Tammy Wynette, “Stand by Your Man” | Controversial Tunes 😈🎶

On the 9^th edition of Controversial Tunes (2022), we explore the controversy behind the song, “Stand by Your Man” by Tammy Wynette. 

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ring on the controversy! Controversial Tunes 😈🎶 is a column that provides background information and insight into songs that raised eyebrows and totally stirred the pot.  The records that grace Controversial Tunes are old and new alike, with all genres of music welcome.  On the 9^th edition of Controversial Tunes (2022), we explore the controversy behind the song, 🎵 “Stand by Your Man” by 🎙 Tammy Wynette.

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Theme & Lyrics ✍ 

“Sometimes it’s hard to be a woman / Giving all your love to just one man / You’ll have bad times / And he’ll have good times.” Hmm, somehow, that seems unfair – just saying! Can one of the greatest country songs of all time also be controversial? Why, of course it can! 🎙 Tammy Wynette deservingly won a 🏆 Grammy Award for the classic, 🎵 “Stand by Your Man”.  Wynette wrote “Stand by Your Man” alongside 🎼✍ 🎛 Billy Sherrill, who also produced the record.  Still, this gorgeous, lushly produced, dedicated tune to one’s man raises some eyebrows.

Is “Stand by Your Man” intended to be controversial? No, but even when it was released in 1968 (💿 Stand by Your Man), some considered antifeminist and certainly not progressive to women’s liberation.  Makes sense, considering how Wynette seems to suggest women should ‘stand by their man’ even when he’s a dog, lol:

“But if you love him

You’ll forgive him

Even though he’s hard to understand

And if you love him

Oh, be proud of him

‘Cause after all, he’s just a man.”

Wow! Why should a man get a pass because he’s a man? Why should a woman accept any and everything from a man?

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Final Thoughts 💭

Clearly, in the 2020s, 🎵 “Stand by Your Man” wouldn’t fly, nor should it. Wynette has made it clear she wasn’t trying to be political, though is it shocking that a record like this one comes off as such? From my perspective, we should acknowledge this record as one of the greatest, most memorable country songs of all time.  Still, we also need to acknowledge that hopefully, most of us have moved beyond the idea that women should “take one for the team” and allow their men to do any and everything and expect forgiveness.  Women shouldn’t be complacent.

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🎙 Tammy Wynette • 💿 Stand by Your Man • 🏷 Sony BMG Music Entertainment • 🗓 1968
Tammy Wynette, “Stand by Your Man”: Controversial Tunes 😈🎶 No. 9 (2022) [📷: Brent Faulkner, cottonbro, Darkmoon_Art,  TheDigitalArtist, inna mikitas, Isabela Catão, Jonathan Nenemann, The Musical Hype, Pexels, Pixabay, Tazz Vaughn, Victoria Borodinova, zzzvector]

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