Reduce Dolly Parton to five songs is almost impossible. Her greatness does not lie only in the number of successes or in the ability, very rare for an artist born in country, to become a figure of global pop culture. It lies above all in the writing: in the way in which Parton transformed private experiences, poverty, desire, jealousy, work and separations into stories of immediate emotional readability.
Five songs, however, allow us to follow this trajectory with particular clarity. “Coat of Many Colors,” “Jolene,” “I Will Always Love You,” “Here You Come Again” and “9 to 5” they’re not simply five great hits. There are five steps through which Dolly Parton defined her artistic identity and, together, expanded the boundaries of what a country singer could represent in American culture.
1) Coat of Many Colors (1971)
If there is a song that allows you to enter the deepest core of Dolly Parton’s universe, it is “Coat of Many Colors”. Published in 1971, it was born from a real episode of his childhood in the mountains of Tennessee. Her mother made a coat for her using different pieces of fabric and, to make it precious in the eyes of the little girl, associated it with the biblical story of Joseph’s tunic. At school, however, that dress became a source of ridicule.
Parton made it into something much more complex than a sentimental memory. The song overturns the very definition of wealth: what in the eyes of the world signals economic deprivation can be, for those who possess it, the concrete manifestation of love. It is one of the fundamental points of Parton’s poetics: do not deny the harshness of one’s origins, but refuse to let others establish their meaning.
The Library of Congress underlines how important the song was in consolidating his credibility as a songwriter and recalls that Parton herself indicated it as one of her favorite works. In 2011 the registration was entered into the National Recording Registryreserved for recordings considered culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant to the United States.
2) Jolene (1973)
With “Jolene”released as a single in 1973 and then included in the 1974 album of the same name, Parton created one of the most recognizable characters of twentieth-century popular music. But the reason for its durability is more subtle than the celebrity of the chorus.
The protagonist does not attack the woman who she fears will take away the man she loves. He looks at it, recognizes its beauty and, above all, recognizes its power. It’s a song of jealousy built almost entirely on vulnerability, not aggression. The result is psychologically much more modern than the stereotype of female rivalry it could have fueled.
The story also has a singular biographical origin. Parton said that the idea for the possible rival came from one red haired bank teller who attracted the attention of her husband, Carl Dean; the name “Jolene”, however, was apparently inspired by a young red-haired fan he met after a show.
3) I Will Always Love You (1974)
The story of “I Will Always Love You” is essential to understanding Dolly Parton not only as a singer, but as a woman capable of governing her own career.
Contrary to what the lyrics might suggest, the song did not begin as a traditional romantic declaration. Parton wrote it for Porter Wagonerthe singer and television host with whom he had worked for seven years, when he decided to leave his program and fully pursue a solo career. It was, essentially, a letter of professional separation: gratitude and affection without renouncing one’s autonomy.
The original version went to number one on the country charts in 1974. Parton later re-recorded the song for the film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texastaking him once again to the top of the country charts in 1982: an exceptional achievement for two different recordings of the same composition.
Then came Whitney Houston. His 1992 performance for The Bodyguard turned one of Parton’s greatest songs into a global phenomenon: it stayed 14 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. But the enormous success of the cover also ended up demonstrating the universality of the original composition. Without the biographical context, the song could become a loving farewell, an elegy, a declaration of gratitude or a gesture of emancipation.
The Recording Academy placed Parton’s 1974 recording in the GRAMMY Hall of Fame in 2007; in 2018 the Houston version would also be included.
4) Here You Come Again (1977)
“Here You Come Again” occupies a particular position: it is one of Dolly Parton’s great successes they were not written by Dolly Parton. The authors are Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, a fundamental couple of the great American compositional tradition. But precisely for this reason the song is essential to tell the story of his career.
Released in 1977, it marked Parton’s first major success in the pop market. He arrived at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number one on the country charts. Above all, with that interpretation Parton won the 1979 first GRAMMY of his careerfor Best Female Country Vocal Performance.
“Here You Come Again” therefore certifies the decisive transition from country star to American star without adjectives. His sound is smoother and closer to the radio pop of the second half of the seventies; what doesn’t change is Parton’s ability to give the melody an immediately recognizable personality.
The point, in fact, was not simply “to go towards pop”. It was being able to do it without becoming interchangeable. Dolly Parton entered the mainstream, bringing Dolly Parton with her. That transition set the stage for the definitive expansion of his popularity in the early 1980s.
5) 9 to 5 (1980)
With “9 to 5” the trajectory is completed. Parton is no longer just one of the greatest American country singers: she is a film actress, author, pop star and interpreter of a shared social sentiment.
The song was written for the 1980 film of the same name, in which Parton starred with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. Its birth is now part of the history of popular music: during breaks on set, Parton discovered she could use the acrylic nails as percussionimitating the noise of typewriters, and developed the song from that rhythm.
Behind the sound gimmick, however, there was a text that was anything but light. “9 to 5” talks about underpaid worklack of recognition, hierarchies and the desire for emancipation of those who live within a system that exploits their time. In the context of the film, that condition also had a precise feminine dimension.
The single became the Dolly Parton’s first number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and simultaneously reached the top of the country charts. He won two GRAMMYs — Best Country Song And Best Female Country Vocal Performance — and earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song.
It is the point at which the narrative talent already evident in “Coat of Many Colors” takes on a collective dimension. Parton once again starts from everyday experience, but this time she doesn’t just talk about herself: she talks about millions of people.
