4 Country Songs From 1975 That Were Too Honest for Their Time

Sometimes, honesty can be a bit too much in songwriting. And yet, these ahead-of-their-time tracks spoke the truth in a groundbreaking way, despite the pushback they received from the industry and country radio. Let’s look at just a few well-aged country songs from 1975 that were just too honest for their time.

“The Pill” by Loretta Lynn

There was no way I’d leave this classic off this particular list. “The Pill” might have been Loretta Lynn’s most groundbreaking song of her career, if not the most controversial. This country tune is an ode to women taking control of their bodies. It celebrated the birth control pill in an industry and era that wasn’t totally accepting of women’s rights. Many radio stations banned the song from their rotations. But that didn’t stop “The Pill” from becoming a Top 10 hit on the country charts. It was also a crossover hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 70.

“The Bargain Store” by Dolly Parton

She wrote songs about everything from being a hardworking woman to breakups to not wanting a woman to take her man. Dolly Parton’s music has always been very honest and uniquely her, and “The Bargain Store” was almost too honest during an era when divorced women were considered “damaged goods” and judged heavily. Funnily enough, several radio stations avoided the song because they misunderstood the line “you can easily afford the price” as a reference to prostitution. In the actual context of the song, Parton implores her potential lover to love her properly so she can see a brighter future and forget the heartbreak from her past.

“The Games That Daddies Play” by Conway Twitty

This entry on our list of honest country songs was technically released in 1976. However, it was recorded in 1975, so I’ll go ahead and include it here. “The Games That Daddies Play” is a brutally honest song about the effects of divorce on young children, complete with the honesty one would expect from a child. In an era when country radio was much more comfortable with love songs and easy listening tunes, Conway Twitty confronted people with the reality of what a broken home can do. Honestly, this song’s pretty heartbreaking.

“Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain” by Willie Nelson

“Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain” by Willie Nelson isn’t controversial. Nor do its lyrics hide something vulgar that country radio stations in 1975 would find fault it. Rather, this song, which revived Nelson’s career in 1975, is an extremely emotional track that was arresting when compared to the clean-cut, well-polished Nashville tunes of the time. Nelson is considered the godfather of outlaw country music for a reason. And this was the song that (more or less) started a movement. The quiet honesty of this tune was a sharp pivot from the drama of the typical Nashville sound. He really was ahead of his time.

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