Introduction:
There are pairings in music history that transcend simple collaboration, becoming cultural touchstones and defining the very essence of a genre. In country music, few duos achieved the iconic status, the genuine feeling, and the enduring success of Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn. Their artistic partnership, forged in the early 1970s, gave rise to a string of chart-topping hits and, more importantly, a body of work that explored the complexities of mature relationships with an uncommon depth and honesty. Their songs were dialogues, not just duets—mini-dramas played out across vinyl, addressing the triumphs, the travails, and the simple, grinding realities of domestic partnership.
Among their most resonant recordings, though perhaps not always the first title mentioned in a list of their number one singles, is the profoundly reflective track, “What Are We Gonna Do About Us” by Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn. Released on their acclaimed 1973 album, Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man, this song steps back from the playful antagonism or grand declarations often found in their other hits. Instead, it offers a stark, yet tender, moment of shared introspection. It is a song that speaks volumes to the qualified, experienced listener, the one who understands that the heart of a long-term commitment isn’t always fireworks, but rather a quiet, sometimes difficult, agreement to keep trying.
The genius of Twitty and Lynn lay in their ability to inhabit characters that felt utterly real to their audience. Conway Twitty, with his smooth, sophisticated baritone, often played the suave, occasionally troubled, masculine figure. Loretta Lynn, the “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” countered him with a voice that was pure, strong, and uncompromisingly authentic—the voice of the woman who knew her worth and spoke her mind. In “What Are We Gonna Do About Us”, this dynamic shifts slightly. They aren’t engaged in a back-and-forth squabble or a passionate escape; they are side-by-side, facing a shared dilemma. The question posed in the title is not accusatory but cooperative—it’s a joint acknowledgment that the path they’re on has become rocky and requires a mutual, deliberate decision to navigate the obstacles ahead.
The production on the track is classic Nashville Sound from that era, but it is wisely restrained, allowing the emotive power of the two voices to take center stage. The arrangement provides a gentle, supportive framework, letting the melodic exchange carry the weight of the narrative. Listen closely to how their voices intertwine: Twitty’s delivery is imbued with a thoughtful melancholy, while Lynn’s response carries a palpable sense of concern, yet undergirded by her signature strength. They are communicating a deep, ingrained history, one where mere words are insufficient. The musical spaces between their lines are filled with the unspoken years of compromise, understanding, and shared burdens—the stuff that truly binds two lives together.
The song delves into the weariness that can creep into even the most solid of unions—that moment when routine and external pressures threaten to obscure the original spark. It’s a theme that resonates deeply with an older readership, one who appreciates that sustained devotion is an active verb, requiring persistent maintenance and negotiation. Unlike the fleeting sentiments of younger love songs, this track deals with the long game, the commitment to address, rather than simply ignore, the accumulating toll of time and circumstance. “What Are We Gonna Do About Us” by Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn remains a magnificent example of country music as profound adult storytelling—a masterpiece in miniature that asks the hardest of questions and implicitly offers the most hopeful of answers: we are going to face it, together. It is a timeless testament to the enduring human endeavor of two people choosing one another, day after day.