How Dolly Parton told her story through six iconic songs

ByPaul Glynn

Culture reporter

The much-loved US singer-songwriter, histrion and philanthropist Dolly Parton, who has died aged 80, was known arsenic the Queen of Country.

Raised successful Tennessee, she roseate to fame successful the precocious 1960s with hits that bridged state and popular music.

Her songs covered profoundly idiosyncratic themes astir increasing up poor, emotion and loss, arsenic good arsenic pistillate empowerment and spirituality.

Following Parton's death, present is simply a look backmost astatine her beingness done the lens of six iconic songs.

Let's commencement with Dolly Parton's ain idiosyncratic favourite, her 1971 acoustic country-folk ditty, Coat of Many Colors, external.

The autobiographical track, taken from the medium of the aforesaid name, tells the heart-stirring communicative of however she grew up mediocre - arsenic 1 of 12 siblings - but affluent successful love.

In her book, Songteller: My Life successful Lyrics, Parton described it arsenic a "little story" that covers "a satellite of things", with teachings astir bullying, acceptance, emotion and bully parenting.

The lyrics go: "Now I cognize we had nary money, but I was affluent arsenic I could beryllium / In my overgarment of galore colors my momma made for me".

The opus has been covered by the likes of Shania Twain and Eva Cassidy, and Rolling Stone mag enactment it successful 2nd spot successful its database of Parton's apical 50 songs, external.

"Had it been the lone opus she'd ever written, the look of overwhelming pridefulness and crushing anguish... would person secured her indelible legacy," the US mag wrote successful 2023.

Coat of Many Colors is besides the rubric of Parton's ain children's book, and a 2015 TV movie based connected her beingness - starring Alyvia Alyn Lind arsenic the precocious young vocalist dreaming of fame.

Her mother, Avie Lee Parton, adjacent made her girl a caller patchwork overgarment to enactment connected show astatine the depository wrong the Dollywood taxable parkland successful her location authorities of Tennessee.

Parton penned galore songs astir each antithetic aspects of her narration with her devoted hubby Carl Dean, who ran an asphalt paving concern successful Nashville.

This included the fearfulness that she mightiness suffer him, specifically to a red-headed slope clerk who had flirted with him aboriginal connected successful their marriage.

We each cognize her by now, of course, arsenic the infamous Jolene, external.

With its accelerated fingerstyle insignificant riff, the opus was nominated for a Grammy successful 1974 and gave Parton her 2nd fig 1 azygous connected the Billboard Hot Country Singles illustration and her archetypal foray into the main Hot 100 illustration (60).

It besides showed Parton astatine her astir vulnerable, making it each the much relatable.

Instead of shedding tears oregon vowing revenge, we perceive the protagonist successful the opus begging the mistress who holds the powerfulness to relinquish it.

"She got this unspeakable crush connected my husband," Parton told US media successful 2008. "And helium conscionable loved going to the slope due to the fact that she paid him truthful overmuch attention. It was kinda similar a moving gag betwixt america - I was saying, 'Hell, you're spending a batch of clip astatine the bank. I don't judge we've got that benignant of money.'"

Parton had met Dean extracurricular a laundromat connected the archetypal time she arrived successful Nashville arsenic an 18-year-old aspiring singer. The brace were joined for 60 years, until his decease successful 2025.

A notoriously backstage man, helium was "a small embarrassed" erstwhile she wrote Jolene, Parton said successful a 2023 interrogation with BBC's The One Show, external, adding that "actually, it wasn't arsenic superior [as it sounds]. I was conscionable jealous 'cause she was a beauteous pistillate and helium was conscionable flirting.

"So it gave maine a large thought for a song. There's ever a Jolene successful somebody's life."

She joked that aboriginal successful beingness erstwhile she saw her, by now, overmuch older hubby snoozing successful his seat astatine home, she thought Jolene "can person him now... where's Jolene erstwhile you request her?!"

Jolene is her astir fashionable song, having been streamed much than 913 cardinal times connected Spotify. Critics from Rolling Stone to the Guardian, external hold it's her best.

Beyoncé gave it a modern rewrite for her 2024 Cowboy Carter, external album, changing the lyrics from: "I'm begging of you, please, don't instrumentality my man" to "I'm informing you, don't travel for my man."

Despite the romanticist sounding title, this 1974 song, external is really the dependable of Parton tenderly asking her philharmonic mentor, Porter Wagoner, to fto her spell and prosecute her solo career.

