Footwear: Little Red Shoes

Loretta Lynn: Little Red Shoes

[purchase]

Here’s some scary music from Appalachia.

Loretta Lynn gives a firsthand account the trials and tribulations of her poor family trying to make do without adequate healthcare, charity, or transportation. The somewhat creepy background music orchestrated by Jack White is a perfect accompaniment for Loretta’s tale.

Dying is a big part of folk music. Loretta’s story about her little red shoes evokes the traditional bluegrass/folk song Put My Little Shoes Away (sometimes credited to Woody Guthrie) which is another first-person account told by a dying, but stoic, child. Little shoes are the primary image in each song.

We know Loretta pulled through, but the fate of the other little kid is not clear.

Bill Monroe: Put My Little Shoes Away [purchase]
Freakwater: Put My Little Shoes Away [purchase]