Just Because I'm a Woman (Dolly Parton)

I had meant to record the Ken Burns Country Music documentary series when it aired on PBS a while back, but then totally forgot.  Linda mentioned it when we were in Pensacola, so I came home and searched OnDemand.  Two episodes were available for free, and the remainder to buy ($2.99 each).  I viewed one and am now thinking seriously about purchasing some of them.  That's how good it is!

The one I saw was: “The Sons and Daughters of America” (1964 – 1968)
Episode 5 | See how country music reflects a changing America, with Loretta Lynn speaking to women everywhere, Merle Haggard becoming “The Poet of the Common Man” and audiences looking beyond race to embrace Charley Pride.

[ Actually, now that I'm researching, it looks like I can watch it on my laptop for free, so I will give that a try over the weekend. ]

So, the time frame of the above episode is 1964-1968.  I was 10-14 years old, and my father was a country fan when country was most definitely *not* cool.  I vividly recall his love of Merle, his admiration for Cash, his pride in Charley (see what I did there?) in breaking the race barrier.  He introduced me to the Carter Family, Loretta, and Tammy.  Twang was spoken in our house (although it drove my mom crazy).  I purported to dislike it as well, yet I knew all the words to all the songs (I still do).  When I began, in my late teens and early 20s, to appreciate the music of Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, and Townes Van Zandt, I realized it was a full-circle moment.

Now I'm just as likely to listen to John Prine, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and The Avett Brothers.  Thanks, Dad (albeit belatedly!).



SONG:  Just Because I'm a Woman by Dolly Parton

BOOK:  Woman Walk the Line: How the Women in Country Music Changed Our Lives by Holly Gleason

POEM:  A Wife Explains Why She Likes Country by Barbara Ras

Because those cows in the bottomland are black and white, colors
anyone can understand, even against the green
of the grass, where they glide like yes and no, nothing in between,
because in the country, heartache has nowhere to hide,
it's the Church of Abundant Life, the Alamo,
the hubbub of the hoi polloi, the parallel lines of rail fences,
because I like rodeos more than I like golf,
because there's something about the sound of mealworms and
leeches and the dream of a double-wide
that reminds me this is America, because of the simple pleasure
of a last chance, because sometimes whiskey
tastes better than wine, because hauling hogs on the road
is as good as it gets when the big bodies are layered like pigs in a cake,
not one layer but two,
because only country has a gun with a full choke and a slide guitar
that melts playing it cool into sweaty surrender in one note,
because in country you can smoke forever and it'll never kill you,
because roadbeds, flatbeds, your bed or mine,
because the package store is right across from the chicken plant
and it sells boiled peanuts, because I'm fixin' to wear boots to the dance
and make my hair bigger, because no smarty-pants, just easy rhymes,
perfect love, because I'm lost deep within myself and the sad songs call me out,
because even you with your superior aesthetic cried
when Tammy Wynette died,
because my people
come from dirt.

QUOTE:  "Of emotions, of love, of breakup, of love and hate and death and dying, mama, apple pie, and the whole thing. It covers a lot of territory, country music does." ~ Johnny Cash