The year Prince and Dolly Parton battled it out for a ‘Worst Song’ award
Even the greatest songwriters out there are prone to putting out some rubbish every now and then, just ask Prince and Dolly Parton.
These are, without a doubt, two of the greatest minds to ever opt to make music. Both of them beautifully understand what the art form is capable of, and know how powerful it can be when it comes to transmitting a message across the world, allowing people to have fun, or asking listeners to tap into something deep within themselves.
When Prince passed away, you didn’t have to look far for tributes, given that the entire world came together to mourn a truly exceptional musical mind. Kate Bush was one of those tributes. As an eccentric and innovative songwriter herself, she recognised the limitless approach that Prince took towards his music and knew the world would be worse off without his creative vision.
“I am so sad and shocked to hear the tragic news about Prince,” she wrote. “He was the most incredibly talented artist. A man in complete control of his work from writer and musician to producer and director. He was such an inspiration. Playful and mind-blowingly gifted. He was the most inventive and extraordinary live act I’ve seen. The world has lost someone truly magical. Goodnight, dear Prince.”
Meanwhile, Dolly Parton’s approach to music is somewhat different. While she is also a creative visionary, her ideas don’t exist in another world in the same way that Prince’s do. Instead, her work is grounded, less of the thrills and spills, and instead just stripped back songs, lyrics and music. She draws from the real world – her stories and the stories of others – in a bid to create some of the most heartwrenching music of all time.
Consider her track ‘Down From Dover’, which is about a pregnant unwed teenager who leaves her family to have her baby. “I knew a lot of young girls getting pregnant,” she said. “And usually in the mountains people would pretty much turn you out: you were trash and a whore, and your daddy and mama wouldn’t let you come home, so you’d have to go to some home for unwed mothers or a relative would take you in”.
Parton added, “I’m touched by everything, and that used to bother me: how cruel and awful must that be, how lonely they must feel.”
While Parton and Prince may well be two of the greatest songwriters to ever exist, when you release such lengthy discographies, it’s inevitable that some of your songs aren’t going to be great. This is exactly what happened with them both one year ago, as they each had releases which were nominated for ‘Worst Song’.
So, what year did they battle it out for ‘Worst Song’?
The year that both artists are likely keen on forgetting was 1985.
Prince was nominated for his track ‘Sex Shooter’, a song which was released by Apollonia 6 but was written and recorded by Prince. The song certainly has disco and funk influences, but Prince fails to utilise them in a successful way. Not to mention, the poor lyrics leave very little to be desired. Prince was no stranger to writing songs about sex, but this offering is so unsubtle that it stands the test of time as one of his worst tracks.
Dolly Parton wasn’t just nominated for worst song in 1985, but she won it with her track ‘Drinkenstein’. In defence of Parton, this is a song that Parton wrote for the 1984 film Rhinestone, which she sang alongside Sylvester Stallone. It was supposed to be a comedic, bluesy number, but it’s hard to get comedy across when the theme of the song is quite serious. The track tells the story of a husband who becomes abusive when he’s had a drink. While Parton tries to put a light-hearted spin on everything with lines like “Budweiser, you’ve created a monster,” it doesn’t quite land.
The issue is that if you view it as a normal song, it’s bad and feels like it’s trying to be funny. On the other hand, if you treat it like a comedic track, you realise the subject matter isn’t really one to be joked about. The song exists within a void that is between a rock and a hard place, and is cited by many as one of Parton’s worst.
