"One's on the Way" is a song made famous by

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer

Loretta Lynn Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as "You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Ma ...

. Originally released in

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses ( February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events J ...

, the song was the title track to her 1971 album and became one of her best-known hits. It was written by

Shel Silverstein Sheldon Allan Silverstein (; September 25, 1930 – May 10, 1999) was an American writer, poet, cartoonist, singer / songwriter, musician, and playwright. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Silverstein briefly attended university before ...

About the song

Country music writer Tom Roland described "One's on the Way" as a "humorous piece on motherhood," wherein a housewife in

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central U ...

, pregnant with the latest in a family of several children, contemplates her hectic lifestyle and compares her conditions to the glamor-based lives of

Debbie Reynolds Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016) was an American actress, singer, and businesswoman. Her career spanned almost 70 years. She was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer for her portra ...

and

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...

.Roland, Tom, "The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits" (Billboard Books, Watson-Guptill Publications, New York, 1991 ()), p. 62-63 The song also makes reference to First Lady

Jacqueline Kennedy Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American socialite, writer, photographer, and book editor who served as first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A p ...

at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

and sex symbol actress

Raquel Welch Jo Raquel Welch ( Tejada; September 5, 1940) is an American actress. She first won attention for her role in '' Fantastic Voyage'' (1966), after which she won a contract with 20th Century Fox. They lent her contract to the British studio Hamm ...

again in contrast to the housewife vocalist's conventional life. The song was the latest in a series of what genre historian Bill Malone said was "feisty" songs from Lynn. In effect, "One's on the Way" and similarly themed songs, such as " Don't Come Home A' Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind)" and " The Pill", helped Lynn become "the spokeswoman for every woman who had gotten married too early, pregnant too often and felt trapped by the tedium and drudgery of her life."Malone, Bill, "Country Music U.S.A," 2nd rev. ed. (University of Texas Press, Austin, 2002), p.371. Each of the song's verses has Lynn speaking in awe about the outside world. For instance, in the first verse, she draws comparisons between such things as Taylor flying to France to have her hair done and the joy and gaiety of the social scene in Washington and her own dull life: :''Here in Topeka, the rain is a-fallin','' :''the faucet is a-drippin','' :''and the kids are a-bawlin' '' At one point, she angers her husband after a misunderstanding (he had called from a nearby tavern to announce he was bringing some old Army friends home, just as she was trying to shoo one of her children away from somewhere he wasn't supposed to be). The end of the song includes Lynn sighing, "Gee, I hope it ain't twins again!" (Lynn's last two children had indeed been twins in real life). On the other hand, the lyrics—considering there is no apparent jealousy in the way in which they are sung in the Loretta Lynn version—can be taken as a sardonic observation on the shallow, pointless existence of the glitterati by one who is living a more common life. At some points in the lyrics the singer mentions the (then new)

birth control pill The combined oral contraceptive pill (COCP), often referred to as the birth control pill or colloquially as "the pill", is a type of birth control that is designed to be taken orally by women. The pill contains two important hormones: progesti ...

and

women's liberation movement The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminist intellectualism that emerged in the late 1960s and continued into the 1980s primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which effected great ...

, seeming to lament that such changes will soon affect the rest of the country, but may never have a real influence on her life. Loretta appeared as a guest star in episode 8 of season 3 of ''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as ...

'' in 1978 and sang this song alongside 5 baby Muppets. In later years when Lynn performed the song in concert, she frequently substituted references to the now-deceased Jacqueline Kennedy (called simply "Jackie" in the song) with the names of

Nancy Reagan Nancy Davis Reagan (; born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921 – March 6, 2016) was an American film actress and First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989. She was the second wife of president Ronald Reagan. Reagan was born in Ne ...

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...

, who, like Kennedy, served as

First Lady of the United States The first lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is the title held by the hostess of the White House, usually the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never ...

. Despite the March 2011 death of

, Lynn still mentioned 'Liz' in her performances.

Original pressings

When released in November 1971, Decca Records issued the single to record stores and radio stations under the title "Here in Topeka" (in reference to the hook line). Once the mistake was discovered, new singles were issued with the correct title. However, for years, Lynn received requests at concerts to perform "Here in Topeka."

Chart performance

References

{{Shel Silverstein 1971 singles Loretta Lynn songs Songs written by Shel Silverstein Shel Silverstein songs Song recordings produced by Owen Bradley Decca Records singles 1971 songs

About the song

Original pressings

Chart performance

See also

References