Introduction:
On this day (January 27) in 1969, Loretta Lynn released “Woman of the World (Leave My World Alone).” Later in the year, it would spend one week at the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, giving Lynn her third career No. 1.
Lynn wrote her first two No. 1 singles–“Don’t Come Home a-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind)” and “Fist City”–from experience. Her husband had a long history of drinking and cheating, among other things. Lynn’s songs were her way of expressing her feelings about his actions. Moreover, those songs let other women in similar positions know that they weren’t alone.
“Woman of the World (Leave My World Alone)” fits perfectly with those and other no-nonsense hits from Lynn’s catalog. It sounds like it could’ve come from the same writing session as some of them. However, that’s not the case. Sharon Higgins penned the song.
This Loretta Lynn Hit Changed Its Writer’s Life
“Woman of the World (Leave My World Alone)” wasn’t just a No. 1 hit for Loretta Lynn. It was also Sharon Higgins’ way of breaking into the music business.
The year before Lynn recorded the song, Higgins, a Missouri native, took a factory job. While working on the assembly line and thinking about issues she was facing in her marriage, she wrote the words to the song. Soon, she was on a late-night train from St. Louis to Nashville.
After arriving in Nashville, she left her hotel toting her guitar and made her way to Music Row. She walked into the Surefire Music offices, but was told Teddy Wilburn (the Wilburn Brothers) wasn’t seeing any new artists that day. Unmoved, Higgins chose to wait in the lobby.
That evening, Willburn was on his way out the door when he saw Higgins sitting in the lobby with her guitar. Out of pity, he decided to give her a few minutes of his time. She played him “Woman of the World” and, before she left that evening, she signed an artist development deal with Surefire.
Interestingly, she was the second woman to sign with the company. Loretta Lynn was the first.