“I wrote that song with my nails”: Dolly Parton’s mega-hit has a secret to it
There aren’t many rags-to-riches musical stories quite like the life of Dolly Parton.
The country icon was born in a one-room cabin on the banks of the Tennessee River, where she became the fourth of 12 children. Her father, who Parton recalled was illiterate, worked several jobs to maintain a steady income for the struggling family, while his wife, Avie Lee Caroline, stayed at home caring for Parton and her 11 remaining siblings.
It truly was a humble beginning for Parton, whose upbringing was deeply rooted in a sense of perspective, “We were poor, but I never felt poor,” she explained. “Mama said, ‘I don’t want to ever hear you say that we’re poor. We are rich in kindness and love and understanding.’”
Music was something of a spiritual escape for Parton, who began singing Appalachian ballads with her family before venturing out into local radio stations to share her soulful brand of country singing. Becoming something of a local teenage star in the process, Parton quickly gained recognition before signing a publishing deal that would set her on a path of global acclaim.
By the time she reached the summit of the musical mountain and became a country star known all across the world, she had a deep-rooted sense of perspective that was moulded by her humble upbringing. She knew the stark economic realities so many working-class people faced and sought to pen an anthem in honour of that. What came next was probably her most recognisable song in history.
‘9 to 5’ was a catchy country-pop hit that encapsulated the everyday existence of the working class. But it wasn’t desperately sad or bleak, it was celebratory of the life so many of us, including Parton, experienced, and so became a loved anthem across the working world.
“I have to work longer, and I have to have a bigger cup of ambition in the morning to get it all done, but somebody like me, I always wanted to be a star, and I wanted my dreams to come true, and they did.” Parton explained, “I have to be on top of all of it to make sure that it’s being done right. The way that I want it done.”
Parton enjoyed every inch of the fame her talents afforded her and embraced the glamorous life of a pop star. And so that meant the elaborate outfits and carefully manicured nails that became her calling card. As a means of celebrating that, she decided to juxtapose the rather humble outlook of ‘9 to 5’ with the acrylic glamour of her new life by using her nails as a percussive instrument on the song.
“You know that I wrote that song with my nails,” she explained. “I thought it sounded like a typewriter… You gotta have acrylic nails to make that real percussive sound”, Parton insisted, if you want to replicate the sound she made in ‘9 To 5’.
Originally, her producer, Greg Perry, wanted to use a typewriter to actually replicate the supposed acrylic sound, but Dolly insisted they keep the nails in, for it represents so much more within the wider context of the song.
