Loretta Lynn Didn’t Understand Why Radio Wouldn’t Play These 2 Songs

Loretta Lynn was no stranger to controversy. Ever since her debut “I’m A Honky Tonk Girl”, out in 1960, Lynn made it clear that she would sing the music she wanted to sing, even if some people disapproved. Two of her biggest songs, “The Pill” and “One’s On The Way”, were initially banned on the radio, deeming the content too controversial at the time.

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“One’s On The Way” came out in 1971, followed by “The Pill” in 1975. Innocuous by today’s standards, the songs are both about women having babies—or choosing not to—subjects that were largely taboo at the time. Still, Lynn forged ahead, partly because she didn’t understand why they were controversial.

“The Pill’ and ‘One’s on the Way’, they were the ones that really gave me a rough time,” Lynn tells Songfacts. “And I didn’t understand that, because everybody was taking the pill. I didn’t have the money to take it when they put it out. But I couldn’t understand why they were raising such a fuss over taking the pill. And with ‘One’s on the Way’,  I thought everybody had a baby. I sure did. I didn’t think anybody else was too good to.”

Ultimately, Lynn got her way. She even credits the initial ban of the songs at some radio stations with their success.

“Well, some of the disc jockeys were afraid to play it, because there would be somebody telling them, ‘Oh, they’ll ban her record. Somebody else will ban it,’ and a disk jockey wouldn’t play it,” Lynn says. “But they got to where they found out that everybody was playing it, and so they all started playing it.”

What Loretta Lynn Says About Writing “The Pill”

“The Pill” is written by Lynn, along with Lorene Allen, Don McHan, and T. D. Bayless. On her Back To The Country record, “The Pill” is about a woman finding her freedom thanks to birth control. The song says, “This old maternity dress I’ve got is going in the garbage / The clothes I’m wearing from now on won’t take up so much yardage / Miniskirts, hot pants, and a few little fancy frills / Yeah, I’m making up for all those years since I’ve got the pill.”

“If I’d had the pill back when I was having babies, I’d have taken them like popcorn,’ Lynn says. “The pill is good for people. I wouldn’t trade my kids for anyone’s. But I wouldn’t necessarily have had six, and I sure would have spaced ’em better.”

A member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1962, Lynn reveals she unintentionally caused an uproar at the Opry, not that she cared.

“You know I sung it three times at the Grand Ole Opry one night, and I found out a week later that the Grand Ole Opry had a three-hour meeting, and they weren’t going to let me [sing it]… If they hadn’t let me sing the song, I’d have told them to shove the Grand Ole Opry!”

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