Parton gets political on women’s rights

Dolly Parton famously steers clear of politics, but the country singer’s latest track is an explicit celebration of women’s rights.

Parton’s muse for her new song was the 19th Amendment (women’s suffrage). Parton sings of the women who marched to bring it about and how women have fought for their rights “since the very beginning of time.”

The country music legend has long espoused folksy feminism (see “9 to 5”), so of course it’s no dry historical exegesis. A sample lyric: “They said a woman’s place/ Was staying in her hut/ Washin’, cookin’ cleanin’/ Wipin’ babies’ butts./ They said she’d never see the day/ We’d equal up to them/ But here we are; we’ve come so far/ I guess we sure showed them.”

“A Woman’s Right” is one of 27 songs by different artists, each inspired by a constitutional amendment, released Tuesday that were produced by the team behind WNYC Studio’s “More Perfect” podcast.

“27: The Most Perfect Album” drops the same day “More Perfect” debuts its third season, which will pair the songs with discussion of the amendments that inspired them, its creators said.

Parton said she was happy to participate. “Being lucky enough to be a successful woman in business, I wanted to exercise my right to write about the 19th Amendment to praise and uplift women,” she said in a statement.