Dolly Parton picks her three greatest hits: “One of the great love songs”
Over 50 years on from the release of Dolly Parton’s classic song ‘Jolene’, I think we can safely say that the country singer now has the last laugh.
Her painstaking country ballad, which sees Parton bare her soul, insecurities, and deepest fears over the top of the finger-picked melody, became the defiant anthem of self-worth. To this day, people fill bars to the walls and sing it with their chests, as an opportunity to exert whatever anxiety they have over their own romantic life.
Because there was something about it that tapped into the universal experience of love and loss. That sense of inadequacy that lives within all of us, especially when compared to the imperious charm of whoever our own version of ‘Jolene’ may be.
So naturally, the song was a monster hit and to this day, remains one of the most recognisable songs of all time. Which means that while Jolene may have won the brief battle, it was Parton who came out victorious in the war.
It’s the song that has defined her career and helped make her the global icon she is today, so it comes as no surprise that ‘Jolene’ makes the cut, as one of Parton’s all-time favourite songs.
“Of course, the one that’s most recorded is Jolene,” she boldly claimed when talking about her all-time favourite tracks. Adding, “That seems to be the favourite – do you know that song has been recorded, somebody told me, 450 times in the last 52 years? I’m so proud of it.”
If you had any doubts over Parton’s greatness as an artist, or maybe even considered a one hit wonder, then it’s worth noting that perhaps her second biggest hit, and the song she similarly regards as her greatest of all time, came out of the very same writing session. Similarly to ‘Jolene’, Parton’s hit ‘I Will Always Love You’ has gone on to become one of the most covered songs of all time, with Whitney Houston providing the most famed version of it.
“And ‘I Will Always Love You’ is one of the great love songs, so I’m very proud of that too,” Parton said, before explaining that it came just after ‘Jolene’ in the writing session, simply explaining, “That was a good writing day.”
These two heavy hitters were expected to be named in Parton’s list of all-time greats, simply for their cultural relevance. However, there is one more song that has less cultural weight but more personal importance for Parton.
“I think the one that’s most personal to me is the lil’ ‘Coat of Many Colors’, because it talks about my mom, my parents and kind of gives you an insight. It also covers bullying, acceptance and all that,” she explained.
Adding, “That one, certainly, I love because of my mom. It’s a true story, and I have treasured memories of that.”
It’s an apt choice, solely for the reason that at her core, Parton is an artist who exercises deep levels of intimacy within her music. The two previously mentioned hits may have left her clutches and become globally known hits, but ultimately, they were like ‘Coat of Many Colours’, deeply intimate anthems that prove she is one of our most treasured songwriters.
