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In 1960, birth control was introduced into healthcare, and women's reproductive care was forever changed. Some years later, country superstar Loretta Lynn co-wrote a satirical, comedic song that mirrored facts from her actual life about this topic. This song, which would go on to be the most well-known of her career, was the 1975 hit "The Pill."
"The Pill" is a storytelling-type song that follows a wife who is fed up with how often her husband has been getting her pregnant over the years. With the introduction of birth control into her life, she's now much happier because she can control this aspect of her life. In the song, Lynn sings:
"This incubator is over-used because you've kept it filled But feeling good comes easy now since I've got the pill It's getting dark, it's roosting time, tonight's too good to be real Aw, but Daddy don't you worry none 'cause Mama's got the pill Oh, Daddy don't you worry none 'cause Mama's got the pill"
Because of the song's blunt discussion of birth control—something that was seen as provocative in 1975—many country music radio stations refused to play it. Because of the ban from numerous radio stations, it stalled the song on the charts, making it peak at number five during a time when typically songs by Lynn were guaranteed to be in the top three.
Still, because of all of the press surrounding the song, it became far more known outside of Lynn's typical country market. "The Pill" became Lynn's highest-charting single on the pop charts, hitting number 70 in the States and eventually going number one in Canada.
Speaking to Playboy magazine, Lynn recounted that many doctors in rural counties thanked her for the song as it made more women aware of birth control's availability to them. This type of more liberal, feminist stance was a rarity for Lynn, who typically tried to remain politically neutral in her work.
"The Pill" was a defining moment for women, women's rights, and Loretta Lynn as an artist in 1975.
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