Heart, hope and a steely determination: Dolly Parton's musical legacy

Dolly Parton's musical legacy is a testament to her heart, hope, and unwavering resolve.

In 1980, while filming her debut Hollywood movie, *9 To 5*, Dolly Parton conceived the melody for what would become the film's iconic theme song. With her guitar prohibited on set, she ingeniously created the beat by strumming her acrylic nails. She realized this sound perfectly mimicked the typewriter used by her character, a married secretary enduring constant belittlement and sexual harassment from her boss.

Excited, she shared the song with her co-stars, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda, the latter also serving as the film's producer. Fonda recalled, "Lily and I looked at each other and we had goosebumps. And we knew, this is not just a movie song, this is an anthem."

Released in November 1980, "9 To 5" became Parton's sole US number one hit as a solo artist and earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song. While she frequently recounted the story of its creation using her fingernails, "9 To 5" holds another significant legacy: its potent commentary on working life and women's roles in the corporate world.

The song's memorable hook, "Working 9 To 5 / What a way to make a living!" is undeniably catchy and universally relatable, capturing the common sentiment that work can be a grind. However, beneath its cheerful surface, Dolly expresses profound anger. She sings, "It's a rich man's game, no matter what they call it / And you spend your life putting money in his wallet," and "They just use your mind and they never give you credit." These lyrics resonated with the real frustrations of working women, giving them a voice.

The underlying anger in Dolly's song might not be immediately apparent because she doesn't deliver it with overt fury, despite having every right to, given her navigation of the music industry's sexism since the age of 13.

Her initial breakthrough occurred in 1967 when she was hired as the "girl singer" on *The Porter Wagoner Show*, a popular TV showcase for country singer Porter Wagoner that reached millions weekly. Together, they released 21 hit duets, including "Just Someone I Used to Know," "If Teardrops Were Pennies," and "Please Don't Stop Loving Me."

As Parton's fame grew, she began to overshadow her co-star. Eventually, she recognized the need to pursue a solo career, writing "I Will Always Love You" as an apology to her former mentor. In response, Wagoner sued her for breach of contract in 1979, demanding $3 million (£2.2 million). To avoid a protracted legal battle, Parton settled for approximately $1 million.

In her autobiography, she wrote, "I made up my mind that if he could live with it, I could live without it. I suppose Porter has done all right with it. I am neither his conscience nor his accountant." Characteristically, Parton never harbored resentment towards Wagoner, always crediting him with providing a crucial career opportunity, even after their professional relationship dissolved.

However, she was far from naive. A prime example is her battle over the rights to "I Will Always Love You." After the song topped the country charts, Elvis Presley expressed interest in recording a cover. Parton told him, "You cannot imagine how excited I am about this. This is the greatest thing that's ever happened to me as a songwriter."

But the night before the recording session, Presley's notoriously shrewd manager, Colonel Tom Parker, informed Parton that Elvis would not record the song unless she relinquished half of the lucrative publishing rights. Parton recounted on Reba McEntire's podcast in 2020, "I said, 'Well, that throws a new light on this. Because I can't give you half the publishing. I'm gonna leave that to my family.' And he said, 'Well, then we can't do it.' And I cried all night."

She told Country Music Television, "I mean, it was like the worst thing. People were saying, 'You're nuts. It's Elvis Presley. Hell, I'd give him all of it.' I said, 'I can't.' I always wondered what it would sound like. I know he would have killed it [in a good way]."

Parton ultimately had the last laugh. When Whitney Houston recorded her blockbuster version of "I Will Always Love You" for *The Bodyguard* soundtrack in 1992, Parton still owned the rights, earning "enough money to buy Graceland," Presley's mansion. Instead, she invested the money in a Black neighborhood in Nashville, Tennessee, believing it was a fitting tribute to Houston's legacy.

This determination to advocate for herself and to value her music as more than a mere commodity is a fundamental aspect of Parton's legacy. Without her example, it's debatable whether Taylor Swift would have challenged the hedge funds that acquired her back catalog, re-recording her biggest hits to reclaim royalties. Regardless, Dolly approved. When asked about Swift's strategy, she exclaimed, "Smart! She's so smart, she's so great, she's genius. I mean really, look at what she's doing! That's amazing!"

Mourning Parton's passing, Swift acknowledged the star's "backbone of steel" in her struggle "to defend her own self worth as an artist."

Musically, her legacy is equally profound. Around the age of six, Parton penned her first song, "Little Tiny Tasseltop," an ode to her favorite doll with corn-silk hair. Throughout her career, she transformed such everyday details into songs brimming with hope and emotion.

Her 1971 classic, "Coat of Many Colors," tells the deeply moving story of a young Parton's pride in the ragged, hand-sewn clothes her mother made for her. The 1974 concept album, *My Tennessee Mountain Home*, is a musical autobiography that begins with Parton reciting the first letter she wrote home after moving to Nashville as a teenager. She sang, "A couple of folks already told me that they might record a couple of my songs, so I'll be makin' enough money to get by. And I don't want you to be worrying about me bein' hungry or anything." The album cover features a photograph of the two-room log cabin that was Parton's actual childhood home in the 1940s and 50s, with the remaining songs painting an idyllic picture of her upbringing. Even without electricity and running water, she was resolute in seeing the good in everyone and every situation. "We might have been poor but we didn't know it / We'd heard that word but we didn't know what it meant."

Her diaristic approach to songwriting also yielded hits like "Jolene," written about a red-headed romantic rival, and "All I Can Do," a heartfelt declaration of love to her husband, Carl Dean. Funny and authentic, she captured life's trials and tribulations in a consistently relatable way, even as her stage attire and hairstyle remained larger than life.

The feminist message of "9 To 5" was foreshadowed by songs like "When Possession Gets Too Strong" and "Just Because I'm A Woman," which criticized double standards in relationships: "My mistakes are no worse than yours / Just because I'm a woman." In an era where women were confined to gendered stereotypes—housewife, temptress, fallen woman, mixed-up girl—she satirized and embraced these roles, playing them to the hilt while emphasizing her strength. On 2008's "Backwood Barbie," she sang, "I've always been misunderstood because of how I look / Don't judge me by the cover, cos I'm a real good book." Such words inspired generations of women to embrace their authentic selves, rather than conforming to societal perceptions.

She also used her music to unite people, even as much of the country music establishment became entrenched in conservatism. In 2002, at the House of Blues in Los Angeles, Parton even replaced the name "Jolene" with "drag queen" as a crowd of drag performers watched.

Beyond music, her philanthropy provided scholarships to impoverished students and supplied over 200 million books to young readers. Significantly, none of the country stars she inspired were ever labeled "the next Dolly Parton" because no one could replicate her unique style. She was singular, irreplaceable, and inimitable. A legend in her lifetime, and now, beyond.