1968 Hit by Country Queen Was Written After She 'Broke' Her Husband's Heart

There’s no question that Dolly Parton is one of the most beloved singers in country music history, and with good reason. Not only is she an amazingly talented musician, she’s a ridiculously cool person, too, and she’s been finding ways to empower women for over half a century.

All the way back in the ’60s, for example, Parton wrote a hit song inspired by an argument she had with her husband as a newlywed. As she told Rolling Stone in a 2003 interview, Parton’s husband, Carl Dean, had a very sexist reaction when he discovered he wasn’t the first person she ever slept with.

“That song was based on a true story,” she said. “My husband doesn’t particularly like for me to tell this, but he’s old enough now, so he don’t really give a big s—t.”

“See, I had had sex before we met, but I hadn’t mentioned it, and he hadn’t asked,” Parton explained. “We were married for eight months, happy as we could be, and all of a sudden he decides to ask. I told him the truth, and it broke his heart. He could not get over that for the longest time. I thought, ‘Well, my goodness, what’s the big damn deal?’”

Released as the title track on Parton’s 1968 album, Just Because I’m a Woman, the song’s lyrics are a call for equality:

“I can see you’re disappointed by the way you look at me / And I’m sorry that I’m not the woman you thought I’d be / Yes, I’ve made mistakes, but listen and understand / My mistakes are no worse than yours just because I’m a woman”

Related: 1973 Hit Ranked ‘Best Country Song of All Time’ by Billboard Belongs to a Reigning Music Queen

At the time, the song’s sentiment was such a radical sentiment that some radio stations in the U.S. actually refused to play it, though it did go to #1 in South Africa.

“I had a lot of fans in South Africa!” Parton said. “All those oppressed women! I found that so amusing, because somebody said, ‘Hey, my mistakes are no worse than yours, just because I’m a woman.’”

Years later, Parton ran into similar problems with 1991’s “The Eagle When She Flies.”

“Lots of DJs wouldn’t play ‘The Eagle When She Flies,’ because they thought it was such a women’s-lib song,” she recalled.

Thankfully, Parton has never listened to her haters…and never will.

Related: 1992 No. 1 Hit Power Ballad Was Actually Written by a Country Music Legend