek as Lynn and Tommy Lee Jones as Lynn's husband. The film's soundtrack featured Spacek singing all of Lynn's hits sung in the movie, including "Coal Miner's Daughter". Spacek won an Academy Award for her portrayal of Lynn in the film.

"Coal Miner's Daughter" helped people better to understand Lynn's life story, and led to Lynn's widespread fascination of her life story.

The song was listed at No. 185 on RIAA's list of Songs of the Century and was also listed in 2003's TV sepcial at No. 13 on CMT's 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music.

[edit] Cover versions

Few singers have released cover versions of Lynn's hit, being it is a biographical song about Lynn's life. However, there have been several karaoke sing-along version made in the past ten years.

Preceded by "Endlessly" by Sonny James	Billboard Hot Country Singles number one single by Loretta Lynn December 19, 1970	Succeeded by "(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden" by Lynn Anderson