Loretta Lynn

Loretta Webb Lynn (14 April 1932 – 4 October 2022) was an iconic country singer, and the subject of the 1980 Oscar-winning biopic, Coal Miner's Daughter.

Quotes



 * She was my closest friend. She was the one person, other than my husband, I could turn to in a crisis. There was a lot of resentment when I first came to town. But Patsy was strong-willed and always taking up for me. If it hadn't been for her, I don't think I would have lasted.
 * On Patsy Cline, as quoted in Country Weekly (6 December 2002)

Coal Miner's Daughter (1971)
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.
 * Well, I was born a coal miner's daughter
 * "Coal Miner's Daughter"; recorded on 1 October 1969, and first released as a single 5 October 1970 · Performance in Nashville, Tennessee (14 April 1971) · Performance on The Ed Sullivan Show (30 May 1971) · Official recitation video (2021)

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.
 * Yeah, I'm proud to be a coal miner's daughter
 * "Coal Miner's Daughter"

And it's so good to be back home again Not much left but the floor, nothing lives here anymore Except the memory of a coal miner's daughter.
 * Well a lot of things have changed since a way back then
 * "Coal Miner's Daughter"

Coal Miner's Daughter (1976)
I'm always making Butcher Holler sound like the most backward part of the United States — and I think maybe it is. I've traveled all over this country, down South and out West, and I ain't never seen anything like it. And I ain't making fun of it, because I'm the most backward person you ever saw. I never knew where babies came from until it happened to me.
 * I come from Butcher Holler, Kentucky, and I ain't never forgot it.
 * Ch. 1 : Butcher Holler

Doc swears he saw this patient standing in front of the hospital elevator, looking confused. Doc asked him what was the matter, and the patient said, "Doc, I just seen a nurse get into that press — and when the door opened she was gone!" See, that patient lived in a holler all his life and never saw an elevator before. Myself, I never rode in an automobile until I was twelve.
 * This might give you an idea of how backward we are, but first, to appreciate this story, you've got to know that in eastern Kentucky we say the word "press" instead of "closet." Anyway, one of my best friends is Dr. John Turner, who took care of me when I was younger.
 * Ch. 1 : Butcher Holler

Of course, it was impossible to find time to talk to each one or to answer every letter that came along. I ain't Dear Abby with nine secretaries answering the mail. Besides, I had a few problems maybe they could have solved for me. Sometimes I think some people were disappointed when they met me and found out I wasn't any smarter or happier than they were. I'm proud and I've got my own ideas, but I ain't no better than nobody else. I've often wondered why I became so popular, and maybe that's the reason. I think I reach people because I'm with 'em, not apart from 'em. It's not the fancy clothes I wear, or the way I fix my hair, and it sure ain't my looks because I don't think I'm anything special. It's the way I talk to people. You can tell when you meet somebody — in their eyes, or the way they stand — if they think they're above you or below you. After I was performing for a while, I got to like being with a crowd. I loved to get right down with 'em, with a long cord on my microphone, if I could. And if I was at a state fair or something, where they put you too far from the audience, I'd say, "This ain't the way I like it."
 * Sure, I wanted men to like me, but the women were something special. They'd come around the bus after the show and they'd ask to talk to me. They felt I had the answers to their problems because my life was just like theirs.
 * Ch. 19 : Performer