loretta lynn

Hey you! Don't come home a' drinkin' (with lovin' on your mind)... heh heh...

Yes, it was Loretta Lynn, singing last Saturday night at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC.

And yes, I was there.

I don't usually go to concerts, but hey, even if you don't know who Loretta is, you've heard her songs - If yer lookin' at me, yer lookin' at country... You ain't woman enough to take my man...

She had knee replacement surgery a few months ago, and I figured, oh dear, she's not gettin' any younger; this might be one of her last go-arounds, so I better go!

At first, I thought it was great fun that her twin daughters came out and sang a few songs together. Then her son came out and sang a few, and then, finally, Loretta appeared. Wow, I thought, that's awesome that she gets to work with her grown kids and see them all the time!

But then... well... poor thing, she seemed to forget words to songs, and kept apologizing that she wasn't singing very well.  And there was a chair settin' on stage in case she needed it, and she sure did keep a-lookin' at that chair with heartfelt longing... until finally, she just sat her sequined self down and set a spell, bless her little heart, while other band members came forward to sing and fill up the time.

Word to Loretta's kids: let yer poor ol' Mama retire, hasn't she earned it by now?