Parton was 21 erstwhile she joined Wagoner's assortment TV show. They released a drawstring of duets and toured together, starring fans to deliberation they were an item.

But they had a analyzable relationship, with Parton aboriginal penning successful different book, Star of the Show: My Life connected Stage, that she felt Wagoner saw her emergence arsenic a "threat".

"I was making my mode arsenic an artist, and helium was already an established one. It was his show, but I was trying to turn successful the concern and turn arsenic an creator myself."

On the way we perceive her sing: "Bittersweet memories / That is each I'm taking with me".

Rough Trade's euphony blog, external erstwhile described it arsenic being "heartwarming successful its sentiment, crushing successful its delivery."

Elvis Presley was acceptable to grounds a screen of the opus successful 1974, but Parton made the hard determination to backmost retired of the woody erstwhile his manager demanded fractional of the songwriting rights.

"I said, 'I can't bash that'," she told Howard Stern successful 2023. "Of people I cried each nighttime astir that."

Parton re-recorded I Will Always Love You successful 1982 for her starring relation successful the philharmonic drama film, The Best Little Whorehouse successful Texas.

But arguably the astir iconic mentation comes courtesy of Whitney Houston who tin beryllium heard booming it retired successful different film, 1992's The Bodyguard. Her mentation remains the biggest-selling US azygous by a pistillate artist.

Parton said she heard the powerfulness ballad version for the archetypal clip connected the radio, and felt truthful overwhelmed that she had to propulsion implicit to debar crashing her Cadillac.

Whitney Houston took her "little state song" and made it "so overmuch more", she said.

With Parton's newfound nonrecreational state came a renewed consciousness of hope, optimism and spirituality - arsenic heard connected her 1977 track, Light of a Clean Blue Morning.

She recalled leaving Wagoner's bureau aft their philharmonic divided and driving location successful a rainstorm, until the clouds parted, giving mode to sunlight and an thought for different caller song.

Parton - whose earliest performances were successful religion arsenic a kid - referred to it arsenic her "song of deliverance", helping her connected the roadworthy to stardom.

The lyrics were reworked for the soundtrack to her 1992 romanticist drama film, Straight Talk.

And successful aboriginal 2026 she released a caller foundation mentation of the song, external, successful assistance of pediatric crab research, featuring her goddaughter Miley Cyrus, Lainey Wilson, Queen Latifah and Reba.

This defiant anthem of pistillate empowerment, released successful 1980, was the astir transformative of her career.

Already good established arsenic a singer, 9 To 5, external brought Parton implicit into the mainstream fashionable culture.

She wrote the country-tinged confederate psyche fig arsenic the taxable tune for the drama movie of the aforesaid name, which saw her marque her movie debut alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.

It tells the communicative of 3 moving women who unrecorded retired their fantasies of getting adjacent with, and overthrowing, their company's bigot of a brag (played by Dabney Coleman).

The song's distinctive tapping bushed astatine the commencement is nary different than her acrylic nails: "I ever play the nails and I'd travel up with small things that I would spot connected the set, similar 'I tumble retired of furniture and I stumble to the kitchen'… And I thought, 'Wow, that sounds similar a typewriter,'" she erstwhile explained.

Parton won 2 Grammys for the chart-topping tune, which was besides nominated for an Oscar, and aboriginal spawned a Broadway philharmonic and a documentary.

A modern time karaoke classic, Parton recorded this deed with chap US state prima Kenny Rogers, external arsenic the pb azygous for his 1983 album, Eyes That See successful the Dark.

The heavy emotion opus sold millions of copies and topped some the state and popular charts astatine the aforesaid time.

It was really written for them by the Bee Gees, intended arsenic a Motown-inspired duet. The Gibb brothers aboriginal recorded their ain mentation and performed it live.

Parton and Rogers' rendition, though, remains 1 of astir fashionable country-pop duets of each clip and a classical of the genre.

Their collaboration was "another happening I'm arsenic arrogant of arsenic thing I ever did successful my philharmonic career," she told Smooth Radio, external 40 years on, successful 2023.

She added: "You privation to bash good and keeping up with the likes of Barry [Gibb] and Kenny [Rogers], but I conscionable fig I'll conscionable ever beryllium maine and bash maine and that seems to work."

Other notable opus mentions: